The Alabama Department of Conservation has issued a determination that Mobile County's Big Creek Lake is open to the public.
The determination came after State Rep. Shane Stringer (R-Citronelle) and others requested Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenship to weigh in on the question. Stringer's north Mobile County district includes Big Creek Lake.
Blakenship responded to Stringer and others on Thursday:
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 controversy arose when the Mobile Area Water & Sewer System (MAWSS) suddenly closed Big Creek Lake to boating, fishing and other recreation on February 4. There was no notice or hearing on the matter.
A citizen group was then formed to fight to reopen the lake for recreation: "Take Back Big Creek Lake from MAWSS."
Stringer then filed HB473 in the State House, which would prevent water and sewer systems from blocking recreation in public waters. It would not affect the health department and other public safety agencies.
The legal opinion of the Department of Conservation does not carry the force and effect of law. If the board of MAWSS decides to abide by the opinion, they would reopen the lake for recreation. Routes would have to be determined for boaters, fishermen and others to access the lake.
If MAWSS does not abide by the opinion, then legislation or litigation would likely be necessary to reopen the lake.
A public meeting will be held this Sunday, March 30, at 3 p.m. at Hill Spring Baptist Church, 335 Eliza Jordan Road N in West Mobile, to plan a citizens' lobbying trip to Montgomery to support Stringer's bill. The public is invited, and no ticket or RSVP is needed.
The group encourages citizens who favor reopening the lake to attend and speak at a hearing on Wednesday, April 2. The hearing will be at 10:30 a.m. in room 123 of the Alabama State House, 11 South Union Street in Montgomery.
Citizens can sign up there to speak at the hearing before the House Boards, Agencies and Commissions Committee. The committee is chaired by State Rep. Margie Wilcox (R-Mobile). She is also listed as a co-sponsor of the bill.
The bill is statewide in its wording and effect. Here is the text of HB473.
For citizens who cannot attend the April 2 hearing, the 11 committee members and their contact information are here.
Citizens are encouraged to e-mail or call any committee member in their own county.
Big Creek Lake is known for two things: it supplies 70% of the greater Mobile area with water and is a popular recreation lake for fishermen and boaters.
Those two things appeared to conflict, and on April 4, the Mobile Area Water & Sewer System (MAWSS) voted to ban recreational use of the lake.
"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 HB473, 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."
Public health departments, environmental agencies, and similar departments governed by other portions of the Code of Alabama would retain their authority to declare health emergencies and take necessary actions to safeguard the public from contaminated bodies of water and other threats.
The group supporting HB473 has posted a Facebook page to organize the efforts. The FB group now has over 2,600 members. Electrical contractor Matthew Frazier organized the group.
Citizens wanting to reopen the lake have 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. Rep. 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.
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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