Atlanta Water Shortage

Despite a very active hurricane season, the Atlanta area didn’t see much after Fay left town.  However, the temperatures this September were far lower than last year, resulting in a loss of only about 1-1/2 feet, vs the three foot drop we saw in 2007.  The chart clearly shows how much Fay helped, though it certainly would look better if we had seen rain from another hurricane.

We continue to set calendar-day records for the lake level (”the lowest it’s ever been on October 1″, etc), but we’re still a few feet away from the all time low.  As of today, the lake is at 1054.07 ft, with the all-time low being 1050.81, set on December 23 last year.

Last October saw a drop of about 3-1/4 feet.  I don’t imagine we’ll get that kind of loss this month, but it’s almost certainly going to drop.  How far do you think it will get this month?

Being the first day of the month, it’s time for our monthly status chart and things are looking better!  Fay certainly did a lot of good for us.  Rather than drop 2.5 feet like we did last August, the lake actually rose.

The bad news is that we’re still in rough shape.  Today is the lowest the lake has ever been on September 1st, which is the kind of record we’re setting every day still.  The key is whether the lake will plummet over these next few months like it did last year.  The extra moisure in the ground and the threat of more heavy rain (Hanna?) tend to point to good news, but you never know.

Last September the lake dropped by over three feet (1061.77 down to 1058.73).  What do you think it will do this year?

It’s been a few months since I’ve done one of these charts, but I thought it was probably time to do another one.  These next few months will be very interesting, so here’s where we stand right now.

I won’t say much else, since our previous post covered it pretty well.