PROMISING NEW DEVELOPMENT

It seems we may have broken the ice with the NOAA. A new face on the scene is Robert Dawson of the NOAA. He has initiated contact with a number of people who wrote Mary Glackin and has indicated everything is on the table with respect to flows through the dam. Following is an email just sent to Mr. Dawson. If we can get everyone to understand the laws of Physics at work here we may be able to finally come to a workable solution. But the solution will be unpleasant downstream no matter how we do it because of the mismanagement that has preceded the start of correcting the problem. No matter how you cut it the only way to refill the lakes is to send downstream less water than comes in from rain which is not going to be appreciated.

Dear Mr. Hoffman,

I still see the overview as follows; we are trying to do one better than mother nature and it has got us into an impossible scenario. Ultimately we can not give the sturgeon more than God gives us or we drain the lakes. It doesn't matter who is at the controls or what has happened in the past. This is an irrefutable truth.

Again the best example I can offer to look at the legal side of complying with the ESA is that the act never intended for man to add to mother nature. Rather the intention of the ESA is to get "man made" out of the picture and make sure we don't interfere with mother nature. Otherwise the people with endangered mice in their fields would be required to improve on mother nature and give the rats assistance with food etc. Such would be obviously ridiculous. And when the eagles were endangered no one was asked to assist mother nature; only get out of the way from mother nature and not intefere with man made effects to their habitat.

What makes this so hard for everyone to see is that water appears to be an easy solution to the situation. The problem as we are finding is that the water is not limitless. Anytime we exceed what God has provided the Sturgeon we dig a hole we can't climb out of.If you want to do something man made, put gravel in the river at a point where even in a drought it will be underwater so the Sturgeon have a place to spawn. Gravel we can do. Water we can't.

Thanks for listening. Would it be possible for you to get together with a representative group of lake interests to discuss this further? If so I recommend we do so quickly as the COE is pouring our water out much faster than God is replacing it and the longer it continues the worse the solution will be for all concerned.

Jerry Clontz, Author of blog

Let's see what comes of our new found ear at the NOAA. With the congressional help promised at the meeting in Lincolnton Tuesday night and this development I am very hopeful that we can finally find a way to resolve our dilemna.