Re: NANFA-- River Use Issues in GA/AL/FL

Roselawn Museum (roselawn_at_mindspring.com)
Fri, 15 Dec 2000 08:43:47 -0500

Bruce

At least they scrapped the idea of pumping water from Lake Allatoona to
save Lake Lanier!

Steven A. Ellis
Kennesaw, GA
(lining up with Ray & Bruce as a fan of Pres. Bush)

At 10:06 PM 12/14/00 -0500, you wrote:
>On a more serious note than whether or not Moon drinks mouthwash in the
>swamps, an AP article appeared in today's Huntsville Times in Huntsville,
>AL, entitled "Alabama, Georgia agree to share one river basin." There's an
>ongoing dispute between AL & GA, also involving FL, about rights to the
>water in the Coosa/Tallapoosa/Alabama River basin, and also in the
>Appalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint River basin.
>
>This is some serious politics that is not immediately connected to electoral
>politics. Basically, Atlanta, GA, is growing so fast that it's sponging up
>all of the regional water resources that it can, not unlike Los Angeles and
>Las Vegas over the past 100 years in the southwest. This means damning
>rivers and forming reservoirs, a process usually detrimental to indigenous
>fishes and aquatic ecosystems. Alabama is concerned about flow in the Coosa
>River, esp., since the upper reaches of the Coosa in GA have largely been
>turned into the Carters and Allatoona "lakes". This leads to water flow
>problems in the Coosa in AL, which in truth is partially damned already such
>as the Weiss Reservoir in Cherokee County which has flooded the lower Little
>River.
>
>So whether you're like me and think George W is an unmitigated dope, or
>others on this list (Hi, Ray & Bruce!) who think otherwise, this kind of
>struggle over water rights & uses is where much of the political action is
>at for native fishes. This kind of public works vandalism is more pronounced
>in the southwest, but even in well-watered AL/GA it's an issue. There is
>Federal jurisdiction over these issues, but it's usually negotiated between
>states. Habitat alteration from these projects is usually profound and
>awful, unless you think substantial public resources should be put into
>supporting largemouth bass populations (which I doubt anyone on this list
>supports...).
>
>So, just a thought; there's politics, and then there's politics.
>
>--Bruce Stallsmith
>Huntsville, AL
>
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>
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/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily / reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes / Association" / This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association / nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word / subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to / nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to / nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. / For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org