Reminder about Important Deadline and Meeting Next Week

UPDATE:

If you were unable to attend the Corps’ Scoping Meeting in Gainesville on October 29, you may submit your comments on the Water Control Manual Update and Environmental Impact Statement / Chattahoochee – Flint River Basin on the Corps’ Web site until November 21, 2008. Please follow the link or send a letter to their address. www.acf-wcm.com. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District. 107 Saint Francis Street Suite 1403, Mobile, AL 36602-9986

Dear List Members,

Please remember an important deadline coming up next Monday and the Corps’ Scoping Meeting on Wednesday.
Monday is the deadline for your comments on the Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s request to the Corps to reduce the minimum amount of flow in the Chattahoochee River at Peachtree Creek in Atlanta by 13% between November 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009.  This will reduce this flow from 485 million gallons a day (MGD) to 420 MGD, thereby leaving an additional 11.7 billion gallons of water in Lake Lanier.

If you haven’t done so already, please take a few minutes and complete the online comment form by Monday, October 27.

~~~

Please attend the Corps of Engineers’ public scoping meeting on Wednesday, October 29 from 5- 8 p.m. at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville.  This meeting is part of the Corps’ review and update of the Water Control Manual for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin.  Attendees will have the opportunity to give their feedback on the issues and concerns regarding the process.  The meetings will be set up in an open-house format allowing attendees to review specific basin information.

This meeting is your opportunity to record your views on management of Lake Lanier with the Corps and show the Corps how important Lake Lanier is to you. Attendees will be able to submit their comments at a computer station, by talking to a court reporter or by submitting prepared written comments.

Please include the following significant areas in your comments:

Lake Lanier should not be drawn down for mussels and other endangered species in the Apalachicola River;
During the rainy season, the Corps should allow Lake Lanier to reach full pool no later than June 1;
Management triggers must be in place for Lake Lanier withdrawals during times of drought;
Raise Lake Lanier’s full pool from 1071 ft above sea level to 1073 ft, thereby adding an additional 26 billion gallons of water to the lake.

Please share this information with your friends and neighbors so there’s a great turnout at this meeting!

Vicki Barnhorst
The Lake Lanier Association

LLA Meets with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Discuss Lake Levels

Dear List Members,

Your association has been very busy over the last few weeks meeting with Corps’ officials to discuss lake levels.

Meetings with the Corps

As you may have read, a delegation of Georgia legislators met on July 9 in DC with the Undersecretary of the Army who oversees the Corps of Engineers and discussed Lake Lanier lake levels and management.  The Lake Lanier Association prepared and provided an indepth presentation to the legislators who used it to form the basis of their discussion and requests.

We requested a meeting with Brig. Gen. Schroedel, commander of the Corps’ South Atlantic division, to discuss the Corps’ management of the lake and met with him on July 16.   Representing the association were Val Perry, Executive Vice President, Wilton Rooks, Vice President, and Clyde Morris, LLA legal council.  Also attending were John Heard, Georgia State House Representative, Gwinnett County, Dr. Carol Couch, Director Georgia EPD, Virgil Williams, Lake Lanier Islands Resort and other Lake Lanier Islands representatives.

We made a detailed presentation on our assessment of the Corps’ Revised Interim Operating Plan’s (RIOP) impact on Lake Lanier and suggested modifications to this RIOP to help keep more water in Lake Lanier.

Tri-States Lawsuits
Florida, Alabama, and the Southeastern Federal Power Customers (SeFPC) all filed motions in the Tri-State Water Rights Litigation recently seeking to push the Corps’ current management of Lake Lanier to the back burner and turn the court’s attention instead to a tangential issue regarding water supply contracts that would have little bearing on the more serious issue of preserving Lake Lanier’s water.  They are trying to take advantage of a court decision issued several months ago in a related case that invalidated a settlement agreement among Georgia, the SeFPC, and various Georgia water supply providers regarding allocation of storage space in Lake Lanier for north Georgia’s water supply needs.  The LLA views the motions as a tactic that would divert attention away from the disastrous 2007 draw-down of the Lake and the real possibility that a further significant draw-down could occur again in 2008, now that we are entering the driest part of the year.  For that reason, the LLA categorically opposed the motions.  On Friday, the LLA and all the other Georgia parties to the litigation opposed the motions in documents filed with the court. These filings may be viewed on our Web site.

