Lake Lanier

From Atlanta Water Shortage Wiki

Lake Lanier (officially Lake Sidney Lanier) is a manmade lake in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee River.

At "full summer pool" level of 1,071.0 feet or 326.4 meters AMSL the lake encompasses 39,038[1] acres or 153.8 km² of water, and 692 miles or 1,114 km of shoreline.

On March 29, 1956, President Eisenhower designed the Buford Lake reservoir as "Lake Sidney Lanier", after Sidney Clopton Lanier, a noted Civil War era poet. Both Lake Lanier and Buford Dam was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The lake is patrolled by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR) and Corps of Engineers park rangers.

The lake is part of what is called the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin (ACF) - the three major rivers that ultimately drain down into the Gulf of Mexico in Florida.

1 Geography
2 Drought
3 Recreation
4 More Information

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Geography

The lake is located in Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, Gwinnett and Lumpkin counties. It starts just south of the Belton Bridge which lies west of U. S. Highway 23 north of Gainesville, Georgia, and extends for 43 miles to Buford Dam.

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Drought

The lake serves as the primary water source for much of north Georgia and is one of the main focuses of the drought.

Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting over control of the water flow in the Chattahoochee River, which flows through all three states, for over two decades. The dispute had its orgins in the 1980’s when a series of droughts and rapid urban expansion of the metro Atlanta area began to make governments up and down the river aware of their finite water supply. As a result, litigation against Georgia began as the other two states felt that their water supply was being diverted and held back in Lake Lanier. The states had the option of negotiating a settlement before ending up in litigation before the Supreme Court to resolve the dispute.

In 1997, the states agreed to enter into a compact to negotiate an agreement as to how to allocate water in the river system. In 2003 the negotiation broke down and was back in litigation mode. During the ligation mode the endangered species laws were used as leverage by Florida and Alabama that resulted in sending more water flowing down the river.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife agency also contributed to supporting the water releases - water that had to come from Lake Lanier which holds over 60% of the water in the entire river system. Also, the argument was made that the unrestrained growth of Atlanta was resulting in a disproportionate share of the river’s water being diverted for their needs. After a series of law suits an Interim Operating Plan (IOP) was established under court which established a minimum river flow that had to be maintained downstream of the southern most dam, holding back Lake Seminole.

On November 16, 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers further restricted the river's flow by reducing the outflow an additional 5%. One possible long term solution to the current situation that is being looked at by some is Inter-basin Water Transfers from the Tennessee River. Several environmentalist groups are on record in opposition to this idea.

During the summer, the lake level is around 1,071 feet AMSL. On November 22, 2007 the water level was at 1,052.34 feet, setting a new record low. The previous low was 1,052.7 feet, set in December 1981. As the lake continues to drop during this drought the following are important levels to keep in mind: