Lanier is starting to drop more quickly
When I was updating our Lanier Status page this morning, I noticed that the drop yesterday was quite a bit more than we had been seeing lately (0.20 feet, instead of the normal 0.08-0.10). This was also noticed by a user in our forums and probably by some others.
I send out a few e-mails and heard back from Brian McCallum, the assistant director at the USGS Georgia Water Science Center. His explanation:
We noticed it yesterday and as a precaution sent someone out to verify the readings. They are correct. I believe what is happening is that as the lake continues to drop, the drop is going to accelerate because the surface area of the lake is getting smaller and the pool is shrinking to the “narrower” part of the lake. This is similar to the forecasted levels as shown by the Corps on their webpage. http://water.sam.usace.army.mil/acfframe.htm
(If you are confused about why the drop will accelerate as the lake gets lower, you can read our “Understanding Lake Lanier’s Level” post from a few weeks ago)
While that makes sense, it seems like a pretty drastic dip. However, we’re on the same pace for today, so maybe that’s where it’s going to be. If it stays at this rate for a few days, we’ll go back and try to once again recalculate the date that it could run out.
November 6th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Hm. I don’t know how to take that response - it would be true if discharge levels remained constant but the level was dropping faster.
But what we saw was the discharge level nearly double, along with an associated drop in water levels.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:29 am
[...] the increased speed with which it’s dropping, I think they’re [...]
November 8th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Has any State agency, department, or commission in Georgia examined the 2007 IPCC report of predicted climate change impacts upon the state of Georgia? Regardless of religious or political affiliations, sound short and long term planning to address climate-change-related issues makes all the sense in the world.
I know that this is an increasingly scary scenario for Georgians, so casting political blame won’t help. However, I would offer that next time Georgia has an opportunity to elect it’s presidential selection, and State representatives to Congress, perhaps some consideration should be given to a person who has a sound and rational approach to hard science, and who lacks inseparable economic ties to industries it actively seeks to protect.
November 8th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
[...] we speculated a few days ago (and was discussed in our forums), the amount of water being released from Lake Lanier is [...]