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Flows to RESTORE the Bay

Flows to RESTORE the Bay. Mitchell Reid, JD Alabama Rivers Alliance www.AlabamaRivers.org. Leveraging the RESTORE Act for Restoring the Freshwater Balance in Alabama’s Gulf Coast Watersheds. The Gulf Coast Region. The Gulf Coast region is vital to our Nation and our economy,

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Flows to RESTORE the Bay

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  1. Flows to RESTORE the Bay Mitchell Reid, JD Alabama Rivers Alliance www.AlabamaRivers.org Leveraging the RESTORE Act for Restoring the Freshwater Balance in Alabama’s Gulf Coast Watersheds

  2. The Gulf Coast Region • The Gulf Coast region is vital to our Nation and our economy, • providing valuable energy resources, abundant seafood, extraordinary beaches and recreational activities, and a rich cultural heritage. • Its waters and coasts are home to one of the most diverse environments in the world – including over 15,000 species of sea life. • Over twenty-two million Americans live in Gulf coastal counties – working in crucial U.S. industries like commercial seafood, shipping, tourism, and oil and gas production. • The region also boasts ten of America’s fifteen largest ports allowing for nearly a trillion dollars in trade each year. • Despite the tremendous importance of the Gulf Coast region, the ecological health of the region has been significantly impacted. • The Gulf Coast States have experienced loss of critical wetland habitats, erosion of barrier islands, imperiled fisheries, water quality degradation, and significant coastal land loss due to the alteration of hydrology and other human activities. • Amplifying these issues, the Gulf Coast region has endured significant natural and man-made catastrophes in the last decade, including major hurricanes such as Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

  3. Alabama Rivers Alliance • ARA is a non-profit conservation organization • dedicated to the restoration and protection of the waters of the State of Alabama • We represent over 800 individual members and 60 watershed groups throughout the state including many in the coastal zone of Alabama • Our work is described in the Alabama Water Agenda which is available at www.alabamarivers.org. • Development of a sustainable restoration plan for the Gulf Coast region is an important component of ARA’s efforts to develop comprehensive and sustainable water management policy for Alabama

  4. Alabama’s Water Resources • Over 77,000 miles of rivers and streams and roughly 14% of the freshwater flow in the continental United States. • Alabama’s rivers provide an essential portion of the freshwater flows to the Gulf Coast region. • These flows are critical to the functioning of the Gulf Coast ecosystems and economy. • Restoration and the sustainable management of Alabama’s freshwater resources is an essential component of each of the Council’s restoration goals. • Getting the flows right in Alabama is particularly important to the Council’s objective to “Restore, Improve, and Protect Water Resources” and the goals of restoring and conserving Gulf Coast habitats and restoring water quality

  5. The Mobile Bay Watershed • Covers approximately 65% of the State of Alabama and portions of Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. • Includes the Tombigbee - Black Warrior and Alabama- Coosa – Tallapoosa (ACT) Systems • Sixth largest in the nation by area with the fourth largest freshwater inflow on the North American continent. • Flow is almost completely controlled by Federal Projects of the Corps of Engineers and FERC

  6. The Choctawhatchee Watershed • Drains 5,349 square miles, of which 41 percent is in Florida • 3.4 million acre watershed is known for its abundant and diverse aquatic life and coastal dune lakes.

  7. The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) Watershed • Spans Georgia, southeastern Alabama, and northwestern Florida, covering 19,800 square miles • For over two decades, there have been periodic conflicts over water resources in the ACF River Basin among Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and other stakeholders that depend on the river system for public supply, industry, power generation, and agriculture • On August 12, 2013, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker made the declaration of a commercial fishery failure for Apalachicola Bay

  8. Importance of Freshwater flow in Gulf Region Recovery • “[the] Gulf Coast States have experienced loss of critical wetland habitats, erosion of barrier islands, imperiled fisheries, water quality degradation, and significant coastal land loss due to the alteration of hydrology and other human activities.” (Path Forward at 1 italics added) • Ecosystem restoration encompasses “all activities… appropriate to the health and resilience of the Gulf Coast ecosystem….” Successful projects or programs should address the underlying causes of degradation to the “physical, biological, or chemical properties” of these ecosystem, or the services they provide. (Draft at 11, italics added) • Freshwater inflow is essential to the physical, chemical, and biological health of Gulf Coast ecosystems. • These ecosystems depend on a very fine balance of saltwater and freshwater conditions (Alber and Flory, 2002); and alterations to flows upstream can lead to ecosystem collapse as seen in Apalachicola Bay in 2012. • A 1994 study of freshwater requirements for Texas’ bays found that the seasonal timing of freshwater inflows were the most important factor for healthy estuarine environments. (Longley, W.L.,ed. 1994.) • Significant gaps in the science for understanding the role of freshwater flows in Alabama generally and on the Mobile Bay in particular. • 2004 TNC assessment of the Mobile Bay Delta, “many critical gaps” in the scientific information (Braun, David P., 2004)

