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<br />February 2003 . <br /> <br />ECOLOGICALLY SUSTAINABLE WATER M~NAOEMBNT <br /> <br />221 <br /> <br />concerns or preferences, and collaborate in 8 seat.ch for <br />solutions. <br />Steps 1 and 2 of our fran1ework direotly address two <br />of the biggest obstacles encountered in the ACF basin <br />negotiations: tack of agreelnent on ecosystem flow re- ' <br />quirements and the implied limits 011' hunlan uses re- <br />sulting from these, and lack of agreelnent on current <br />and projected water uses. Without woll.defined, agreed <br />upon ql.lantification of ecosystell1 flow requirelnellts <br />and hum~n .uses, each party eva'luated the potential in- <br />cOll1patibilities differently, Thi~ limited the abi~ity to <br />focus a creative search for solutions." " <br />In the absence of ag'l.eement 011 ecosystem flow re- <br />quirelnel1ts and water \lse projectionsj the states con., <br />strticted proposals that focused on the desired net flows <br />(and associated recurrence intorvals) at selected places <br />in the basin~ For ins,tance, the Florida negotiators fo.. <br />cus+ed on franling the watel~ allocation formula in a <br />lnanner that would lninilnally impair the natural flow <br />regime of the ADalachicola River, and in this effort <br />they were quite suocessful (Fig. 6). Their proposal in- <br />c~udes a cap o~ total water withdra'Yals from the Chat. <br />tahoochee.River in tHe Atlanta area, and it dictates how <br />mU,ch water must be released from the reservoirs for <br />.. do?,nstrea1}l ecosysten'l support ac_cording~ to weekly <br />- reservoir storage levels. Th e Florida proposal also in- <br />cludes some important commitments to adaptive lnan- <br />agement (see 0 [](J([I([][][D[ OUIID 0 DOOCmJ 0 ODDOrn <br />o me). <br /> <br />o OJ]]] 0 00000] rno [[[JD:DD moo <br /> <br />While Inillions .of dollars and many years of effort <br />have gO~le il1t~ developing a set of ~ata- and tools for <br />"building the wa.ter allocation forn'1ufa. there remain <br />some areas of llnce=rtainty that have frustrated the <br />states ~ efforts to reach agreement. These uncertainties <br />include the alnOl..1nt of water pres"ently being used as <br />well as projected water uses; the effects of alternative <br />reservoir operating plans on lake levels, hydropower <br />generation, ftshelies, and na.vigation; potential res1?ons.. <br />es of the river eposystem and individual species of <br />concern to alterations in the flow regime; and p~ysical <br />relationships between groundwater revels, agricultural <br />pumping, and river flows in the FIintRiver qasin, which" <br />strongly affeqts Georgia.'s ability to meet flow targets <br />in the 'Apalachicola River at ~he Florida state line dur.. <br />ing droughts. <br />SOLne 0 f these uncertainties can be addressed with <br />additional investment in data gathering or short-term <br />research. For exalllplef the Georgia Environmental'Pro- <br />tection"DepartnH~;nt (EPD) is 'collducting a "Sound Sci. <br />ence Study" in the Flint River basin to fu~thel' under- <br />standing of the groundwater/surface water relation- <br />ships~ Other uncertainties)" including growth in future <br />water demands and ecological responses to water man':' <br />agementt are best addressed through design and in'l- <br />plementation of an adaptive n18nagenlent plan, dis- <br />cussed next. Two major areas of uncertainty, reservoir <br /> <br />operafiollS and groulldwater managen'lent in the Flint · <br />River; basin, are ideally suited fOl. experimentation. ,. <br />Th$ Arn1Y Corps of Engineers is 'beginning an as.. <br />sessnient of needed modifications in its UWater Control <br />Plan" for the major reservoirs in the ACF basin. Rather <br />than attempting to dev~lop a long-tern1. plan of oper.. <br />ation~ at this time, the. Corps could instead design its <br />oper~ting plans 'as short..terrf (i.e~t 5-10 yr) experi.. <br />ment~. Such experiments would test the plan's ability <br />to he(p meet ecosystem flow requireme.nts while keep- <br />ing o~her performance indicators, including take level <br />fluct~ations and hydropower generation, within target- ' <br />ed ra~ges. <br />Th~ Flint River Drought Protection Act of 2000 <br />migh~ offer a viable solution to reduce agricultural wa- <br />ter use in certain years and thereby enable the ecosys. <br />.tem ijow requirements to be met during droughts. This" <br />act aitthonzes payments from the state of Georgia to <br />farm~rs that curtail irrigation on selected areas when <br />the EPD "declares a drought.by 1 Ma.roh. Each drought <br />peridd can be viewed as an experiment to test the state's <br />ability to reduce water use tq the level that.Flint River <br />and state line flow requirements call be attained;, If each <br />such; experhnent is designed and evaluated carefullYt <br />water ll'lanagers win be able to determine the aln'ount. '~_'..l. <br />of in;igation compatible with ecosystem flow require- <br />mentis during drought. <br /> <br />" oooornm 0 ODOo.OJ ma <br /> <br />B~cat1se of uncertainties in both future water de.. <br />mands ,and ecosystem flow requitem~nts, it is highly <br />inad~isable to make any water allocation formulaJm- ., -" <br />mut~b]e. Numerous parties thL.oughout the ne-gotia.tion~ - <br />have: advocated for managfng the ACF basin adaptively <br />and ~'inctuding provisions in the al1ocati~n fonnula <br />agre~meot to a~dre8s it. The sta.tes) proposals include <br />sOln~ key elements of adaptive management. <br />l.~ 0 [][[[I]DOITJ.--The Florida proposal calls for. cre- <br />ating a Scientific Advisory Panel that will recommel'ld- <br />a ,set of ecosysteITI; performance indic.ators and a pro- <br />gran) for evaluating whether they are being maintained <br />in s~tisfactory conditio"ot The Scjentific Advisory Pan.el c <br />will! also be responsible f01' "t"ecoulmel1ding modifica- <br />tiori$ to the monitoring progl:am as needed. Addition- <br />ally; an ACF Committee will include represent~tives <br />frOll) the states and federal agencies. The committee" <br />wiU~ oversee rilonitor:ing of all ecosystem pel'forn1~lce <br />indibators~ create an electrol1ic database available to' <br />the ipublic~ and make recommendations for needed <br />tec~ical studies or additional data collection. " <br />2; DOOO(]JOmm.-The state p~oposals include no <br />spetHl~ mechanis111 for ~odifying the interstate ,flow <br />allo~atLon formula or refilling water managelnellt based <br />on tesults of the lTIanitoring ptogram. However, the <br />Flo~ida proposal calls for the issuance of a performance <br />roport to the public before the 10th and 25th all11iver- <br />sari:es of the agreement After cOl\ducting public hear-" <br />ing~ on these repOl-ts, the ACF COlntnission is to" pub... <br />