Middle Chattahoochee Middle Chattahoochee

3. Water Resources of the Middle Chattahoochee Regiondiscussion on water use classification and a full list of impaired waters in the regionis provided in the Existing Regulatory and Local Plan Summary supplementaldocument available on the Middle Chattahoochee website. 143.4.2 Conservation ResourcesProtection of rare plants and animals in the ACF Basin is of critical importance to theMiddle Chattahoochee Region as witnessed in Phase 2 of the Multi-District Litigation.The Federal Court upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Biological Opinions in 2006and 2008 to the Army Corps of Engineers, establishing water flows and waterelevations which were opined to adequately protect the gulf sturgeon and twospecies of endangered mussel. The Council and the EPD must continue to beengaged in the development of further scientific studies which better define the waterquantity and water quality conditions which best support ecological health, as suchresults have proven to impact stakeholders throughout the basin. Critical informationneeds to be gathered to determine how and what species are impacted by waterflow, water quality, and lake elevations in the ACF.Georgia’s Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) developed a comprehensive wildlifeconservation strategy “to conserve Georgia’s animals, plants, and natural habitatsthrough proactive measures emphasizing voluntary and incentive-based programson private lands, habitat restoration and management by public agencies and privateconservation organizations, rare species survey and recovery efforts, andenvironmental education and public outreach activities.” Results were published onAugust 31, 2005 in A Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy for Georgia.High priority species and habitats were identified and summarized at the ecoregionlevel, with a total of five ecoregions being designated for the state. Portions of theMiddle Chattahoochee water planning region fall within the southeastern plainsecoregion with the remainder in the piedmont. A total of 85 high priority animalspecies, 145 high priority plants species, and 27 high priority habitat types wereidentified for the southeastern plains ecoregion. A total of 55 high priority animalspecies, 71 high priority plants species, and 16 high priority habitat types wereidentified for the piedmont ecoregion. Further qualification of the high priority speciesneeds to be performed to begin to better understand the impacts of water quantity,water quality, and lake elevations on those species. A summary of aquatic specieswhich are currently under state or federal protection and a list of high priority watersspecific to the Middle Chattahoochee region are included in the Existing Regulatoryand Local Plan Review supplemental document available on the Council website. 1505.02.201114 http://www.middlechattahoochee.org/pages/our_plan/index.php15 Protected species accounts and detailed information regarding high priority plants, animals, andhabitat types can be viewed at http://www.georgiawildlife.com/node/1370. Detailed informationregarding high priority waters can be viewed at http://www.georgiawildlife.com/node/1377.Georgia State-wide Water Management PlanMIDDLE CHATTAHOOCHEE3-21