POWERGRAMS

ENVIRONMENT All Hail the Snails Alabama Power – with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – recently conducted studies observing the response of two federally listed snail species during drops in habitat water levels. The four-day effort – manned largely by Alabama Power Environmental Affairs employees under the guidance of ADCNR and USFWS – surveyed populations of the tulotoma snail and rough hornsnail along the waterline as levels dropped 1 foot a day on Lay Lake. Using the final day as a control, biologists with the three groups hope to determine the two species' ability to respond to water level fluctuations. "Alabama Power is bringing the reservoir down – instead of 3 feet and holding it to do all the (shoreline) maintenance activities – they are bringing it down slowly to enable the snails to follow the waterline down," said Jeff Powell, an aquatic species recovery biologist with USFWS. Working to create conditions to help snails thrive, the three organizations have previously conducted population surveys for the two species. In 2012, Alabama Power, USFWS and ADCNR surveyed rough hornsnail populations along the Yellowleaf Creek tributary of Lay Lake. "The key take-home this week is the relationships we have with our regulatory agencies and all the folks within Alabama Power," said Environmental Affairs Supervisor Jason Carlee. "It is certainly a group effort and would not have taken place without the support received from all these groups." In 2009, the three groups, along with Auburn University researchers, conducted similar studies on clusters of the thenendangered tulotoma snail on Lay Lake and below Jordan Dam near Wetumpka. Those surveys helped lead to the first down-listing of an endangered mollusk in North America, when the snail was reclassified as threatened at the request of ADCNR. "Between the new discoveries in the Coosa tributaries, the new Alabama River populations and the improving populations in the Coosa River, the Fish and Wildlife Service actually down-listed the animal (tulotoma) from endangered to threatened in 2010," said Paul Johnson, Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center supervisor with the ADCNR. As part of relicensing its dams on the Coosa River with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Alabama Power has worked with ADNCR and USFWS the past decade to find ways to protect and improve habitat conditions for aquatic species – providing best-management practices for shoreline development and management and installing equipment at the company dams to increase oxygen levels downstream. Because of its FERC-licensed operations, Lay Lake rarely sees water fluctuations like those during a planned drawdown – which gives residents of the lake the rare opportunity to repair or construct permitted projects below the normal waterline. The last scheduled drawdown on Lay Lake was in 2005. Results from the 2013 survey will allow regulators to determine the impact of drawdowns on these species and help provide guidance for future drawdowns. By Brandon Glover Photos by Marvin Gilmore Tulotoma, hornsnail NURTURED back from DANGEROUS PLIGHT At top, a healthy tulotoma snail. Center, Cole Hetherington lifts a rock searching for snails. In bottom photo, Environmental Affairs Supervisor Terry Lanter, left, and Hetherington in the Coosa River downstream of Logan Martin Dam removing tulutoma snails from a rock before relocating them to deeper water. 3

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