Dothan joins Georgia-based water group

No doubt about it, Dothan has a stake in the future use of the Chattahoochee River.

As such, city commissioners voted Tuesday to become charter members of the newly organized Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (rivers) Stakeholders, a grassroots organization determined to seek a different path to solve the 20-year-old water conflict between Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Organizers believe the legal system and the politicians have failed to find a lasting solution.

“This is part of our effort to protect our right one day to be able to withdraw water from the Chattahoochee,” City Manager Mike West said.

Membership in the group is free for the first year and annual dues will be $1,000 thereafter, or an amount as amended by the group. Twenty users of these rivers representing more than 60 stakeholders have joined the Albany, Ga.-based group thus far.

District 3 Commissioner John Craig said the city must take an active role in water issues. The city is pursuing a permit to withdraw drinking water from the Chattahoochee as a short-term water shortage solution.

“If we don’t protect the one resource drying up rapidly, we will be in serious condition,” Craig said.

Dothan Utilities Director Billy Mayes said there are other reasons to protect the rivers.

“It’s not just water, but hydropower and we have two wastewater plants that discharge in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin. We have the Farley nuclear plant here. It is about a way of life that we want to protect,” he said.

For more information, go to http://www.acfstakeholders.org.