Water level's down at Lake Lanier

From the AJC this week comes an article about Lake Lanier water levels continuing to drop at a record pace.  As water recide not only shoreline is being exposed.  Business hurting from the slow economy, Lanier home owners with investments that need sold, and properties once though to have deep water now on dry land are all feeling the pressure. 

If you have a prayer to two left over this evening incude one for rain in the Lake Lanier water shed basin. 

About the picture above.  Located just west of Holiday Marina off Blackberry Lane in Flowery Branch this cove may be dry for years to come without changes in release patterns from the Corp. or continued rain.  These are not inexpensive homes even in today’s market and water levels.  Having a dock permit is like having a golden ticket (Willy Wonka) for Lanier.  In most cases a dock permit adds 45,000 – 75,000 vs three years ago when the Corp was still passing out permits at will.  Consider that almost every permit for Lanier has been issued and only existing lake front properties with permits will have lake access via a boat dock.  With this in mind, every house on Lake Lanier just became a tear down for future homeowners seeking to build a new lake front mansion.  Many of my investors are seeking Lanier properties vs. traditional investments.

Call today and schedule a showing – 770-990-0743

For the entire article by Jeffry Scott and the AJC

Georgia won the latest round in court, but from the expanding muddy red banks of Lake Lanier it looks and feels a lot like metro Atlanta is still losing the water wars.

The lake is down 9 feet and dropping at a rate of about a foot a week, giving rise to memories of the great drought of 2007-2009 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers drained 20 feet out of Lanier — and some say sucked the life out of the local economy.

The fear is the lake will continue to sink with a dry winter in the forecast and next summer could be as disastrous as 2008 when Lanier was down 15 feet and tourism was off by about 880,000 visitors and recreation revenue was down $90.2 million.

“They’ve been dropping it like crazy for the last 15 days and it’s got people scared,” said Don Hunt, 54, a boat mechanic working at Holiday Marina Tuesday afternoon. “I know Atlanta needs the water, but they can’t be letting it out that fast.”

The 38,000-acre lake about 40 miles north of downtown Atlanta is a recreational site that draws about 7.5 million visitors a year and metro area’s biggest source of drinking water at the heart of the tri-state water wars between Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. The lake, and the Chattahoochee River that feeds it, provide water for about 2.6 million Atlantans [more]

For the latest Lake Lanier news and events – www.LakeLanier-HomesForSale.com

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Working with buyers and sellers in Cumming, Gainesville, Dawsonville, Buford, Flowery Branch, Oakwood, Gwinnett, Forsyth, Hall, Dawson Counties. For more information about Lake Lanier, Buford Dam, water levels, exposed humps, dock permits, shoreline, Lake Lanier Islands Water park please give me a call.

Lake Lanier Tail Gate

Its that time of year again. Leaves are beginning to fall and for Lake Lanier residents this means its time for football season to begin. Whether you are a Bulldog, Yellow Jacket, or Falcon fan, tailgating is essential to any successful home game experience. When not enjoying your home or dock on Lake Lanier, tailgating can be a great way to kick back and relax while making new friends and enjoying some fantastic food. To kick off football season here are some basic tips and must have items for a successful tailgating experience.

Plan your menu and do prep work a day or two before the game. Keep the menu simple and pack prepared food in disposable containers. There are lot of foods that can be prepared days before the big event. Think barbecue, chili, stews, baked beans, muffuletta sandwiches, etc. Others can be prepared ahead except for maybe one or two ingredients such as jambalaya, gumbos, meatballs and spaghetti, and red beans and rice. Even hamburgers can be preformed, and then frozen in advance. Just make sure you keep all cooked items frozen or adequately cooled until final preparation at the tailgating site. The more food you can pre-prepare the less time and effort will be required at your tailgating party.

Plan to arrive 3 to 4 hours early and stay 1 to 2 hours after the game for the post game tailgating party wrap up.

Find a good spot to park. Not all parking spaces are created equal! Park next to a grassy area or at the end of the parking row–this gives you more room for serious tailgating!

Fly one of those helium filled balloons on a loooong string so friends can find you.

Decorate your tailgate site with team pennants and other team stuff.

Food should be ready at least two hours before the game starts. This is plenty of time for those going to the game to eat, clean up and extinguish fires.

Share food with neighbors. Swap recipes.

Leave area clean. Begin thinking about food and friends for the next game.

Whenever possible pack your food in zip lock bags (no clean-up).

Use one of those large plastic boxes (Rubbermaid). Stores your paper products in one compartment, spices in another and on the bottom what ever fits. If you need a plate or a cup pull out the drawer and grab one.

