Red Bluff Reservoir Topics: Why You Must Attend Lake Martin's FERC Meeting

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	Name:	Wakely -
	Subject:	Why You Must Attend Lake Martin's FERC Meeting
	Date:	7/15/2013 7:23:49 PM

I spoke with a marina owner earlier this month (I'll keep his name and his business out of it) who said that a rainy July Fourth-- not the weekend, but that day-- would ruin his year.

If a little rain keeps enough people off the water for one day to ruin a business year, I don't see why people think that it's the water level that keeps boaters away during the winter. It's not; it's the weather.

Likewise, it's not the combination of good weather and high water that brings people to the lake; you have to add time of year into the equation as well. Otherwise, the week AFTER Labor Day would be just as busy as the week BEFORE. But it's not, and anyone who doesn't limit their lake season to the days between Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend knows that.

While I would be in favor of extended seasons on both ends, anyone who thinks that three more feet of water in the winter is going to bring some sort of economic boom is kidding themselves. The only businesses that will benefit from a higher winter pool are those businesses that repair and/or build docks and seawalls, when three feet of water is the difference between standing on the sand and doing the work yourself, or hiring someone to do the same work in a few feet of icy water.

Get the FERC to do something about the weather, the school year and football season, and a higher winter pool WILL do many of the great things that people seem to think it will. But as long as school runs from late August through late May, as long as college football season runs from early September through early January, and as long as the temps start dropping below 72 in the fall, winter and early spring, a higher winter pool is going to do nothing to the local economy (dock companies notwithstanding.) Sorry to come across as a doomsayer, but that's just the reality of the situation, and it's a reality supported by facts that are out there for anyone to examine.

If the FERC reverses itself and the new regulations take effect, I hope all of the restaurants and other businesses expecting a huge uptick in business just because the lake is deeper in the winter have some money set aside; they'll need it.