November 2, 2016 — Suffering under an extended statewide drought, it is hard to remember that this year began with a record-breaking flood.
In January, the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers pushed far beyond their banks into the woods, and by the time they gathered together in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, they formed one giant super-river, 13 miles wide. The Alabama River hadn’t been so high in 25 years, measuring 53.6 feet above flood stage at the Claiborne Dam.
Now, almost 11 months later, the Alabama River is on course to potentially set a new record for the lowest flow ever. In the last week, the river dropped to 4.37 feet, just a foot above the low of 3.4 feet set during the 2007 drought. That record low was reached in late November, meaning we may be on course to meet or exceed the record if the dry conditions hold. Climatologists say the weather models predict the drought to extend into January.
It is important to remember that in some measure, the troubles seen on our rivers are self-inflicted. Alabama does not have a water management plan in place for its rivers, as most states do. And for the most part, industry is allowed first priority when it comes to the river flow, sometimes sucking in vast amounts of water for various uses, even to the point of causing tremendous casualties among fish and other aquatic life. Many in the state have been lobbying for a robust water management plan to ensure that our rivers aren’t choked dry by overuse, but such a compromise has been hard to come by.