AmerenUE closer to final Shoreline Management Plan
AmerenUE is close to completing the Shoreline Management Plan required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
AmerenUE officials announced this week that, if all goes as planned, the SMP will be ready to go to the public in late November.
The SMP will be a comprehensive document that will serve as the guide for growth and development as well as management of the resources along the lake's shoreline.
According to AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary, the SMP is nearing completion. Once that happens, the plan will be presented to the public in a series of four meetings. One meeting will be held in each of the four counties surrounding Lake of the Ozarks.
The plan will also be scrutinized by FERC. AmerenUE is required to have the SMP as part of its federal license issued by FERC for operation of the Osage Hydroelectric Project and Bagnell Dam.
Of primary importance to AmerenUE and FERC are future protection and management of the lake. Among the topics that will be addressed in the SMP are environmental issues, aesthetics and recreational uses.
Cleary said AmerenUE's shoreline management representatives plan to meet with the shoreline management team one last time and give members of the committee a chance to go over the proposal and provide any last-minute suggestions.
AmerenUE has already met with the various resource agencies that have been involved in development of the SMP.
"We want to make certain that we do this right and get as much input as possible," Cleary said. "We want to make sure there aren't any last-minute issues we need to address."
The firm of Devine and Tarbell Associates of Portland, Maine, has been working with AmerenUE as consultants on the SMP.
Devine and Tarbell is a consulting and engineering firm that has extensive experience in hydropower and alternative technologies as well as FERC licensing and compliance.
The SMP is part of the re-licensing process AmerenUE just completed for operation of the Osage Hydroelectric Project, which includes Bagnell Dam, Lake of the Ozarks and the surrounding shoreline.
Because of the complexity of the license requirements, Cleary said, the SMP could not be completed and adopted until AmerenUE's new license was in place last March. In the license, FERC requires the SMP be submitted to them within one year.
The re-licensing process has drawn interest, but it is the shoreline management plan that most landowners around the lake have been waiting to see.
The first shoreline management plan was pulled after drawing considerable opposition to some of the proposed restrictions.
AmerenUE, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service have been working on the new SMP along with the SMP committee.
Contact this reporter at joycem@lakesunleader.com.