MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Drought conditions that continue to plague Alabama and Georgia have prompted federal authorities to begin drought operations.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says drought conditions are continuing in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basins, triggering the requirement that the agency enters drought operations.
Officer E. Patrick Robbins, an agency spokesman, says that starting drought operations means the minimum flow into the Apalachicola River to protect threatened and endangered species will be 5,000 cubic feet per second. He said the minimum flow will be maintained as the Corps stores all available rainfall when possible until the basin recovers sufficiently.
Authorities say that despite spring rains in March, the overall conditions on the Flint and lower parts of the Chattahoochee have remained in a drought situation since the end of last summer.
