River flows cut to fight Southeast drought

By Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA (Reuters) - U.S. authorities began reducing on Friday the amount of water released down a key Georgia river system to conserve resources in the face of what they say is the worst drought in decades in the southeastern United States.

The decision was aimed at managing the effects of the drought and also resolving a sharp political dispute between the governors of Georgia, Alabama and Florida about how to share water resources.

Under the plan, the amount of water flowing south of the Woodruff Dam near Georgia's border with Alabama will be reduced to 4,750 cubic feet per second (cfs) from 5,000 cubic feet per second.

The decision would ensure there was enough water to serve the needs of communities and industries in the parts of Georgia, Alabama and Florida that depend on the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint rivers.

It would also not adversely affect endangered species in Florida's northwestern Panhandle region which depend on river water to reduce the amount of salinity in their habitat, officials said.

"This is not just about endangered species. It is about managing critical needs with a very limited resource," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told a news conference, speaking via telephone link.

There was also a provision to reduce the flow of water further to 4,150 cfs (118 cubic meters per second) if necessary, said senior officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The advantage of the plan was to "keep in any rains that come into the reservoirs, in the reservoirs," said Brig. Gen. Joseph Schroedel, the Corps' south Atlantic division commander.