Lake Lanier drought pictures
- Thread starter Woodsong
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Right now we are 5' higher (at 1055.77) than we were at the lowest point this past winter which occurred on Dec. 26, 2007 and that low elevation was 1050.79' above sea level. Current levels are 2' lower than the highest water level that we've had YTD which was 1057.80 which occurred on the 18th and 24th of March, 2008. Full summer pool is 1070-1071, depending on which data source you reference.
It's still very low but high enough to be able to go out boating without really much of a second thought/concern. Just wait a little more though...short of a hurricane or two rolling up this way i think lanier is going to see a worse winter this year than last, again, unless we get a ton of rain.
Allatoona has been at or near full pool level all year though!
It's still very low but high enough to be able to go out boating without really much of a second thought/concern. Just wait a little more though...short of a hurricane or two rolling up this way i think lanier is going to see a worse winter this year than last, again, unless we get a ton of rain.
Allatoona has been at or near full pool level all year though!
Hi, The lake is down 15.2 feet as of today. We are are at 1055.80 feet full pool is 1071 feet. Basically after all the winter and spring rains we are back to where we were last fall. For example 1055.80 was the level we were at on October 28th of 2007 when basically no ramps were available. So long story short its really low again for us lake boaters Watch your props!
Woodsong, you should come join us at Allatoona! I like Lanier better overall, but at least we have some water to play in here. Lanier is getting screwed big time by the Corps...I guess we shouldn't expect it to be any other way seeing how it a government run agency!
I had my previous express cruiser over on Allatoona for a year. Loved boating there and only a few minutes from our house but we love lanier. Part of the reason why we moved to lanier was to get away from the winter low water levels endemic on toona in the winter. Of course, as soon as we have a boat on lanier the water disappears! For your sake you should hope I remain on Lanier b/c as soon as I move back to toona the water will disappear there as well! Heaven knows what would happen if I ever moved onto the ocean...would probably cause a global water shortage!
Well I heard that we got 3 inches of rain up north in the GA mountains that will be good for LL.
I don't recall the equation like if 4 inches of rain across the lake would bring it up one foot. At any rate we are thankful for the rain.
Wouldn't it be great if we could take a huge sponge down to Jacksonville FLA and just soak up the extra rain they can't absorb and deposit it here !
I don't recall the equation like if 4 inches of rain across the lake would bring it up one foot. At any rate we are thankful for the rain.
Wouldn't it be great if we could take a huge sponge down to Jacksonville FLA and just soak up the extra rain they can't absorb and deposit it here !
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Corp is predicting possible 1 foot rise in levels with the rain we are getting. Keep it coming we need all we can get.
just saw on the news that lake lanier and it's basin above it got 8"-10" of rain today and the chattahoochee (large river flowing into Lanier for you out of towners) up around Helen, etc. is completely flooded! Will be interesting to see how much the lake comes up in the next 2 days!!
GreatEscape...problem still remains that even with a 1' rise the corps will let it all back out again within the next week but at least it gives us an additional week to play! Hopefully Gustav will roll up from the panhandle and sit on atlanta as well. Of course I spent most of the day chasing a leaky roof on one of our buildings so that wasn't so fun but I am NOT complaining (unless it still leaks tomorrow!).
GreatEscape...problem still remains that even with a 1' rise the corps will let it all back out again within the next week but at least it gives us an additional week to play! Hopefully Gustav will roll up from the panhandle and sit on atlanta as well. Of course I spent most of the day chasing a leaky roof on one of our buildings so that wasn't so fun but I am NOT complaining (unless it still leaks tomorrow!).
Based on the Lake level website Lanier has gone up 1.52' in the last 24 hours! Let's hope this trend continues!!!
If i lived on the lake I think I would have just sat in a chair under an umbrella and throw a party to watch the lake rise!
If i lived on the lake I think I would have just sat in a chair under an umbrella and throw a party to watch the lake rise!
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It was pretty cool to watch our lake during last year's flood. At one point, it was rising over 1" an hour. An amazing amount of water coming in.
Currently, we are about 20' from full pool. The walk from the parking lot has gotten substanstially longer!
It's weird, we have had these low pressure fronts come in, a few tropical storms/hurricanes, but it's like there is a bubble all around Austin and the surrounding hill country that has kept the rain away from us.
Over the past week, we have gotten some nice little cells come through, but just enough to green up everything. It's having no meaningful impact on the lake. I can't believe that we didn't even make it one year from flood to drought. That is very abnormal.
Paul
Currently, we are about 20' from full pool. The walk from the parking lot has gotten substanstially longer!