Make hamburgers in advance, make sure they are no thicker than 3/4 inch, and freeze between sheets of wax paper. Put on grill still frozen and cook 3 to 4 minutes each side

Large tailgates require a lot of additional help. Have a meeting with tailgating constituents to plan and distribute responsibilities; write down on paper! One person cannot do it all!

Also, a great cooler tip! Get bottled water and freeze it. Place it in your cooler. If it gets hot, you can take it out and as it melts, you will have cold water to drink. Unlike, ice, it won’t “water down” your cooler! The bottles make good ice packs.

Line your portable grill with aluminum foil for easy clean-up and disposal of spent charcoal.

Perhaps, the most important thing to do is MAKE A LIST. Load your vehicle the night before with everything except perishable items. Check off the items as you load them.

The Twelve Must Haves of Tailgating

TENT – When everybody else is in their car or truck avoiding the rain, you’ll be cooking!

JUMPER CABLES – After a great tailgate party, some would love to stay in the parking lot forever…but everyone might not share that thought. Especially valuable if you’re running electrical appliances off an inverter hooked up to your vehicle.

PLASTIC TRASH BAGS FOR CLEAN UP – A dedicated tailgater always respects their surroundings and leaves it clean.

EXTRA ICE – There is no excuse to ever run out of ice. Just bring a full extra ice chest and enjoy.

FIRST AID KIT – Just in case that football hits you in the head.

COMFORTABLE SHOES – I know it’s a no-brainer but sometimes we forget how much we visit and with the right shoes you can walk to your stomach’s content.

ANTACID – With all the foods consumed at the tailgate, we need some help. Remember defense wins championships.

CHAIRS – It seems like such a little thing but many rookies forget them.

FOLDING TABLE- Absolutely indispensable. A place to put all the plates, napkins, flatware, drinks, ice, food, and a place to sit down and eat. A whole lot better than trying to balance paper plates in your lap.

WATER – Not only to extinguish the grill but also for general clean-up. Bring at least two gallons.

PROPANE – Make sure the propane bottles are full – better yet, bring two.

TOILET PAPER – The MVP (most valuable product) of the parking lot. If your stadium doesn’t have readily accessible indoor restrooms, don’t get caught with your pants down in a Port-A-Potty with no TP.

For the latest Lake Lanier new homes for sale please visit www.Lakelanier-homesforsale.com often.  Find the latest foreclosures, short sales, homes with docks, deep water access, and million dollar homes for sale.  Serving Gainesville, Cumming, Buford, Flowery Branch, Oakwood, Dawsonville, Forsyth, Dawson, Hall, and Gwinnett Counties.  Call today to schedule a showing 770-990-0743.

Lake Lanier views

In 2004 the Corp of Engineers set a limit of 10,615 permit-able docks for Lake Lanier. For many Lanier homeowners this impact study was a death nail for any property without a current boat dock permit or zoned yellow or red. Those homeowners with permits saw their appraised value increase (on average) 70k, those without, only time will tell.

Expecting a large number of applicants, the corp held a lottery in October 2009 to determine the order of reviewing applications. To date the Corps has issued 80 permits, turned down 125 applications for various reasons and have another 13 pending.

If your Lake Lanier property lacks a dock permit and is zoned green now is the time to apply. With only 185 permits remaining Lanier a valid dock permit is priceless for lakefront homeowners.

Flowery Branch Lake Lanier Homes for Sale – http://lakelanier-homesforsale.com/flowery-branch-georgia-lake-lanier-homes-sale/

Cumming Lake Lanier Homes for Sale – http://lakelanier-homesforsale.com/cumming-georgia-lake-lanier-homes-sale/

Lake Lanier new home search

Would appear our neighbors in Alabama and Florida have requested the Corp of Engineers to provide more water from Lanier.  Already five feet down from full pool, 1071, Lanier homeowners are starting to see brown again on the shoreline.  For the latest Lake Lanier new homes for sale please visit www.Lake-LanierHomesForSale.com

As printed in the Gainesville Times  http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/54437/

POSTED: August 16, 2011 12:19 a.m.  
  
As Tropical Storm Gert appears headed out to sea, the Hall County area’s rain deficit gets larger and the water level at Lake Lanier keeps dropping.

Will there be any storm, tropical or gully washer that can bring relief to our parched earth?
Maybe.

The Atlantic basin is expected to see an above-normal hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30, and the season has yet to reach its peak.

“That could be a game changer,” said Lisa Coghlan, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ office in Mobile, Ala.

