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ACT/ACF River Basin Compact: What Have We Learned? Roger A. Burke
Published: 1/9/2005
2004 Southeast Watershed Roundtable Presentaion Click here for full agenda
The water resources of the Alabama, Coosa, and Tallapoosa River Basin, which drains over 22,000 square miles of Georgia and Alabama, and the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint River Basin, which drains almost 20,000 square miles of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, have been extensively developed to address human needs. Agents of this development have been both federal and non-federal. It is important to recognize that demands on these river systems have changed since the original Congressional authorizations for the development these water resources. Municipal and industrial water supply, recreation, water quality, and threatened and endangered species have gained in importance in the years since authorization. Against the backdrop of this evolution in demands, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), in 1989, prepared reports recommending reallocation of storage in existing multi-purpose reservoirs from hydro-power to municipal and industrial water supply. The State of Alabama, located downstream of some of the major federal hydropower structures on these rivers, filed a lawsuit in 1990 challenging the adequacy of the National Environmental Policy Act process and documentation addressing the proposed reallocations. In the ensuing six years the States of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia participated with the Corps in conducting a comprehensive water resources review. Then in 1997, these states adopted Interstate River Basin Compacts that gave the States the authority to negotiate water allocation formulas for the two basins. Those two Compacts have now expired, and the original 1990 Alabama litigation has been resumed. Based on these experiences this presentation will address some lessons which may be of use as we all turn to address the future of interstate watershed management.
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