It's weird, we have had these low pressure fronts come in, a few tropical storms/hurricanes, but it's like there is a bubble all around Austin and the surrounding hill country that has kept the rain away from us.
Over the past week, we have gotten some nice little cells come through, but just enough to green up everything. It's having no meaningful impact on the lake. I can't believe that we didn't even make it one year from flood to drought. That is very abnormal.
Paul
Lake Allatoona went back up over a foot as well. It looked like it was only going to be usable until the end of September, but they have since changed the projections and now it looks like end of October!
http://water.sam.usace.army.mil/allafc.htm
http://water.sam.usace.army.mil/allafc.htm
Lanier has come up 2.3 feet since August 24th (this past Sunday)! Very cool!!! This puts us back up the water level we had on July 20th of this summer...sooo...our friendly storm Fay may have bought us at least 30 more days of boating without worrying about water levels, assuming we have the same rate of drop from here on out. Now let's just keep hoping our friend Gustav comes to pay us a visit without harming florida (or the clams Lanier is protecting!)!!!
Bruce, how can they acknowledge something that is not true. The use of Lanier water as a source of drinking and lawn water for the greater Atlanta is small in comparrison to the water that is flowing our of Atlanta in the Chattahoochee River.
If you have driven over this river lately (two weeks ago I crossed it many times south of Atlanta) you can see that the river is at full flow. The rivers in the big bend area of Florida are now in near flood conditions because of tropical storm Fay. The corp should be using some sense and letting Lanier water raise the lake level while the water from Fay is providing the water needed for the oysters, etc.
The only poor planning that I can see in on the part of the Corps of Engineers.
George
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I had no idea it got that bad on lakes.
Lanier is still a good 10 feet or so below where it should be. IMO this is not due to the overdevelopment of Atlanta, probably has very little to do with Corps mismanagement, it's due to the historic drought that appears to be over. The concept that Atlanta could have ran out of water is related to poor management of the development of Atlanta but probably wouldn't have happened even if we'd had another year or two of drought.
The total effect of Fay appears to me that it will be around 5+ feet in Lanier when you factor in the inflow and outflow changes, how much the ground water recovered, even the cooler weather slowed evaporation and water use. Now if they'll just start letting me wash my car again I'll be happy. I'd like to seem some daytime lawn watering restrictions remain in effect.
The total effect of Fay appears to me that it will be around 5+ feet in Lanier when you factor in the inflow and outflow changes, how much the ground water recovered, even the cooler weather slowed evaporation and water use. Now if they'll just start letting me wash my car again I'll be happy. I'd like to seem some daytime lawn watering restrictions remain in effect.
Well well well. I think we need another tropical storm to roll up to Atlanta again. August 25th lake was down to 1053.63. August 29th, after the hurricane rains, lake jumped up to 1055.76. Here it is the 22nd of September and we're back down to 1054.68. So, the rains bought us 2 months extra time this season. Unless we get some major rains we will most likely be back down to the August 25th lake level by 3rd or 4th week of October. That will probably put us back on track to be as low, possibly (probably?!) lower than we were at our low point this past winter. With this continued pattern the corps of engineers may want to look at revising their "full pool" elevation!! 
I agree but the storm season is nearly over. Of course no one really knows, but I don't think Lanier will go quite as low this winter as last and then it'll fill up farther. I guessed 1060 high level this year so I was only off a foot or two. I'm hoping for a 1052 to 1053 low this winter.
I'm basing my future expectation on the idea that we seem to have broken out of the drought, the ground moisture levels have recovered somewhat so the creeks and rivers are ready to flow, the Corp has new guidelines on how much discharge is required, etc. But even with all that it still will probably be spring 2010 before Lanier recover enough to just get most of the ramps usable again and where we'll be able to go under the bridge to the islands. I'm predicting 1064 next spring and back down to 1057 the following winter.
I'm as disappointed that my neighbors Waterfront Lanier Harbor put their building on hold. I guess the economy effected that more than water levels?
I'm basing my future expectation on the idea that we seem to have broken out of the drought, the ground moisture levels have recovered somewhat so the creeks and rivers are ready to flow, the Corp has new guidelines on how much discharge is required, etc. But even with all that it still will probably be spring 2010 before Lanier recover enough to just get most of the ramps usable again and where we'll be able to go under the bridge to the islands. I'm predicting 1064 next spring and back down to 1057 the following winter.
I'm as disappointed that my neighbors Waterfront Lanier Harbor put their building on hold. I guess the economy effected that more than water levels?