Hosts November Sci-Café Webinar Quantifying River Flow Metrics for the Apalachicola River

Quantifying River Flow Metrics for the Apalachicola River was the focus of November’s Sci-Café webinar. Dr. Steve Leitman, who has worked on Apalachicola River issues for decades, provided an overview of a new project aimed at developing scientifically defensible river flow metrics to evaluate potential modifications to federal reservoir operations in the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint (ACF) River system. The goal is to improve ecological resilience in the Apalachicola River floodplain and estuary while minimizing impacts to upstream stakeholders.

Dr. Leitman explained how the project will assess alternative reservoir management approaches in the ACF Basin to enhance the ecological health of the Apalachicola River and Bay. The team will identify key performance metrics and model how reservoir operations affect system conditions, with a central objective of defining metrics that clearly distinguish ecological improvement from degradation.

The project is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Project partners include Dr. Steve Morey (FAMU), Ken Jones, PE (Rhumbline Consulting and the Riparian County Stakeholders Coalition), Dr. John Tracy (LSU), and Chad Hanson and Kim Branciforte (The Pew Charitable Trusts).