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?

It’s time again for our Lanier status update, and just like last month I’m quite pleased with the results.  I had predicted that the lake would “drop a few feet” by June, but it actually rose by a few inches.

There are a few conclusions to be made from this:

• It’s wonderful that the lake held steady for the month.  In the past two years, May saw an average drop of about 1.5 feet.
• We’re still nearly 10 feet lower than this time last year.  With as bad as things got last year, it’s not good to be 10 feet below there.
• We’re closing the gap.  A month ago we were about 11 feet lower than last year and we’ve inched a bit closer.

I’ll once again predict a drop of a couple feet for the coming month, but I say it with much less confidence.

Any predictions from you?