Name:   AULakeBum - Subject:   Water Level - What you can do, summary of FERC mtg Date:   8/1/2013 4:18:58 PM

I rarely take time to do this either, but here is what I said:

Dear Sirs:
I have been a landowner on Lake Martin for over 13 years and have recently made a substantial investment in a new home there. I plan on spending my retirment years there and truly want what is best for the stakeholders in the area.
My comments/ questions are as follows:

1. I fully support the current request by Alabama Power Co.to raise the winter pool level by three feet and extend the summer pool level until October 15.My willingness to increase my investment on the lake was partly predicated on the feeling that we would see some change in the operation of the dam that would leave us with higher water levels.

2. Newer and more modern weather prediction models should clearly improve the National Weather Service's ability to give the dam operators more accurate forecasts on rainfall, thus allowing them more time to adjust lake levels appropriately. 

3. What evidence has the FERC presented that diputes the studies done by the various stakeholders and Alabama Power in the relicensing request?

4. What criteria has the FERC used to base their assumptions that are different from those use 50 years ago? For example are you considering the enahnced ability of the NWS to predict weather patterns?

5. Has the FERC weighed the economic benefits of a higher winter level and extended summer level to the area versus the seemingly limited economic costs of flooding farmland down stream at a time when the land is not being actively farmed? If that is your main opposition to the power company's request, I request that you make those numbers from your study available.