Posts by Kristin Rowles
Dr. Steve Golladay Tells Us About Mighty Mussels
This week, GA-FIT’s Dr. Steve Golladay talked about the mussels of the Flint River Basin with Robert Osborne, host of the The Outfall, a podcast focused on water issues. You can listen to Steve and Robert talk about the unsung heroes of our waterways and efforts in the Flint River Basin to conserve these species…
Read MoreHabitat Conservation Plan Hits the Airwaves
This week, the Lower Flint Region Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) was the focus of an episode of The Outfall, a podcast focused on water issues. In this episode, podcast creator Robert Osborne interviews GA-FIT team member Kristin Rowles. They talk about the Flint River, regional water planning, freshwater mussels, and the HCP. The podcast offers…
Read MoreNew Flow Targets for the Flint
The GA-FIT Advisory Board met on September 25th to discuss model results, flow targets, freshwater mussels, and other elements of the work underway on the Lower Flint Region Habitat Conservation Plan. The GA-FIT field team had a busy summer in our rivers and streams, and the modeling team has been just as busy running and…
Read MoreAdvisory Board Hosts US Fish and Wildlife Service on Tour of Region
On July 9, the GA-FIT Advisory Board toured sites related to the Habitat Conservation Plan. The group observed several species of mussels that were collected in the Flint River. They also observed a drill rig installing a test well on a farm that is a candidate site for Drought SWAP. After the tour, in a…
Read MoreApril Advisory Board Meeting
The Advisory Board met on April 3, 2024. This meeting was held virtually. The Board received project updates, discussed the revised project area, and reviewed updates to the draft HCP. The new covered area includes all of the Lower Flint River Basin and also includes the Georgia portion of Subarea 4 of the Floridan Aquifer,…
Read MoreApply for Drought SWAP through October 31
Applications for Drought SWAP are currently open and will be accepted through October 31, 2023. This application period follows on the first round for applications that was taken in 2022. Drought SWAP received many applications during the 2022 application period, but we expect to have capacity for more participants, and therefore, we are inviting additional…
Read MoreHow’s the Water?
This year’s GA-FIT auction was focused in the Ichawaynochaway Creek Basin, and one of the contract options is closely tied to flow levels in the creek. Option C pays participants a standby fee at the beginning of the growing season. If flows fall below a certain level in the creek, the contract requires irrigation suspension…
Read MoreAdvisory Board Reviews 2022 Auction Results
On May 5, the GA-FIT Advisory Board met to review the results of the 2022 Incentive Auction. Results were presented by the project team, and the Board discussed the findings. Overall, the auction was a success in terms of recruitment, outreach, participation, and information gathered. We expect that the execution of incentive contracts selected from…
Read More2022 Auction: A Big Success!
In March 2022, GA-FIT held its first auction for voluntary irrigation suspension incentives. The results affirmed strong interest in exploring this type of incentive. The auction and contracting for incentives gave us real-world experience and lessons learned that will guide future planning and policy. The data gathered from the bidding has informed us about the…
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