Dock Permits Open on Lake Lanier

The Army Corps of Engineers is lifting a ban on new dock permits on north Georgia's Lake Lanier in another sign that the epic drought that once gripped north Georgia is fast becoming a thing of the past. The Corps issued the moratorium in April 2007 as the drought sent levels at the massive reservoir plunging. As the drought grew worse, the lake's levels dropped more than 18 feet below full pool. But rainy weather has helped north Georgia emerge from the worst drought conditions, and Lanier is now only about four feet below full pool. Corps spokesman E. Patrick Robbins said that helped federal engineers feel confident enough to begin accepting new boat dock permits.

(Associated Press)

Army Corps of Engineers Searching for Old Weapons

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is getting ready to look for leftover weapons in Middle Georgia.
In the 1940's close to 20-thousand soldiers trained at Camp Wheeler Army base in Macon. Much of that training included learning to use things like; rifles, grenades, and mines.
When soldiers left in 1946 the land was given back for public use. Fifty-one year old Linda Harris has lived in the area all her life and remembers playing on the property as a child.

"There were shells, like we would play in the dirt. We would dig up shells and metal fragments. Even my dad saved a cannonball, but we don't know where it is right now. It may still be on the property."

Experts will spend four months going over the land with metal detectors. If ordnance's are found, they'll mark the area and come back later to remove them. Two years ago officials removed more than 300 unexploded devices on the former grounds of Camp Wheeler.

Tri-State Water Issues Back In Court

Another round in the so-called ‘water wars’ comes today in federal court in Jacksonville. Georgia will meet Florida and Alabama over the issue of allocation of water from Lake Lanier—the main water supply for metro Atlanta. Florida and Alabama both want the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to send more water downstream from the hydroelectric dam. The case has now extended for almost two decades. Seven lawsuits on water issues have been consolidated and no quick decisions are expected.

Stimulus Funds Water War Study

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is getting $3 million in federal stimulus money to complete a study on managing the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint River basin. The study covers "water supply, recreation, hydropower, flood damage reduction, navigation, and fish and wildlife." Alabama, Georgia and Florida have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over water in the ACF basin. Another $8 million is for Buford Dam and Lake Lanier, metro Atlanta's main water source along the Chattahoochee.

(Associated Press)

Corps To Increase Water Release From Lanier

Winter rains have replenished north Georgia’s Lake Lanier enough that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to send more water down the Chattahoochee River. The reservoir has hit its highest-level since August 2007, now around seven to eight feet below full. Since late December, Lanier has risen about 13 feet. Georgia Enviromental Protection Division director Carol Couch previously had requested releases from Lanier be cut, but not this time. Georgia, Florida, and Alabama have been fighting over the reservoir’s water since 1990.

Heavy Rain Halts Thurmond Dam Outflow

Due to heavy rain that fell all day Friday into Saturday, officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the weekend moved to close Thurmond Dam in east Georgia. Corps officials in a press release said abundant rains in the upper Savannah River Basin including significant rain in the Stevens Creek sub-basin directly below Thurmond, spuured the move to stop outflows. Officials say they will evaluate river flow early today to determine when outflows from Thurmond Lake will resume.

Atlanta mayor hopes for truce in 3-state water war

West Point Lake. (Dave Bender/file)

Mayor Shirley Franklin is hopeful President-elect Barack Obama will make good on a promise to unite Georgia, Florida and Alabama over the issue of water.

In October, Obama said he would call for the states' governors to begin negotiating again on water sharing.

Speaking to the Atlanta Press Club Tuesday, Franklin said she considers overhauling the city's troubled sewer system one of hermost challenging accomplishments, but that the new president must bring regional governors to the table on water issues.

Franklin, who leaves office at the end of the year, says her successor will need to focus on what can be done to ensure a stronger future for Atlanta.

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of water issues and here for previous reports about the drought.

High Court Declines Georgia Motion Water Wars Case

Lake Allatoona: a bridge over troubled, and receding, waters (Dave Bender/file)

The U.S. Supreme Court will let stand a lower court ruling that threatens Georgia's long-term water plans for the Atlanta region.

The court's decision Monday raises fundamental questions about Georgia's rights to Lake Lanier, a massive federal reservoir outside Atlanta. It could also play a key role in deciding the
long-running water wars among Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The case involves a 2003 water-sharing agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers that would have allowed Georgia to take far more water from Lanier for drinking water.

Florida and Alabama contested the pact. A lower court agreed, saying the Corps didn't have authority to use the lake for that reason.

Georgia had appealed to the Supreme Court for another review.

(AP)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of water issues and here for previous reports about the drought.

Reservoir headed for record low

Metro Atlanta's main water supply could soon set a record low. The Army Corps of Engineers says Lake Lanier could surpass last year's low in early December. The lake hit its previous record low on December 26, 2007, when it reached just under 1,051 feet. The epic drought gripping north Georgia has taken a toll on Lanier, a massive reservoir that supplies metro Atlanta with most of its water.

