Stand Up For Apalichicola River & Bay AUG 13

[Teresa]

Press Conference and Rally

Stand Up For the Apalachicola River & Bay

A citizens’ rally in support of the Apalachicola River and Bay will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday on the steps of the Franklin County Courthouse. The U.S. Senate committee field hearing will follow at 11 a.m. at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex, 34 Forbes St., Apalachicola.

WHEN: Tuesday, August13, 2013, 10 a.m., in advance of Senate Committee Hearing

WHERE: Franklin County Courthouse Annex Building, 34 Forbes Street, Suite 2, Apalachicola, FL 32320

PRESS CONFERENCE: Invited speakers include representatives from the Apalachicola seafood industry, local and regional conservation groups, and state, city and county elected officials.

RALLY: The City of Apalachicola and the Apalachicola Chamber of Commerce have declared Aug. 13 “Stand Up For the Apalachicola River & Bay.” Citizens from the region are being encouraged to attend the event.

SENATE COMMITTEE HEARING: The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold afield hearing in Apalachicola, Florida to examine the impacts of decreased water flows on the Apalachicola Bay and surrounding industries. The hearing is titled, “Effects of Water Flows on Apalachicola Bay: Short and Long Term Perspectives.” The Committee hearing starts at 11:00. Senator Nelson will be chairing the hearing and Senator Rubio and Representative Steve Southerland have announced they will be in attendance at this hearing.

ABOUT THE BAY:The Apalachicola River has the highest documented biodiversity of any river system in North America. Apalachicola Bay has been recognized as an exceptionally valuable estuarine system, playing a major role in supporting a billion dollar offshore seafood industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Apalachicola Bay produces over 90% of the oyster harvest in Florida and over 13% of the nation’s oyster production. Mismanagement of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is starving the Apalachicola River and Bay of the fresh water they need to survive, most recently causing the Bay’s oyster population to collapse devastating the regiona l economy and causing untold harm to the many people who rely on a healthy River and Bay for their livelihoods and their way of life.

Members ofthe media are encouraged to arrive early, as parking will be limited.

 

[Teresa]

Not "About SoWal" but so many South Walton residents are Apalachicola lovers...

more news...

Apalachicola River water woes take center stage

U.S. Senate hearing offers 'unprecedented opportunity'

Florida Congressional leaders will be in Apalachicola on Tuesday for a U.S. Senate committee field hearing on the impact of historic-low freshwater flows that have left the Apalachicola River parched and its famed oyster-producing bay devastated.
U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, both members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, are to be on hand to hear testimony about the crippled state of the river basin and bay. U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland and other state and local elected officials are expected to attend the hearing, which will be transcribed and entered into the committee record as Congress contemplates long-term solutions to an intransigent, decades-old three-state water war.

Those fighting to see changes in upstream water management policies say the hearing is an “unprecedented opportunity” to state their case to federal lawmakers who have the power to change the way water is allocated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through its control of five dams in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin. The 19,300-square-mile basin extends north from Florida, includes parts of eastern Alabama and encompasses much of Georgia’s vast agricultural fields and thirsty Atlanta.
“It’s an opportunity that is not going to come around again in our lifetime,” said Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s Dan Tonsmeire, who will be among experts testifying Tuesday. “We hope to bring a large crowd out so the senators and Rep. Southerland can see for themselves how important this issue is to our whole region. To save the bay, Congress has to act.”

Said Franklin County oysterman Shannon Hartsfield: “Hopefully something will come out of this. We know last year was bad, and this year is going to be worse.”

more... read story at Tallahassee.com

A citizens’ rally in support of the Apalachicola River and Bay will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday on the steps of the Franklin County Courthouse.
The U.S. Senate committee field hearing will follow at 11 a.m. at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex, 34 Forbes St., Apalachicola.