Local

Record Amounts Of Water Released From Lake Lanier This Year

October 7th, 2013

Officials say Lake Lanier held a full pool all summer for the first time in nearly a decade.As heard on the radio

The lake is also at the center of a decades-long battle revived last week over a fresh-water system that serves Georgia, Florida and Alabama.

The Army Corp of Engineer operates Lake Lanier. Army Corp spokeswoman Lisa Parker says record amounts of water were released this summer from Lake Lanier into the Chattahoochee River.

“The flows were extremely high this year, primarily due to all the water that was dumped in the basin.”

Parker’s referring to this summer’s heavy rainfall.

The Army Corp manages four federal dams along the Chattahoochee River, which is fed by Lanier, and one at the confluence of the Chattahoochee and the Flint River. Those dams dictate the flow of water downstream into Florida, specifically the Apalachicola River and Bay.

Parker says the Army Corp is mandated to send 5,000 cubic feet per second, or cfs. She said in 2013, that number at time reached up to 61,000 cfs.

In a law suit filed with the Supreme Court last week, Florida alleges Georgia keeps too much of that water, and is damaging its oyster industry.

A spokesman for Georgia Governor Nathan Deal called the lawsuit “frivolous.”