Lake Lanier drought pictures

Interesting update. Thanks. Well, now your daughter is hooked on fishing for many years to come---until she gets "hooked" on boys [:I]
 
I had always heard a lot of lakes like Lanier, Norman, Hartwell etc where clear cut down 20 or so feet then the trees were either left standing in deep areas or topped, guess this is proof. The Corps probably figured no-one would ever see those trees again. I feel for the Lake Lanier people. I know if I couldn't use my boat/dock for going on two years I would be beside myself. I can imagine trying to sell a house on Lanier right now. Heck, 3 feet down at Tillery would put me out of business.
 
Woodsong,
Wow haven't been to Cocktail Cove in a while we usually are up Young Deer. Way too many stumps for me to visit CC this year don't want to waste a prop either. It was great meeting you and your daughter.
 
Those photos still amaze me Wood - heartbreaking. What a great neighborhood during normal water though. 38,000 acres is a big playground - any idea how many miles of shoreline that is? What kind of depth do you have on average? I would imagine that it's a fairly gradual slope, isn't it? Judging from the fish you pull out of there, you must have some pretty substantial depths as well. Any idea what the percentage of navigable water that you've lost is?
 
Lake Lanier has about 690 shore miles and depths up to 140 feet (at full pool) We have lost about 6000 acres with the current lake levels. There are very few areas with gradual slopes. You can be in 100 ft of water and then it will rise very quickly to 10 to 20 feet. Having good charts right now is worth it's weight in gold.
 
These kind of "lakes" are usually flooded canyons.

We have a lot of them in NorCal. Right now Folsom Lake near Sacramento is mandatory 5 MPH for the entire lake due to low water and so many boating hazards. Only fishermen go out on it in those conditions.
 
Thanks for the pics Woodie! I guess I should try to figure out how to post pics here myself someday. I still think you are off on how low Lanier will go this winter, but of course no one really knows since who knows when we'll start getting our normal winter rain.

One of those Cocktail Cove stumps got chopped down a little lower by my ski boat prop July 4th weekend. I had cruised all around Shoal Creek at low water levels last winter looking for stumps but didn't check out Coctail Cove and paid the price. Well, actually my insurance company paid the $9k price to fix my stupid mistake.

I'm most bothered by the fact that economic situations seem to have at least temporarily killed the Waterfront Lanier Harbor project behind me. A few months ago I finally saw some dock work happening and got happy only to find out that they were disabling and removing already assembled new docks. So basically a year ago they shut down their dry storage setup, had all the boats removed, cleared off part of the land for new townhouses, then stopped. At least it's quieter with less traffic now that the marina is basically shutdown expect for the gas dock.

My cove is still 15+ feet deep behind my dock/houseboat so I should be safe. I can only go about 5-10feet further from the bank without disconnecting my 250' shore power line but I assume I won't move my dock again this year. Funny enough I barely moved it this year at all, the bank at my dock gets steep when water levels are in the 1050's.
 
I'm in Atlanta this week. Driving down yesterday I was amazed at how low Hartwell is. It looks at least 15ft down.
 
Here is a before pic of my dock...... the point of reference can be the holder for my garden hose on the right hand side of the picture. By the way the garden hose usage has been restricted for years.
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Here is a after pic of my dock...... It is sort of hard to see or grasp the change because of the shadows but there is no way in hell a bow rider could float there now. The dock anchors lines which are normally way below the dock are above the water line. At full pool we have water up to the tree line.

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Just saw the news on TV- Corps of Engineers are predicting a further drop of 20-24" below where we are right now to 1050.6 within the next 4 weeks. That will put us lower than last winter's historic low and reaching that low point a month earlier than the low last winter. I'm still guessing 1048 or 1049 as our low this winter.
 
Noticed I started this thread on January 7, 2008 when water level was 1051.26. Today we were at 1051.18! That's only 4.68 inches higher than the low point last winter. VERY SAD!

On a more positive note though...has anyone on Lanier checked out www.1071coalition.org? They are a non-profit that recently was formed as an advocate of creating a water management plan that will actually allow Lanier to reach summer pool levels of 1071. I got a letter in the mail this week from them with info on an upcoming info meeting. I may go check it out if schedule permits. Anyone else going?
 
October and November have been very dry again. Looks like we probably will go lower this year than last. Hopefully we have a rainy spring and get back above 1060 next year.

1071 would have helped and I appreciate the Coalition's efforts but it wouldn't have made much difference with this historic drought we've been through. The new release requirements will help more than anything, especially if they can be even further modified to favor the lake.

I doubt I could deal with some of the strong opinions at a meeting like that. I bet it would be like a political rally on steroids. Maybe not, tell us when you get back..lol.
 
Wood, check out the article on 1071 in Lakeside. Everybody who is anybody on the lake is in it. I'm going to throw in my 100 bucks. It is time we put some grease on the wheels and move this thing.
 
I would like to think that the 1071 Coalition could help, but as us Lake Lanier boaters know, the state of Georgia, Florida and Alabama haven't fixed anything concerning the lake. Remember we are dealing with the Federal Govt. I am taking a wait and see approach with that organization.
 
Looks like Lanier is very near it's low point this year. Levels are actually slightly up the last few days so if we can just get a little more rain we'll continue heading up. Now we just need enough rain to go up 20 feet this spring..lol. Actually I'd be happy with 10 feet, ecstatic with 15, then I'd at least be able to take a jetski under the bridge to the Islands again.
 
Yes,
Rains of the last 2 days have brought the lake up 0.06 feet, or 0.72 inches! Sure beats the continual negative numbers though, eh? I don't think we are out of the woods yet and still think it will go lower than last year but hey- I continually hope I am wrong about all of this!! :)
 
Joey, if everyone does a "wait and see" nothing will happen. If you want action, you have to be part of it and we all have to do it together.
 
I'm thinking we should hold a candle light vigil the day we reach the historic low from last winter. We're only 2.64" above that point today!
 
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