More information on our activities concerning lake levels can be found in the July issue of our newsletter, Lanier Outlook.  If you are not a member of the Lake Lanier Association we hope you will join and support our work.  Members receive our bi-monthly newsletters, invitations to our meetings and special notices.

Request for Support
The Lake Lanier Association appreciates all the financial support you have generously donated enabling us to be an intervener in all the Tri-States lawsuits.  We are the only organization representing the lake in those suits, and we are asking for your continued support of our efforts by donating to our legal fund.You may send a check marked legal donation to our office at the address below or may contribute on our Web site

Thank you very much.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold public meetings for the Apalachicola Chattahoochee Flint (ACF) River Basin

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, will hold five public scoping meetings during October as part of its review and update of the Water Control Manual for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. The public is invited to attend the scoping meetings which will provide information on the Manual update process.  Attendees will have the opportunity to give their feedback on the issues and concerns regarding the process.  The meetings will be set up in an open-house format allowing attendees to review specific basin information.

The meeting for our area will be held on October 29 from 5 p.m.—8 p.m. at Georgia Mountains Center, 301 Main Street, SW, Gainesville, GA 30501 (770-534-8420).

The Water Control Manual provides guidance for the management of federal reservoirs in the same river system and will include water release guidelines for Lake Lanier. The Corps wrote the last ACF Water Control Manual almost fifty years ago at a time when the demands on the system were far less than today.  As you know, Lake Lanier provides the major water storage for the entire system. Downstream needs include water supply for municipalities, industry and agriculture, hydropower dams and power plants in the entire basin.

This meeting is your opportunity to record your views on management of Lake Lanier with the Corps of Engineers and show the Corps how important Lake Lanier is to you. Attendees will be able to submit their comments at a computer station, by talking to a court reporter or by submitting prepared written comments.

• Please include the following significant areas in your comments:
• Lake Lanier should not be drawn down for mussels and other endangered species in the Apalachicola River;
• During the rainy season, the Corps should allow Lake Lanier to reach full pool no later than June 1
• Management triggers must be in place for Lake Lanier withdrawals during times of drought;
• Raise Lake Lanier’s full pool from 1071 ft above sea level to 1073 ft, thereby adding an additional 26 billion gallons of water to the lake.

We look forward to seeing all our members at the meeting.  Let your friends and neighbors on the lake know how important this meeting is and ask them to attend.

Corps Press Release

Lake Lanier Association Call to Action

Dear List Members,

Please write to the Corps in support of the Georgia EPD’s request to hold more water in Lake Lanier.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has sent a letter to the Mobile office of the Corps of Engineers requesting the Corps reduce the minimum amount of flow in the Chattahoochee River at Peachtree Creek in Atlanta by 13% between November 1, 2008 and April 30, 2009.  This will reduce this flow from 485 million gallons a day (MGD) to 420 MGD, thereby leaving an additional 11.7 billion gallons of water in Lake Lanier.

The EPD letter requests this action to conserve needed storage in Lake Lanier and states that its modeling has shown that water quality at Peachtree Creek was not adversely affected when the flow was reduced between March and May 2008.
The Corps of Engineers is reviewing this request and is asking for stakeholder comments to be received by October 27 by submitting its online form

You may also submit your comments to

cesam-pd-ea@usace.army.mil

or send a letter to the following address:

Colonel Byron G. Jorns, District Commander
Mobile District, USACE
Attn: CESAM-DE
P. O Box 2288
Mobile, AL  36628-0001

The Corps’ press release may be read at

http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/docs/08-53.pdf

Vicki Barnhorst
The Lake Lanier Association

Lake Lanier Associations Upcoming Shore Sweep & Corps Meeting

Dear List Members,

Shore Sweep

A reminder that the 20th Annual Shore Sweep is this Saturday, September 27.  We are looking for two more site volunteers for the south end of the lake.  If you are interested in helping, please call the office as soon as possible at 770-503-7757.  All the information on the various sites and the dropoff locations for large items are on our Web site

The Lake Lanier Association urges all volunteers to be mindful of the low lake level and suggests that volunteers stay on the dry areas of the shoreline.  All small children and non-swimmers should stay away from the water’s edge because of sudden steep dropoffs, and the Lake Lanier Association strongly recommends that small children wear lifejackets.    Please read additional safety concerns.

