The Army Corps of Engineers says its recent testing of Lake Lanier shows there’s enough water for everybody. Even as the drought grips the state tighter day-by-day, Corps officials say north Georgians and residents downstream shouldn’t worry excessively over Lanier’s dropping levels.
Patrick Taylor, the Corps' assistant operations program manager at Lanier, said this to GPB Tuesday.
"It’s not likely that we’ll even exit or go beyond the conservation pool".
The upper level, or ‘conservation pool’, provides water to nearby communities like Buford, Gainesville, and Cumming. The lower, or ‘inactive pool’, feeds metro Atlanta and downstream residents. Despite Lanier shrinking close to lower elevation levels, Taylor says all should be fine:
"We’re presently at 1,055’ elevation, and that’s another 20 feet—vertical feet of water. And sooner or later it’s going to rain, so we’ll start replenishing the storage".
Taylor does acknowledge predictions of a dry winter could be problematic to replenish the lake.
Patrick Taylor, the Corps' assistant operations program manager at Lanier, said this to GPB Tuesday.
"It’s not likely that we’ll even exit or go beyond the conservation pool".
The upper level, or ‘conservation pool’, provides water to nearby communities like Buford, Gainesville, and Cumming. The lower, or ‘inactive pool’, feeds metro Atlanta and downstream residents. Despite Lanier shrinking close to lower elevation levels, Taylor says all should be fine:
"We’re presently at 1,055’ elevation, and that’s another 20 feet—vertical feet of water. And sooner or later it’s going to rain, so we’ll start replenishing the storage".
Taylor does acknowledge predictions of a dry winter could be problematic to replenish the lake.
