Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Florida
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Researchers use a science decision-making SDM approach to organize the decision making process and the relevant uncertainties to manage water flow in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) river basin to minimize harm to endangered species. The ACF basin includes Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and is a water resource for the Atlanta, Georgia and downstream cities.

In this project, researchers propose a re-evaluation of the ACF river basin species at risk adaptive management problem framing and management objectives. Researchers will use virtual meetings and an in-person workshops setting to clearly define the management problem and develop an objectives hierarchy that links what the management agencies fundamentally care about with means objectives and measurable attributes.

The purposes of this project are to clearly define the decision/management challenges and help to develop objectives for at-risk species in the ACF river basin. The team will also review existing monitoring plans to identify gaps between what is being measured in the field and measurable attributes of objectives to ensure monitoring efforts support future decision making.