Remember to bring your old T-shirts to the party for your contests! We are looking for the people with the oldest T-shirts and those with the most consecutive years of T-shirts. (Must be present with shirts to win.) The party is at Lanier Park on Buford Dam Road from 1 – 4 pm. Lanier Park is a quarter of a mile east of the Dam Store on Buford Dam Road.

We appreciate all your efforts and thank you for twenty years of support!

Corps to hold public meeting

Mark your calendars for October 29 when the US Army Corps of Engineers will hold public scoping meetings as part of the update and review process for its Water Control Manual for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin.  In our area, your opportunity to comment on Lake Lanier’s role and needs will be at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville from 5 – 8 pm on October 29.  The meeting is a open house format and there will be the opportunity to record and deliver your opinions.
Complete information on all meetings

Vicki Barnhorst
Executive Director

20th Annual Shore Sweep – September 27, 2008

Dear List Members:

The Lake Lanier Association will hold its twentieth Annual Shore Sweep on September 27, 2008 at thirteen locations around the Lake Lanier :

Aqualand Marina · Bald Ridge Marina

Beaver Ruin Rd, Cumming (between 4 YD and 5 YD)

Old 53 road bed (north of Lanier Bridge, east side)

Clarks Bridge Park · Gainesville Marina

Habersham Marina  · Holiday Marina

Lake Lanier Islands · Lanier Harbor Marina

Sunrise Cove Marina · Port Royale Marina

War Hill Park

The event will take place from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., and volunteers may pick up bags to collect trash from the shoreline at one of the designated sites on the lake.  In return for a full bag of trash, the volunteers will receive either a free 20th Anniversary T-shirt or, for scouts, a Shore Sweep 2008 patch, and an invitation to the Shore Sweep volunteer appreciation party which will take place after the 20th Annual Shore Sweep on September 27 at Lanier Park on Buford Dam Road.

Please note that most boat ramps are closed and that large items cannot be left in the water at sites for pick up later. With the help of Martin Docks and Marine Specialties, we have made special arrangements for the disposal of large items collected by boat.

Hall County :Large items may be taken by boat only to a dumpster at the Old Highway 53 road bed in Hall County; this is first cove on the right after Lanier Bridge heading north.

Dawson County: Dawson County volunteers will be using a work barge donated by Marine Specialties in Gainesville to collect large items of trash between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 am on September 27 at ‘Deer Island,’ across from Athens Boat Club.   Dawson County organizers are forming individual volunteer work teams to collect trash either north of Deer Island or immediately south of Deer Island which will then be placed on the barge Saturday morning.  Volunteers are needed to work either on the morning of Shore Sweep or to help out on one of the three days preceding Shore Sweep.  For more information on volunteering for Shore Sweep in Dawson County, please email dawsonshoresweep@cs.com.

Forsyth County:  take large items to the end of Beaver Ruin Road in Forsyth County on the south side of Young Deer Creek between markers 4 and 5.

Please note that Marine Specialties barges will be in the vicinity of the Hall and Forsyth sites for boaters to transfer heavy and large items of trash.  Please take tires to one of these sites for appropriate disposal.

The Lake Lanier Association is holding special contests for volunteers at the appreciation party and is asking them to bring their T-shirts from past years to the party where organizers will be awarding prizes for those with T-shirt from the earliest year, and to the person with the most consecutive year T-shirts.  Party attendees will enjoy free food and beverages, entertainment and a chance to win raffle prizes.

The Lake Lanier Association thanks Dawson County, Keep Forsyth County Beautiful, Hall County, J & J Disposal, Martin Docks, Marine Specialties and Bridgestone for their commitment to Shore Sweep and their assistance with trash collection and disposal.  A complete list of sponsors can be seen on the Shore Sweep flyer on our Web site, http://www.lakelanier.org/ev_ss_lla_shore_sweep.php

We thank all the dedicated Shore Sweep volunteers for their participation and support and look forwarding to seeing them again on September 27!

For more information, please contact the office at 770-503-7757.

____________________________________________________________________________

Native Gardening Workshop, September 22

Please note that a few seats remain at the association’s first Native Gardening Workshop on September 22 at 6:15 pm at the North Georgia Community Foundation, 615 Oak Street, Gainesville.  For more information, visit http://llanews.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/native-plant-workshop-september-22-2008/

Vicki Barnhorst
770-503-7757