GLUE Members Report – November 12, 2010

We finally have initial movement on the lake level issue. In a GRDA news release, see below, the authority has petitioned the Grand Lake Technical Committee for their support of a rule curve amendment. Although the release describes the meeting as the annual gathering of the group, I believe this was most likely a special meeting orchestrated by Easley and Company to address this issue. If you will read the release carefully, the initiative is really for a new approach to managing the Grand Lake level.

It calls for replacement of the rule curve with discretionary management up to the 745’ level, which is surprising. Is this approach something they feel might realistically be achieved or lip service since they know it will never be accepted by the FERC? Time will tell, but this announcement has to be encouraging. The release also confirms the development of a memorandum of understanding between the authority and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife to use recent land acquisitions for off-site mitigation to replace the millet seeding program.

At a minimum, there seems to be an agreement not to lower the lake until after the Labor Day weekend. I’ll be contacting some of our wildlife friends today for their take on the meeting. Regardless of whether you’re a Joe Harwood fan or not, he deserves an “Atta Boy” for his recent focus on this issue. Forcing the hand of politicians at both the state and federal level has definitely been a factor in recent developments.

As most of our members know by now, I kicked off an online site, www.grandlakenewsonline.com, in July to address Grand Lake issues not being addressed in other places. I took the liberty of adding all of you to our e-mail distribution list. It will serve as a vehicle to provide our members with general information and published opinion pieces, but the old report format will be utilized for Members only information as in my comments about this release above. Our focus on the issues is currently being picked up and published by the Grand Laker Newspaper and the Grove Sun Daily. We distribute it to several other area publications and the Tulsa World.

Thanks again for your support and interest in Grand Lake.

GRDA Initiates Discussions On Possible License Amendments

The Grand River Dam Authority has initiated discussions on a possible license amendment to modify the Grand Lake rule curve.  At the annual Grand Lake Technical Committee meeting on Monday, November 8, GRDA Director of Ecosystems Dr. Darrell Townsend met with representatives from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Townsend polled committee members as to whether they would support an amendment that would grant GRDA operational discretion for Grand Lake elevations up to 745' and elimination of the rule curve requirement. GRDA believes this discretion will assist it in managing the delicate balance between varying lake-stakeholder interests including property values, recreational safety throughout the boating season, proper management of wildlife and fisheries resources and pre-release strategies.

Although the technical committee agreed to support delaying the annual drawdown of Grand Lake until after the 2011 Labor Day weekend, it would not consider a license amendment to permanently change the rule curve until further modeling and studies can be completed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

"GRDA has heard from members of the public who believe we should move in this direction," said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley, "but clearly, additional input will be needed from all stakeholders, including the residents of Ottawa County."

Additionally, GRDA and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to address conservation and restoration issues on recent GRDA land acquisitions along the Neosho River in Ottawa County. Future use of the acquired land will help alleviate the need for the annual lake drawdown and subsequent millet seeding program.

GRDA will be requesting additional information from the technical committee to clarify objectives for the land acquisitions and lake level modeling requested by the technical committee. Pensacola mitigation funds may be available to support subsequent modeling, but not all technical committee members are in agreement on funding options.

GRDA plans to contact the United States Army Corps of Engineers to determine the timeline and costs associated with rule curve modeling.