A hearing will be held this week on House Bill 473 to prohibit water systems from stopping fishing, boating and other recreation on public lakes.
While statewide in effect, it is primarily aimed at reopening Mobile's Big Creek Lake to recreation.
The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday in room 123 of the State House. Citizens can sign up to speak in the hearing before the House Boards, Agencies and Commissions Committee. Speaking times will be limited and are usually three minutes.
Committee chair State Rep. Margie Wilcox (R-Mobile) told 1819 News that no vote of the committee will be taken on April 2, but it will be done at a future committee meeting.
A Mobile-based group, "Take Back Big Creek Lake from MAWSS," is promoting attendance on April 2.
The bill is statewide in its wording and effect. It was triggered by the closure of Mobile County's Big Creek Lake to recreation, which the water authority, Mobile Area Water and Sewer System, ordered closed on February 4.
For citizens who cannot attend the hearing, the 11 members of the committee and their contact information can be found here.
State Rep. Shane Stringer (R-Citronelle) represents a large district in north Mobile County, which contains Big Creek Lake. The lake is known for two things: it is the water supply for 70% of the greater Mobile area and is a popular recreation lake for fishermen and boaters.
Those two things appeared to conflict, and the Mobile Area Water & Sewer System (MAWSS) voted to ban recreational use of the lake. There was no notice of hearing about the proposed action.
Stringer filed HB 473, which prohibits water boards and sewer commissions from banning or restricting recreational activities on lakes they own or control.
"Suddenly declaring an entire lake off limits without offering specific reasons or justification is unfair and hurts the quality of life for everyone who lives in the area. The residents of House District 102 are angry and upset at this bureaucratic nonsense, and I share their reaction, so if MAWSS refuses to reverse its decision, the Legislature can certainly step in and reverse it for them," Stringer said.
Under the provisions of HB 473, a water or sewer board "may not in any way restrict the public's recreational use of a body of water, or portion thereof, owned or controlled by the board, including for fishing and boating."
The citizen group "Take Back Big Creek Lake from MAWSS" met on March 30 to continue their fight for the lake's reopening and organize citizen participation in the April 2 hearing.
The group has created a Facebook page and now has over 2,600 members. Electrical contractor Matthew Frazier organized the group.
Citizens wanting to reopen the lake have also created a GoFundMe page.
There appear to be three different strategies to reverse the lake's closure—one political, one legal, and one legislative. The political strategy is to get public officials to push the MAWSS board to reverse its decision. The legal strategy would be to file a lawsuit or legal opinion to invalidate the decision. Stringer's legislative strategy is to pass a state law preventing the closure of public lakes by water systems.
Members of the MAWSS board that ordered the lake closed include State Rep. Barbara Drummond, chair; Maria Gonzalez, Linda St. John, John Williams, Jay Weber, Raymond Bell, and Tommy Zoghby.
The Alabama Department of Conservation issued a determination Thursday that Big Creek Lake is open to the public. The determination came after Stringer filed a request with Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenship on the question.
Blakenship responded to Stringer and others on Thursday as follows:
At the request of several people from Mobile County, I asked our General Counsel for a legal determination on whether Big Creek Lake is a public water because the public has a right to fish and recreate in public waters of the State.
Big Creek is a navigable stream. MAWSS placed a dam over a navigable stream, making Big Creek Lake a public water pursuant to Ala. Code 9-11-80. Thus, the public has the right to fish and recreate in the surface waters of Big Creek Lake. The public does not have the right to trespass on lands owned by MAWSS in order to access the Lake.
We have shared this determination with MAWSS.
Chris Blankenship
Commissioner
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The findings of the Department of Conservation do not carry the force and effect of law.
According to Stringer, MAWSS has not responded to whether it will abide by the opinion and reopen Big Creek Lake for recreation. If it does not, litigation or legislation would be necessary.
Jim' Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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