For immediate release: 6/13/08

GRDA Board Approves Grand Lake Shoreline Management Plan

Vinita -- After 27 public meetings, three years of work and input from hundreds of lake area stakeholders, the comprehensive shoreline management plan (SMP) for Grand Lake will soon be heading for Washington, D.C.

The Grand River Dam Authority Board of Directors approved the latest draft of the SMP during its regular meeting on Wednesday, June 11 in Vinita. GRDA will now send the plan on to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) -- the agency which licenses GRDA to manage the Pensacola Dam and Grand Lake -- for final review and approval.

At the request of FERC, GRDA began the SMP development process in June 2005. Stakeholder Working Groups (SWG), comprised of lake area stakeholders who volunteered to help develop the plan, were established early in that process. Initial SWG meetings began in December 2005. Final SWG meetings were held in May 2007. GRDA also held those 27 public meetings throughout the process to take public comment on the most recent drafts. The information gained during those sessions — including comments from the public — was considered during the drafting of the final version approved by the GRDA Board.

In September 2007, GRDA released a revised version of the SMP for comments. The public responded by sending GRDA 385 written comments about that final draft. “Of those comments, 63 percent were in support of the plan and 37 percent opposed it,” said GRDA Assistant General Counsel Casey Davis, who prepared the final draft. GRDA also sought comments from 27 different resource agencies, added Davis.

"Although no formal agency comments were submitted within the public comment period, the agencies did have some concerns and requests," said Davis. "The SMP approved by the Board of Directors addresses those issues as well as issues raised by the public. This plan does include increased opportunities for responsible growth, and a greater focus on resource protection efforts to maximize benefits. Those are common ground; things that both GRDA and these agencies wanted to see."

Though not addressed in the plan, Davis said the issue of habitable structures (essentially apartments built over docks) will be addressed in the SMP within 120 days. “We are gathering and reviewing information on those structures and will file and amendment that addresses that issues,” added Davis.

According to GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley, the agency’s priorities for the SMP were to meet reasonable demands for public and private uses that are conducive to the protection and enhancement of Grand Lake’s resources, while also giving lake area stakeholders a voice in the process.

“As we said at the beginning of this process, there are many stakeholders out there with an interest in the lake,” said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley. “Making sure they had a voice was always the goal, and based on the comments we received after this final draft was rolled out to the public, we feel like this SMP achieves that goal.”

Since the process began, Easley said GRDA has stressed to the public that the final SMP would really be the roadmap to the future for Grand Lake's 1,300 miles of shoreline.

"If FERC adopts this plan, that roadmap is in place. Not only will that guide lake area stakeholders in years to come, but it also will benefit the GRDA management teams of the future," said Easley. "Many years down the road, future lake residents and those involved in management of Grand Lake will be appreciative of this plan, and everyone who had a part in putting it together."

When FERC receives the SMP, it will again be opened up to comments from the public and resource agencies. The final draft of the SMP, along with other information about the process, can be viewed online at www.grda.com.