Why won't they fill up Lake Lanier?

[burr]

Last year, ThurmondDam, that controls the level (along with the corp) of ClarkHill Lake opened fully all floodgates for maybe a full month OR MORE to gain control of the excessive runoff from an unusually wet late fall / winter, maybe for the first time ever. During this time, immediate downstream and further suffered, flooding homes and neighborhoods for months. and these homes were not the fishing shacks of yesteryear, more like multi-million dollar spreads in new prestigious neighborhoods that house todays' influentials. Sacrificing these riverfront homes to save the entire lower CentralSavannahRiverArea (dam failure) had to be in the decision making at this time. One wonders if this experience had anything to do with the level now kept at ClarkHill.

My personal opinion of this is the folks knew that living on the river was chancy at best, and should not be surprised at something like flooding. Hopefully, insurance coverages for such should be to a level as to stress the chance of, but future considerations may have been altered.

I've got several photos of the gates from below the dam and I'll try to bring 'em up, what a fantastic sight !

[burr]

hope dis works ...

[luke2401]

A month?! If you're referring to the early January 2016 opening, I remember it being a week or so just to get the lake to 330', which is full pool. I believe it's around 322 now.

[burr]

well, you say a week or so, I say maybe a month, it is still floodgates wide open for a significant time and the results were much more than a week or so. the photos tell the story.

[luke2401]

Floodgates Closed At Thurmond Dam | WJBF-TV

2 weeks...my how things have changed there now

[GAlakecountry]

Originally Posted by AUGnative

Not just Lanier.. this is a problem at most Corps managed lakes. The situation is no where near as bad at Lakes Oconee and Sinclair which are not managed by The Corps.

Indeed, Sinclair typically stays within a 2 foot range, from 338 to 340 MSL, year-round, excepting very severe drought conditions and the "drawdown" which happens every 5 years for maintenance (and is announced well in advance). If you look here, and overlay 2016 and 2017 on the chart:

Lake Sinclair Water Level

You can see what happened during the severe drought of late last year, which dropped us down to 337. Most of our docks are fixed on Sinclair (not floating), so it made getting out of boat lifts challenging for people with deeper hulls or shallower docks, if you were boating during the late-season warm temperatures around Thanksgiving. Although there are certainly a fair share of rules, it sounds like the Georgia Power managed lakes might be a little easier to deal with than the Army Corps lakes.

[Bulldawgfan]

I receive a newsletter often from the Corps of Engineers called " Balancing the Basin". This newsletter covers the Lake Hartwell, Lake Russell and Clarks Hill Lake basin. It is very informative and is as detailed as you want. There is a lot they have 'balance', as these three lakes are adjusted with recreation as a consideration, and not just navigation and power generation. The smallest lake in the basin has a very narrow elevation change range (between full pool and low pool), yet the two on either side have substantial elevation changes. Everything has to be coordinated very well, changing the flow to one will affect the other two. Sounds complicated on a huge scale to me.
It sure appears to me that the Corp is very deliberate. Every ongoing project is listed, status updated and even some proposed projects are shown. I just don't think they accidentally do anything, but that is just my opinion.

From the extreme high waters early last year to the drought conditions now, I think they have done well.

[roadtrip75]

Massive amounts of rain, yet Lake Lanier is hardly budging. Still 6 feet below full pool. With all this rain Atlanta is getting, they should not have to release much water from the lake to meet downstream obligations.

[roadtrip75]

Huge rain yesterday, let's check the lake level . . .

Change Since Yesterday: + 0.03 Feet

http://lanier.uslakes.info/Level.asp

This is not the way the lake normally functions. The Corps is doing something unusual for some secret reason.

[roadtrip75]

They've finally decided to fill up the lake. It's now within half a foot of full pool.