SHORELINES

Yerby pilots the airboat across the waterlettuce, the airflow from the fan blades pushing the boat through the mass of plants. e airboat allows Yerby access he can't get otherwise. Yerby can maneuver the airboat through vegetation so thick it would choke the motor of a regular boat. e airboat presents some challenges, though. "is boat has no reverse. No brakes," he says. "If you're not giving it gas, you have no control over it. "If those blades are spinning, it's going forward. So you always have to plan ahead where you're going," Yerby says. "You can't allow yourself to get into a tight situation where you can't spin the boat around and get back out of." e airboat easily navigates the waterlettuce, an invasive species that is a perfect example of why Alabama Power has an Aquatic Plant Management Program. "Waterlettuce is one of the world's worst aquatic weeds and causes problems in virtually all waters it has invaded," Lyn A. Gettys, of the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, writes in the handbook "Biology and Control of Aquatic Plants." "Waterlettuce spreads so quickly it can smother a body of water and interfere with boating, fishing, swimming and commercial activities," Gettys writes. It also reduces water flow, breeds mosquitoes and can choke out native plants, which ruins habitats for animals and fish. Waterlettuce is one of many plants Alabama Power's program works to control. e Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which licenses hydroelectric projects, requires the company to manage aquatic vegetation on its lakes. e FERC license for the Coosa River allows Alabama Power to use the Coosa's water to generate electricity at its dams. In return, the company must manage aquatic vegetation with a plan that FERC has reviewed and approved. at means leaving the plants alone, or even enhancing them, to improve fishing habitat, as well as the natural beauty and ecology of a lake – unless there is a need to control the vegetation. Yerby and the other Alabama Power specialists may take action against aquatic plants if they: • Provide a breeding habitat for mosquitos, posing a potential public health hazard. • reaten power generation equipment or water intake structures. • Limit recreational use of the lake. • Pose a threat to the lake's natural ecology by choking out native plants. "If any of those four criteria are met, we may initiate control measures," Yerby says. 7 www.apcshorelines.com

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