SHORELINES

Alabama Power," said Jason Carlee, APC and would not have taken pl ace without the support received Environmental Affairs supervisor. "It is management and installing equipment certainly a group effort and would not "It is certainly a group effort for shoreline development and at the dams it operates to increase the have taken place without the support oxygen levels downstream. received from all these groups." In 2009, the three groups, along Because of its FERC-licensed operations, Lay Lake rarely sees from all these groups." with Auburn University researchers, water fluctuations like those during — Ja son C arlee, APC Environmental conducted similar surveys on clusters of a planned drawdown – which Affairs supervisor the then-endangered tulotoma snail on gives residents of the lake the rare Lay Lake and below Jordan Dam near opportunity to repair or construct biologists with the three groups hope Wetumpka. Those surveys helped lead permitted projects below the normal to determine the two species' ability to to the first down-listing in 2011 of an waterline. The last scheduled drawdown respond to water level fluctuations. endangered mollusk in North America, on Lay Lake occurred in 2005. "Alabama Power is bringing the reservoir down – instead of three feet and holding it to do all the (shoreline) when the snail was reclassified as Results from this survey will allow threatened at the request of ADCNR. regulators to determine the impact of "Between the new discoveries in the drawdowns on these species and help maintenance activities – they are Coosa tributaries, the new Alabama provide guidance for future water bringing it down slowly to enable the River populations and the improving level drawdowns. snails to follow the waterline down," populations in the Coosa River, the Fish said Jeff Powell, a USFWS aquatic and Wildlife Service actually down-listed species recovery biologist who is the animal (tulotoma) from endangered helping with the effort. to threatened in 2011," said Paul Working to create conditions Johnson, Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity to help snails thrive, the three For more photos and a video about efforts to help endangered snails survive, visit Alabama Power's NewsCenter. alabamapowernews.com/2013/10/25/ minding-the-mollusk Center supervisor with the ADCNR. organizations have previously — Br andon Glover As part of relicensing its dams conducted population surveys for on the Coosa River with the Federal the two species. In 2012, Alabama Energy Regulatory Commission Power, USFWS and ADCNR surveyed (FERC), Alabama Power has worked rough hornsnail populations along the with ADNCR and USFWS during Yellowleaf Creek tributary of Lay Lake. the past decade to find ways to protect "The key take-home this week is the and improve habitat conditions for relationships we have with our regulatory these and other aquatic species – agencies and all the folks within providing best-management practices Above: Photo by M arvin Gilmore — Angie Anderegg, with Environmental Affairs at Alabama Power, paddles along the banks of Lay Lake recovering endangered snails. S hor el i ne s | 2013 Vol:4 21

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