After months of harsh words and lawsuits, Florida has proposed an agreement to ease the conflict concerning controlling water flow in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.

In 1996, Alabama, Florida and Georgia agreed to develop and implement an interstate agreement to manage water in the ACF River Basin. The following year, legislation creating the ACF River Basin Interstate Compact was passed by the state legislatures, ratified by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by the President. The compact established a framework and timeline for developing an interstate agreement to allocate water from the shared river system.

However, over the past few years, the continuing drought situation and questionable decisions have made the situation more critical.

Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages water flow for the area, to ensure Georgia has the water he believes is required for the City of Atlanta. Meanwhile, others are calling for the water downstream.

Due to the severe drought, the water level in Georgia's Lake Lanier has drastically diminished. Lanier, a 38,500-acre reservoir, is the primary source of drinking water for Atlanta. Georgia officials want the Corps to increase the amount of drinking water provided from the present 131 million gallons per day to 297 mgd by 2030 due to the region's booming population growth.

Instead the Corps, which manages the reservoir, intends to use the additional water for hydroelectric power generation and to allow commercial navigation on the lower Chattahoochee River.

The Corps has also been sued by a coalition of 21 electric utilities requesting that Georgia cities and counties be charged more money for drinking water withdrawn from Lake Lanier. This suit was a major factor in Gov. Barnes' decision to take legal action.

The Corps proposed to cut flow out from the lake to the Chattahoochee River by 20 to 40% last summer to protect Lanier's dwindling water supply. However, the plan was placed on hold for at least a year due to a possible violation of the Federal Endangered Species Act. Florida officials and environmental groups said the proposed flow reduction would impact the wildlife, harm fish downstream in the Apalachicola River and oysters in Apalachicola Bay, and reduce electrical power to Florida.

Florida officials won their argument when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned the Corps that its proposal threatens two species of federally protected mussels in the Apalachicola River by leaving them dry in some areas. Under the ESA, the Corps must go through a formal consultation process to protect the mussels. It is hoped that the latest Florida proposal will settle many of these problems.

Gov. Barnes has formed an advisory committee to look at the basin compact, as well as a separate agreement regarding the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa Compact. This group will provide both technical and strategic advice as water allocation proposals are reviewed for the two basins.

The next ACF Commission meeting was set for June 14. If an agreement is reached, the commission may then commence a 60-day public comment period. Only after the comment period can the commission sign an agreement and forward it to the Federal Commissioner, who then has 255 days to accept or reject it prior to it becoming federal law.

Florida believes its plan fulfills water supply needs for all three states and will stabilize reservoir levels. It establishes minimum monthly flows at the Florida state line during normal and drought conditions, and minimum weekly flows for Columbus, GA.

The agreement calls for the establishment of an ACF Committee composed of three voting members, appointed by the governor of each state. All decisions and actions of the ACF Committee will require unanimous approval. The committee will also have non-voting members, which will include a representative from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Power Company, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a representative appointed by the Federal Commissioner.

The agreement develops a new water control plan by the Corps for the management of federal reservoirs in the ACF basin, and calls for the committee to establish a drought management plan for the basin.

Furthermore, the agreement calls for the regular monitoring and reporting of flow data, water quality data, reservoir elevations and releases, among others.

In addition, it establishes a Scientific Advisory Panel, consisting of twelve experts in the fields of hydrology, water quality, and biology. The panel is charged with reviewing data and making recommendations to the ACF Committee, including a process for enforcement of the allocation formula.

The ACF basin includes the three rivers and nearly 20,000 square miles of surrounding land.

The Chattahoochee River originates in North Georgia, moves southwest to Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta, and on to form at its western bank the Georgia-Alabama state-line at West Point Lake. The Chattahoochee continues on to the Florida border, where it meets Georgia's Flint River and becomes the Apalachicola River, which flows through the Panhandle and empties into the Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

In terms of the volume, the Apalachicola River is the largest river in Florida. The river and the surrounding expanses of undeveloped land provide a natural habitat for a large number of rare, threatened and endangered plant and animal species. The area around the upper reaches of the Apalachicola River has the highest species density of amphibians and reptiles on the continent north of Mexico. The Gulf Sturgeon, Gulf Striped Bass, and two endangered mussels are among the many species that use the river to spawn offspring.

Nationally recognized as one of the most important and productive estuaries in the country, the Apalachicola Bay is currently designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve, International Biosphere Reserve, a State Aquatic Preserve and a State Outstanding Florida Water. The bay supports an excellent recreational and commercial fishery - producing Florida's third largest shrimp harvest and 90% of the state's oysters, which is 10% of the national harvest. The local economy depends on the fishery, with annual seafood landings reaching millions of dollars dockside.