  9. Importance of Freshwater flow in Gulf Region Recovery • Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Task Force • December 2011 report - Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy • recommended • prioritizing ecosystem restoration in the Gulf of Mexico by fully considering “social, environmental and economic outcomes…in all river management decisions”, • improving the “quality and quantity of freshwater flows into priority estuaries” • and restoring and preserving “more natural river processes of sediment and freshwater distribution” • Ensuring that social, environmental and economic outcomes be fully considered in all river management decisions, and placed on equal footing with other river management priorities such as navigation and flood damage risk reduction. • These were identified as “specific actions that require the most immediate attention.” • The Task Force also identified other actions, such as restoring and protecting oyster and coral reefs, which have a direct nexus to the management of freshwater flows into the region.

  10. Roadblocks • Critical lack of Science • Alabama does not currently have a water management program • The State does not establish and protect environmental flows • Federal agencies with ongoing actions in Alabama, such as the Corps of Engineers’ development of a Water Control Manual for the ACT or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) relicensing of hydropower projects on the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, are not coordinating their activities in such a way as to provide sustainable flows for the Gulf systems.

  11. RESTORE ACT • Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 • Provides for planning and resources for a regional approach to the long-term health of the valuable natural ecosystems and economy of the Gulf Coast region. • Monumental opportunity • Mitigate the damages to this important region from the Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill • Restore and protect our Gulf Coast going forward. • Process is established on the principles of State and Federal cooperation and is attempting to coordinate agency actions toward common goals.

  12. RESTORE Act • Dedicates 80% of any civil and administrative penalties paid under the Clean Water Act in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (the Trust Fund) for ecosystem restoration, economic recovery, and tourism promotion in the Gulf Coast region • Ultimate amount that may be available to the Trust Fund and the timing of their availability are currently unknown. • January 3, 2013, Transocean Deepwater Inc. agreed to pay $1 billion in civil penalties for violating the Clean Water Act in relation to their conduct in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

  13. RESTORE Act • Establishes the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (the Council) • Develop and oversee implementation of a Comprehensive Plan and carrying out other responsibilities. • The Council is chaired by the Secretary of Commerce and includes the Governors of the States of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Army, Homeland Security and the Interior, and the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. • The Council has oversight over the expenditure of 60% of the funds made available from the Trust Fund. • 30% - restoration and protection according to the Comprehensive Plan developed by the Council. • 30% - allocated to the States according to a formula set forth in the RESTORE Act • Individual State expenditure plans that contribute the overall economic and ecological recovery of the Gulf. – must be consistent with the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan and are subject to the Council’s approval.

  14. Ecosystem Restoration • “Foster a stronger, healthier, and more resilient Gulf Coast region.” • Council’s commitment • “select and fund projects and programs that restore and protect the natural resources, ecosystems, water quality, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of the Gulf Coast region” • ensure that the Plan is based on the “best available science and can be adapted over time to incorporate new science, information, and changing conditions.” • “Aregional approach to restoration more effectively leverages the resources of the Gulf Coast and promotes holistic Gulf Coast recovery”.

  15. Think Big • In developing a comprehensive plan the Council is to “give highest priority” to projects that will “make the greatest contribution to restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of the Gulf Coast region”, and large-scale projects that will “substantially contribute to restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of the Gulf Coast ecosystem.” (33 U.S.C. 1321(t)(2)(D)(iii)(I) et seq) • Considering the impacts to the Gulf region from hydrologic alteration, developing state and interstate water management programs are just the type of landscape scale activities that are among a limited number of activities that will meet the “greatest contribution” standard. • Successful water management programs will also meet the second criteria by providing the freshwater flows critical to every facet of restoration and protection of the Gulf Coast’s natural resources. The Council should prioritize funding for such programs and stipulate management for freshwater flows be included in local, state, or regional restoration plans.