For now, though, yards are getting browner and shorelines more exposed.

On Monday, Buford Dam had an unplanned water release starting at 10:55 a.m. to increase flows downstream.

The corps’ statement on the matter: “We had to increase generation this morning to the daily schedule to help send water downstream to ensure the 750 (cubic feet per second) cfs was met at Peachtree Creek.

“Over the weekend, Morgan Falls Dam (at the Cobb-Fulton County line) got too low and additional water was needed to ensure flows were met.”

Coghlan said more unscheduled releases could occur if the drought doesn’t loosen its grip.

Lake Lanier stood at 1,066 feet above sea level Monday, or 5 feet below the normal full pool of 1,071 feet.

It was threatening to drop into the 1,065-foot range, an area the lake hasn’t seen since the spring of 2009, when the 2007-2009 drought was still going strong.

While that drought was much more severe, draining Lanier to a historic low of 1,050.79 feet on Dec. 26, 2007, the mostly dry conditions we’re going through now aren’t something to dismiss.

Joanna Cloud, executive director of the Gainesville-based Lake Lanier Association, said she is concerned the lake is 5 feet under pool “heading into our historically dry season.”

“We know from experience, once Lake Lanier drops significantly, it is far less likely to refill the following year,” she said.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that most of South Georgia is in extreme drought. Portions of the state, including the Savannah area, have a worse label, “exceptional drought.”

Hall County is suffering from “abnormally dry conditions” and a sliver of East Hall has slipped into “moderate drought.”

With no substantial rainfall this week, more of Hall County could be in “moderate drought” when a new drought report is issued on Thursday.

Lack of rainfall, particularly in South Georgia, is driving the lower elevations at Lake Lanier, which is part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin that flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

No rain is in the forecast until Thursday for the Hall County area, according to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.

A 20 percent chance for thunderstorms runs from Thursday through Sunday.

The Lake Lanier Association is back in the press requesting all parties consider raising Lanier’s full pool elevation from 1071 to 1073.  Lanier’s full pool is calculated as elevation.  If standing on the shore of Lanier at full pool with your feet in the water you are 1071 feet above sea level.  At our lowest point in December 2009 we experienced 1051 for two days taking the lake 20 feet below full pool.

Lanier residents will remember not being able to use all but one boat ramp (Shoal Creek), sand dunes under the Lanier Island bridge, countless navigational hazards from exposed humps, newly exposed sandy beaches across the lake, and the heartache of moving docks or losing lake access for months at a time.

My understanding is that before an increase in capacity is even considered congress must request a study from the Corp of Engineers.  The impact report would include dam feasibility,moving docks-structure, existing bridge clearances, and other issues permanently adding two feet of water might cause.   In January 2007, the Lake Lanier Association proposed raising Lanier from its current level of 1071 to 1073. The additional two feet of water storage would add approximately 26 billion gallons of water to Lake Lanier.

For the latest on Lake Lanier homes for sale please visit www.LakeLanier-HomesForSale.com  This website is updated daily with the latest new homes for sale, foreclosures, short sales, and buyers information.

As posted in the Gainesville Times
By Ashley Fielding
afielding@gainesvilletimes.com

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue called on state legislators Wednesday to incentivize water conservation.

Perdue unveiled the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of 2010, which will require water-efficient plumbing fixtures in all newly constructed residential and commercial buildings and provide loan incentives for local governments building reservoirs and expanding existing reservoirs.

In a statement, Perdue called the legislation a “road map towards being better stewards of our limited natural resources.”

The bill will be introduced in both the state House and the Senate and will be sponsored by the Ross Tolleson, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and the Environment Committee, and Lynn Smith, chairwoman of the same committee in the House.

The bill would become effective in July 2012.

From that point forward:

•Newly constructed residential and commercial buildings would be required to have water-efficient fixtures, and new industrial buildings would be required to use water-efficient cooling towers.
•Each unit in newly constructed apartment complexes would have to have its own meter so individual water consumption can be recorded.
•The state’s Environmental Protection Division would be required to set standards for leak detection for medium- and large-sized public water systems.
•Surface water withdrawals made by farmers would be monitored.
The bill also tackles the state’s existing buildings, instructing eight different state agencies to develop incentives in their loan and grant program for local governments and water providers to retrofit existing buildings with water-efficient plumbing fixtures or install drought-tolerant landscapes.

The bill could provide discounts on interest rates for loans acquired through the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority or could make local governments eligible to apply for Community Development Block Grants annually instead of every two years.