(Associated Press)

Drought expected to hold firm

Experts say there is no end in sight for Georgia's drought. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers predicts continued below-normal rainfall in parts of the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa and Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basins. The Corps says the lower portions of the basins have benefited the most from this year's storm season. But the northern reservoirs of the basins did not receive the same benefits from these storms, and conditions haven't improved in North Georgia.

(Associated Press)

Corps gives tough forecast for region lakes

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say the drought is intensifying, with the early weeks of July expected to be hot and dry. Corps officials say even though winter and spring rains did refill many lakes in the region, the reservoirs feeding large population areas are still well below normal and will be further challenged. West Point Lake in particular is forecasted to drop nearly two-and-a-half feet over the next five weeks. Atlanta’s main water source of Lake Lanier is also under the gun through the summer months--its level is expected to fall another 1.3 feet.

Federal biologists say Georgia can keep more water

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to keep more water upstream in Georgia got the blessing of federal biologists Monday. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say storing more water in Georgia's reservoirs and releasing less downstream would not jeopardize the existence of Gulf sturgeon and three types of mussel. The adjusted water plan was announced in April, allowing for reservoirs along the Chattahooche to store 50 percent of the inflow into the river basin. The Chattahooche runs into the downstream Apalachicola River, which in turn runs into the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S Army Corps sites in GA: 'no guns here'

The U.S Army Corps of Engineers clarified the state's new gun law to remind Georgians that concealed weapons are not allowed in the sites the Corps oversees. A brief statement issued Thursday clarifies that only law enforcement officers can carry loaded guns into the more than 100 campgrounds and recreation areas operated by the Corps in Georgia. Those parks include Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Marietta, some parks along the Chattahoochee River,and the parks and boat ramps owned by the Corps around some north Georgia lakes, including Lanier.

This week Governor Sonny Perdue signed into law the measure that allows those with concealed weapons permits to carry firearms into state parks, some restaurants and on public transportation. The law becomes effective July 1st.

Report details 22-billion-gallon mistake

A new report details how billions of gallons of water were accidentally released from Lake Lanier. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports miscommunication over a $138 pulley led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to set a calibration gauge wrong. The gauge then indicated the lake was higher than it actually was. That led to the accidental release of 22 billion gallons of water over a 52-day period ending in June 2006. Today, Lanier is approximately 13 feet below its full level.

Corps of Engineers seeks 10% cut in flows from Lanier

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced a plan to decrease by 10 percent the amount of water released from Lake Lanier. The change would apply under most conditions.

The move is seen as an acknowledgement by the Corps that its current reservoir management plan is flawed.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife has until June 1 to review the new plan and its impact on federally protected species of wildlife.

Georgia loses on water ruling

Today Georgia suffered a defeat in its nearly 20-year water war with Florida and Alabama. Today a federal appeals court threw out an agreement between Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers for water rights to Lake Lanier. The 2003 agreement gave Georgia about a quarter of Lake Lanier's water and is the foundation of the state's long-term plans for supplying drinking water to the rapidly growing Atlanta region. Alabama and Florida argued that Georgia doesn't have any legal right to the federal reservoir, which was initially built for hydropower.

Green light to Corps for water manual update

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now has the ‘green-light’ to begin the process of updating a 50-year-old manual that manages a critical river basin serving Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.

The Secretary of the Army says the Corps will start work on a new water control plan for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. This is the basin that includes Lake Lanier, and serves water users downstream into Florida and Alabama.

Currently, the Corps uses a 1958 manual that does not account for a population boom in the region, and the Endangered Species Act. The original manual focuses mainly on flood control, navigation, and recreation.

Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been fighting over water in the basin for well over a decade. Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson says a new manual will help lead to a resolution in the dispute.

"Any tri-state water compact the Governors agree to, is going to be conditional to having a modernized water control manual. It really accelerates the process forward, and I think it puts the pressure--appropriately so--on the states to come to an agreement".

Corps officials say the process of updating the manual could take up to three years.

Floridians sue over Georgia water

As Governor Sonny Perdue vowed to keep as much water in the state as needed, a lawsuit was filed in Florida that take more water out of Georgia. The Florida city of Apalachicola is suing the US Army corp of engineers over current and future water restrictions. Previous suits out of Florida have focused on the environmental impact of the draw down. The city’s attorney says what makes this case unique is that it shows Florida residents are harmed by the decrease in river volume. Meanwhile, the Georgia municipalities of Columbus and Gainesville have filed suits challenging the Army Corps management of the Chattahoochee Flint Apalachicola river system.

Water flows cut from Lake Allatoona

Some good news for Lake Allatoona. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to reduce the flow of water out of Allatoona by 40 to 50 percent. It’s an effort to make sure Allatoona remains a lake. The Corps has not said whether it has similar plans for nearby Lake Lanier, which is metro Atlanta’s main water source.

Rains mean less water released from Lanier

Recent rains mean the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can cut back on releasing water from Lake Lanier. The Corps manages the reservoir in North Georgia. A Corps official says rain didn’t boost level at Lake Lanier, but added to water flowing through the lower Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. Water is released from Lanier to feed those rivers.