Georgia homeowners group wants to raise Lake Lanier
By Jeffry Scott and Patrick Fox, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
January 27, 2011
A homeowners group is renewing its campaign to raise the level of Lake Lanier 2 feet so the lake can store another 26 billion gallons of water to quench the demand of a metro area that grows thirstier by the day. “This will solve a lot of water issues a lot faster and a lot cheaper than other proposals, such as building new reservoirs,” said Joanna Cloud, executive director of the Lake Lanier Association, which represents about 2,000 homeowners on the lake. … Raising the level of the lake is “not without cost,” Cloud said Thursday. It would require that some of the estimated 10,000 docks and electrical boxes at marinas be raised and probably at least one bridge across the northern part of the lake be replaced. “We think a grant program could take care of some of those expenses,” she said. … In 2007, when the Lake Lanier Association first publicized its plan to raise the lake level, the Georgia Senate passed a resolution asking Congress and the Corps of Engineers to study the costs and effects. Four years later, there’s been no such study because Congress hasn’t requested one, Corps spokesman Pat Robbins said. If Congress did, Robbins said, the Corps would have to look at every imaginable result of raising the lake — from the impact on docks to flood control. That would take at least a year or two, he estimated. “It sounds good, but it’s not as easy as saying, ‘Hey, let’s raise the lake 2 feet,’” Robbins said. … April Ingle, executive director of the Georgia River Network, said the state’s own water conservation act has better and more immediate ways to stabilize North Georgia’s water supply. One example, she said, is the requirement that all municipalities search for and fix leaks in their water lines. “We’re hearing that some of those leak rates that utilities are finding run as high as 30 percent,” Ingle said. “It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to invest millions in building reservoirs when much of the water is lost to leaks in the lines. We need to focus on using the water we have more efficiently.” …