  16. Restoring Freshwater Flow through the RESTORE Act • One of the Council’s objectives is “improving the management of freshwater flows, discharges to and withdrawals from critical systems” • In response to public comments, the Council modified the title of Objective Two to, “Restore, Improve, and Protect Water Resources” to eliminate confusion. • Most projects being discussed are on-the-ground activities within the immediate coastal region (e.g. 100-1000 Restore Coastal Alabama project ) • unclear how successful local projects can be without addressing the underlying problems associated with hydrologic alteration • Flows and the impact that alteration of these flows has had on the region • Big Picture Projects • focused on managing freshwater flows into the region. • Comprehensive water management programs at the state and interstate level • meaningful freshwater flow protections in federal activities are fundamental to Without such programs, hydrologic alteration of freshwater flows will continue to degrade Gulf Coast ecosystems despite the money spent on restoration projects. • River restoration and dam removal projects upland within the watershed should be favorably evaluated for their benefit to providing more natural freshwater flows to the Gulf Coast region.

  17. Statewide Opportunity • Criteria: • For those projects that will “make the greatest contribution” to restoration and protectiontheCouncil may allocate funds “without regard to geographic location within the Gulf Coast region” • For all other projectstheCouncil may allocate funds in the Coastal Zone, including federal lands, and “any adjacent land, water, and watersheds, that are within 25 miles of the coastal zones" • “The Plan reflects the manner in which the term “Gulf Coast region” is defined in the RESTORE Act. Based on the language in the Act, the Council is in the process of outlining a more detailed description of the geographic scope and anticipates providing additional detail in the future.” • Additionally, the Council must approve state restoration plans in accordance with 33 U.S.C. 1321(t)(1)(B), which provides for activities intended for the “[r]estoration and protection of the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of the Gulf Coast region.” The geographic limits of such activities or programs are the same as those described above. • Alabama’s “watersheds… that are within 25 miles of the coastal zones”: • Mobile Delta/Bay Watershed(Tombigbee-Black Warrior and ACT Basins) • ACF watershed, • Choctawhatchee Bay Watershed (Choctawhatchee and Pea Rivers) • Pensacola Bay Watershed (Conecuh, Sepulga, Yellow Rivers) • EscatawpaRiver watershed, Perdido Bay Watershed • Projects in the Tennessee River watershed would need to meet the more stringent “greatest contribution” criteria or be linked to the greater Mississippi River watershed.

  18. Recommendations • As a member of the RESTORE Council, Alabama should ensure that the Recovery Plan : • 1. Clarifies that freshwater flow studies can be undertaken in order to establish baseline conditions and freshwater flow requirements from the watersheds in the Gulf Coast region. • 2. Specifically acknowledges that state and interstate landscape scale water management programs that will demonstrably contribute to the long term sustainability of freshwater flows to the Gulf region are eligible for funding under the Plan. • Interstate watershed management and cooperation should be encouraged through prioritization of programs that address interstate flow issues over programs that address flows solely within state boundaries • 3. Links, whenever possible, habitat restoration projects, with other projects or programs aimed at addressing freshwater flow issues. • 4. Includes a strategy to coordinate federal activities that will impact freshwater flows into the Gulf Coast region or the successful implementation of approved projects, including ongoing efforts by the Corps of Engineers to update the water control manuals for the ACT and ACF watersheds and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s licensing or relicensing of hydropower facilities on the Black Warrior, Alabama, Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Chattahoochee Rivers. • 6. Implements the Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force’s recommendation that social, environmental and economic outcomes be fully considered in all river management decisions, and placed on equal footing with other river management priorities such as navigation and flood damage risk reduction.

  19. Ongoing Activities • Alabama Water Agencies Working Group is developing a recommendation for a Comprehensive Statewide Water Management Plan for Governor Bentley due on December 1st, 2013 • Mobile Bay Healthy Watersheds Assessment (US EPA and Mobile Bay NEP) • Florida Watershed Workshops (TNC-Florida, Local Governments)

  20. “My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call.” ― Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides Mitchell Reid, JD Alabama Rivers Alliance 2027 2nd Ave N. Birmingham, Al 35203 205-322-6395 mreid@alabamarivers.org

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