Lake Allatoona to Release Less Water

This week, in response to Georgia’s worsening drought, officials are cutting the amount of water released from Allatoona Lake by a third. Less water flowing out of Lake Allatoona, located 30 miles north of Atlanta, means less water for communities primarily in North West GA, like Rome, and Cartersville.

Joe Cook, with the Coosa River Basin Initiative in Rome says officials are sacrificing these communities to help metro Atlanta.

“We are concerned about having adequate flows to protect out economy and our ecology in N W GA. They are holding back water in Lake Allatoona primarily to preserve water supplies for communities in metro Atlanta.”

Cook says holding back water will also affect the Coosa River’s wildlife. He says that because water from the river is used to cool Georgia Power’s Plant Hammond the, rivers temperature is elevated. And with less water flowing downstream, the river may get too hot.