Smith said the proposal empowers local communities to create solutions, just as they did last year.

“We don’t want to have blanket laws that could be punitive,” Smith said. “As citizens of Georgia, we managed ourselves pretty well through the last drought.”

Both she and Tolleson said the proposal shows the state is doing what it can while the issue is resolved.

“The state has to be very proactive in moving ahead,” Tolleson said. “I think this will have a positive impact on negotiations … and it shows a good faith effort.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

as posted in the Gainesville Times

By Melissa Weinman
mweinman@gainesvilletimes.com

POSTED  Jan. 28, 2010 11:30 p.m.
The Hall County Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved changing the name of Holiday and Friendship roads to Lanier Islands Parkway.
“This probably should have been done 15 years ago when they built the new road,” Commissioner Bobby Banks said.
Nobody was at the meeting to speak in opposition to the name change.
Stacey Dickson, president of the Lake Lanier Convention and Visitors Bureau, spoke in favor of changing the name of “a very confusing” road.
There are three different road signs after the Interstate 985 exit that name the road as Friendship Road, Ga. 347 and Holiday Road.
“We support first and foremost, at the convenience of the visitor, that renaming the road to point to its most desirable attraction is a sensible and logical choice,” Dickson said.
Grier Todd, CEO of Lake Lanier Islands, said he thinks changing the name of the road will help the many other businesses on the route.
“Getting more traffic on that road helps all parties involved,” Todd said. “We deal every day with the confusion of trying to get our guests on the islands.”

Lake Lanier homes for sale

By Dan Chapman

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Scarred by the drought, and fearful of a permanent reduction in water levels, homeowners, boaters and marina operators on lakes Lanier and Allatoona are pushing Washington to raise the reservoirs.

For Lanier, the goal is 2 more feet of water year-round. For Allatoona, anywhere from 2 to 7 feet of additional wintertime water is the target.

A few feet here or there might seem insignificant to the untrained eye. But millions of additional gallons of water would keep the lakes running high and looking pretty.

Higher reservoirs, according to river boosters, would also insulate Atlanta and large swaths of south Georgia, Alabama and Florida from drought. And the lakes would still remain large enough, and their dams tall enough, to handle big rains and prevent flooding.

“Keeping as much water here as possible makes the entire Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin robust and usable for everybody’s purposes,” said Wilton Rooks, a vice president of the nonprofit Lake Lanier Association.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the reservoirs, began releasing water last week; which all but guarantees that Lanier and Allatoona will remain below hoped-for levels.

Lake Lanier hit an all-time low during the drought of 2007-08. Docks ended in mud. Boats hit tree stumps. The reservoirs appeared ring-around-the-bathtub dirty.

Both lakes recently crested their Corps-designated peaks. But the Corps, as it does every year, has been reducing levels to ready for winter rains.

Recent court rulings heighten fears that the Corps will be forced to permanently lower Lanier and Allatoona even further. In July, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson said that Lanier is only authorized for flood control, navigation and power supply — not drinking water or recreation.

He gave Georgia three years to work out a water-sharing deal with Alabama and Florida, which also tap the Chattahoochee River, or else Atlanta would return to mid-1970s water withdrawal levels from Lanier. Roughly 3 million metro Atlantans depend on Lanier for drinking water.

Georgia officials are scrambling to find ways to keep Atlanta afloat in three years in case Magnuson’s decision stands. They’ve proposed construction of new reservoirs in Hall and Dawson counties. But reservoirs are expensive, lengthy projects. The yet-to-open Hickory Log Creek reservoir in Canton, for example, cost more than $100 million and has taken a decade to build.

“The cheapest, most environmentally-friendly water supply is to use the reservoirs already in place,” said Joe Cook, executive director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative. “It makes a whole lot more sense to increase the yield from Allatoona or Lanier, by increasing the amount of water stored there, than by building new reservoirs upstream.”

The Lake Lanier Association proposes keeping Lanier at 1073 feet above sea level year-round unless a drought requires more water be sent downstream.  Full pool is 1071 feet.

The Lake Allatoona Preservation Authority wants its lake to stay between 825 and 830 feet during the winter. The Corps is currently dropping Allatoona to 823 feet as it does each year.

Raising water levels at Lanier and Allatoona wouldn’t cost much. Lanier’s flood pool tops out at 1085 feet, Allatoona’s at 863 feet. Both have enough room to handle higher water levels and heavy rains without adding to the dams’ heights.

But Judge Magnuson prohibited any expansion of the reservoirs unless Congress first signs off. And downstream communities and businesses that rely on the rivers flowing from Lanier and Allatoona strongly oppose adding water to the reservoirs.

