Good news and bad news for the month of July
As seen in Ken Cook’s blog, July was the rainiest month we’ve had in nearly two years, with a total of 7.17″ at the Atlanta airport, which is 2.05″ above average. It also cuts our rainfall deficit for the year to just five inches, compared to the 14 inch deficit we were facing at this point last year.
The bad news is that Lanier continues to drop. It went from 1056.23′ on July 1 to 1055.15′ on August 1, or a drop of just over a foot. Last year on August 1 we were at 1064.14′, so we’re quite a bit behind that.
Last August is when the lake really began to drop, losing nearly 2.5 feet in August, and over three feet in both September and October. The record low is 1050.79, set on December 26 last year. If we see similar drops in the next few months, we’ll blow past that record.
This month should be very telling…
Tags: ken cook, lake lanier, rainfall, record low
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for providing this insight & commentary. August, September & October will be very telling, indeed.
I am still shocked at the lack of public messaging urging conservation. Guess Sonny just left it up to the local municipalities, and who wants to be a bad guy in your own backyard?
Wish the message were delivered more publicly that we are all stewards of our environment and need to be responsible.
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Is there a website covering live the day-by-day rain total in Gainesville, or at the Buford Dam?
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
..thanks in advance!
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
We log the daily rain totals at Buford Dam in our wiki:
http://atlantawatershortage.com/wiki/index.php/Recent_Rainfall_at_Lake_Lanier
Don’t know about Gainesville, though.
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:04 am
oh THIS is the month
BGAAAAAWWWKKKKK
THE SURGE IS WORKING THE SURGE IS WORKING
August 4th, 2008 at 7:16 am
Remember that this August, we have a slightly reduced requirement for those Mussels. The COE has also indicated they plan to release less water from Lanier to support downstream flows.
Of course, if the downstream reseveroirs drain down, they may need to release fro lanier anyway.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Great news to share.
Mrs. Little is expecting.
We’re going to name the baby Mussell Little.
BGAAAAAWKKKKKKKKKKK
August 4th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Also, with good rainfall totals last month, I would surmise that lawn watering should have been reduced, even allowing for a lot of people with robo-hoses. Looking at those year-on-year graphs, its pretty clear that things are getting better in Atlanta. Still, you guys are going to have to do something about water usage in the long term. Grass lawns probably not something to count on in the future. Shade trees and shrubs and ground cover probably more viable than fescue.
August 4th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Josh May, I really don’t think people are going to change their habits long term, nor, really, should they be expected to. Atlanta really shouldn’t be required to have a lifestyle that is different from other similarly sized cities and other large cities in the region. If Lanier is not adequate to supply the water needs of (most of) the metro area, perhaps an additional reservoir is needed. Its one thing to conserve and take extreme measures during a drought, but its a different thing entirely to say “people of Atlanta, you don’t get to water your lawns like the rest of the people in the southeast do” on a permanent basis.
August 17th, 2008 at 9:36 am
These charts are very helpful. I can’t find the information anywhere else. Can you tell me where I can find the Lake Lanier level today versus history?