About 100 participants representing a wide variety of stakeholder groups attended the ACF basin workshop in April 2024.By NDMC Communications
Over 100 stakeholders from Alabama, Georgia and Florida gathered in Albany, Ga., on April 25 for a workshop on drought challenges within the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. The event was facilitated by the National Drought Mitigation Center and sponsored by the ACF Stakeholders (ACFS).
NDMC climatologists Deb Bathke and Lindsay Johnson, plus education and outreach specialist Tonya Bernadt, walked participants through an interactive scenario exercise. In the example, drought intensified over two years before starting to recover.
By working through the scenario, participants got to learn more about the challenges facing the basin and how different agencies prepare for, and respond to, drought. Participants discussed their organizations’ priorities, management options and strategies at various points in the timeline.
Event participants made up a wide variety of stakeholder groups and included representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Water Policy Center.
“It was an opportunity for stakeholders from across the ACF basin to continue meeting in-person and learn from each other about the impacts of drought and how state agencies and the Army Corps of Engineers respond to changing conditions,” said Brad Moore, ACFS coordinator for the event.
While drought has not challenged the ACF basin in recent years, this event helped participants be prepared for the next drought event, Moore added. The workshop, which was a follow-up from last year, enabled regional stakeholders to continue building relationships.