“Simply holding more water in Lake Lanier means less water flowing downstream into Alabama,” said Todd Stacy, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley’s spokesman. “Unless this proposal is part of a larger plan that includes measures to mitigate the disruption of flows, Alabama would ultimately be put at a disadvantage. That would be unacceptable.”

Raising reservoir levels faces opposition closer to home too.

“At 1073 feet, you’d see impacts at all of Lanier’s boat ramps and other Corps facilities along the shore,” said Lisa Coghlan, a Corps spokeswoman. “It can cause bank destabilization too when water stays up and the ground becomes saturated.”

But Brent Pearson, operations manager for a company that owns four marinas on Allatoona and another on Lanier, said most homeowners and businesses build docks and homes with high-water marks in mind.

“Everybody knows at Allatoona and Lanier that the Corps will flood the lake, so they don’t ever build a permanent structure anywhere close to the flood plain,” he said. “Going up two feet (at Lanier) is not a problem. Everybody’s got a buffer.”

The Corps recently received some stimulus money partly for an environmental study of Lanier which could tackle water-level questions. U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) is also pushing the Corps to revisit mandated lake levels for Lanier and Allatoona.

The Georgia General Assembly has unanimously supported raising reservoir levels in years past. And Gov. Sonny Perdue’s water “contingency” task force will likely recommend higher water levels.

“It is simply absurd that we can’t better manage Lake Lanier and take full advantage of the current abundant supply,” Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle wrote in an October 14 letter to the Corps.

From 11alive.com

Lake Lanier, Ga. — Lake Lanier finds itself between a dam and a wet place.

Usually this time of year, Lanier has plenty of room to catch and hold the run-off from the winter and spring rains.

But today the lake is above its full level. The Army Corps of Engineers may have to choose between flooding below Buford Dam, and flooding behind it.
Take everything you’ve known about Lake Lanier over the past several years and turn it upside down.
“We have to flip the switch,” said the Army Corps’ Chris Lovelady. “From drought management to flood management.”
Right now the lake level is about a foot and a half above its capacity.
Think of Lake Lanier as a bucket under a leaky roof. As long as there’s room in the bucket it can hold the water. But if the roof continues to leak — and the bucket is full — either you have to drain the bucket or you’re going to have quite a mess.
You’re looking at the water release equivalent of flooring the accelerator: all three turbines — wide open. The goal is to drop the lake another two and a half feet — to 1,070 — by December first…in time for what’s forecast to be heavier than normal winter and spring rains.
“It allows for future rain events that are possibly going to be significant” said the Army Corps’ Chris Lovelady. “We would expect that. It allows us to capture the flood waters.”
But if the predicted heavy rains come, the streams and rivers below Lake Lanier could flood again.
“If there’s flooding downstream” said Lovelady, “we don’t want to send this downstream to make the flooding worse.”
And if the Army Corps can’t release water from Lanier, the lake will back up.
The current water level at Lake Lanier is ten seventy two point fifty one.
The all time record is ten seventy seven.
The army corps warns that the expected heavy rains this winter could threaten that record.
“The lake’s up in the trees” Lovelady said. “The docks are in the trees. The parks are significantly affected. Beaches are totally underwater for the most part. Boat ramps are inaccessible.”
It’s a race between sending water downstream and the arrival of the rainy season…and there’s no way to get a bigger bucket.

The Corps of Engineering has started an Environmental Impact Statement for Lake Lanier.

From Access North Ga
Corps revises Lanier’s environmental impact statement

By Staff
MOBILE, Ala. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is revising the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its updated water control manuals for the the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin.

Corps officials said the revisions will account for a judge’s July 17 federal court ruling which determined Atlanta could not draw its drinking water from Lake Lanier and gave the state three years to work out a deal.

“With the exception of two relatively small relocation contracts for the
Cities of Gainesville and Buford, the Court determined that neither water
supply withdrawals from Lake Lanier nor releases for water supply from the
Chattahoochee River downstream, were authorized project purposes,” Mobile
District Chief of Public Affairs E. Patrick Robbins said. “In light of the significant new circumstances and information associated with the Judge’s ruling, the Corps will reopen the scoping process to gather stakeholder input regarding these new circumstances to be considered in its preparation of the Master Water Control Manual and EIS,” Robbins said.

Comments on the scope of the EIS should be submitted in writing to
Tetra Tech, Inc., 107 Saint Francis Street, Ste 1403, Mobile, AL 32206-9986.