ACF STAKEHOLDERS

Working Together to Share A Common Resource

Many Diverse Basin Interests

ACFS MissionTo change the operation and management of

the ACF Basin to achieve:

Equitable solutions among stakeholders that balance economic, ecological, and social values

Viable solutions that ensure that the entire ACF Basin is a sustainable resource for current and future generations.

ACF STAKEHOLDERS Working Together to Share a Common Resource

2011 ACF Stakeholder Accomplishments

Charter Change Expanding Executive Committee from 4 to 8 Members – 2 from each Subbasin

Hired Nationally Respected FacilitatorExpanded Contract for Administration Services

w/Flint River Water Planning CenterFive Year Planning Program 2011 Annual PlanSustainable Water Management Plan RFQSustainable Water Management Plan RFPFundraising Plan ($1,000,000)Education-Outreach Plan

Five Year Planning Program:Goals, Objectives, and Plan Implementation Strategy

1. Ensure and/or maintain adequate water supplies for public supply/municipal uses including wastewater assimilation needs of current and projected future populations.

2. Maintain existing and promote future economic/commercial interests’ water availability and access for water dependent industries, power generation and recreational interests.

3. Promote the optimization of the use of water for agriculture irrigation including: type of irrigation technology, selection of crops, sustainable and resource-based permitting and water withdrawal monitoring.

4. Determine the nature and extent of commercial navigation that the ACF System can effectively support.

5. Protect the natural systems and ecology of the ACF Basin by defining and implementing desired flow regimes and lake levels, water quality enhancements, including wastewater and stormwater management and best management practices to maintain a healthy natural system and support a productive aquatic ecosystem in the Basin and the estuary.

6. Create and support relationships with local governmental institutions and other public bodies within the ACF Basin to promote sustainability of the water resources and also to enhance the historical and cultural resources of the basin related to the management of its water resources.

 ACFS 2011 ANNUAL PLAN

Priority Actions That Can Be Accomplished Within Current Resources

1. Develop and submit consensus comments to the draft USACE water control manual when released, submit consensus comments on the regional Georgia water plans when released, recommend that Alabama engage in water resource planning, and begin to review Florida water management plans, as they affect the ACF Basin;

2. Seek opportunities and provide consensus recommendations to the Governors of the States of Alabama, Florida and Georgia, either in the context of implementation of Judge Magnuson’s rulings in the Tri-States Water Rights Litigation or related to other interstate agreements;

3. Create a “best practices” report, based on information collected from members representing all applicable interests and geographic regions within the basin regarding current activities designated to improve water quality and increase conservation and water use efficiency.

4. Create acceptance of the value of our grass-roots, basin-wide ACFS organization among key national, regional and state decision-makers, including elected officials;

ACFS 2011 ANNUAL PLAN Priority Actions That Can Be Accomplished Within Current Resources

5. Develop an overarching Five-Year Planning Program, a conceptual guide or organizational “roadmap” of the long-term aspirations and commitments of the organization.

6. Develop and implement a fundraising strategy for priority action items.

7. Begin to investigate institutional options for basin-wide water resources planning and management.

8. Evaluate options for sustainable, paid organizational support and management of ACFS.

9. Build on the needs matrices developed to date and engage in a dialogue that helps members understand one another’s needs further and begins to define approaches for coming to a consensus on how the basin should be managed.

 ACFS 2011 ANNUAL PLAN

2011 Priority Actions Needing Funds and Implementation Plans

10. Initiate a sustainable water resource management assessment to develop an impartial, inclusive and transparent process to define the water quantity and quality needs of the basin stakeholders, evaluate alternative water management scenarios, and reach consensus on one or more management alternatives; and

11. Initiate an independent, science-based in-stream flow assessment to identify the flow regime and lake levels necessary to sustain the physical, biological, and chemical integrity and health of the ACF System.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND COST QUOTATIONS

PROJECT TITLE: Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River System Sustainable Water Management Plan for ACF Stakeholder, Inc.

Location: Alabama, Florida, Georgia within the ACF Basin

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS AND COST QUOTATIONS

PROJECT SUMMARY The ACF Stakeholders (ACFS) is soliciting proposals, and

cost quotations from highly skilled consultants with experience in water management issue resolution to provide independent, impartial, technical services to assist ACFS in developing and reaching consensus on an executable Sustainable Water Management Plan and implementation strategies for the ACF Basin.

•Address how ecosystems evolve from natural water flows and support the needs for an ecosystem flow guideline for stable resource values, U.S. fish and wildlife resources, and endangered species considerations (Duncan & Tucker, 2011).

•Plans should address historic knowledge from studies on water-level declines and effects on floodplain habitats downstream (Darst & Light, 2008; Light, Vincent, Darst, & Price, 2006).

Better Sustainability through Tri-State Cooperative Plans

• Improved sustainability includes careful ACF Basin case study research and comparative analyses to other successful regional and/or international sustainable water management plans (Richter, Matthews, Harrison, & Wigington, 2003).

• “Agroecosystem” approach advocated by UNEP, IWMI, & partners – interconnections between ecosystems services and agriculture to improve sustainability. (World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011; Simonsen, August 22, 2011)

Consider other successful Regional and/or International plans

Next Steps

Appeal of Magnuson ruling on water from Lake LanierGeorgia Water Plan commentsUSACE publishes draft Water Control Manual for

commentsACFS Sustainable Water Management PlanFundraising and Membership Drives

Please Join Us!

Visit www.acfstakeholders.org for moreDetails

References

Darst, M. R., and Light, H. M. (2008). Drier forest composition associated with hydrologic change in the Apalachicola River floodplain, Florida:

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008-5062, p. 81, http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5062/

Duncan, W. and Tucker, S. (2011). The Ecological imperative for ecosystem flow guideline development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, presentation, ACF Stakeholders, May 18, 2011.

Light, H. M., Vincent, K. R., Darst, M. R., and Price, F. D. (2006). Water-level decline in the Apalachicola River, Florida, from 1954 to 2004, and effects on floodplain habitats: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5173, p. 83,

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5173/ Odum, H. T. (2007). Environment, Power, and Society for the Twenty-first

Century: The Hierarchy of Energy, New York: Columbia University Press, p. 9.Richter, B. D., Matthews, R., Harrison, D. L., & Wigington, R. (2003).

Ecologically sustainable water management: Managing river flows for ecological integrity, Ecological Applications, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 206-224.