The executive director of the Lake Lanier Association says now is the time to revisit a 2015 recommendation by the Sustainable Water Management Plan to increase Lake Lanier by two feet.

In a news release last week, Executive Director for the Lake Lanier Association Joanna Cloud said the recent hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Georgia and Florida’s use of water from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, “highlights the importance of an agreed upon plan to manage the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.”

The country’s highest court is still out on the verdict of Florida v. Georgia, argued on Jan. 8, 2018, but Cloud stated in the release that case highlights a viable recommendation put forward by the Sustainable Water Management Plan that should be considered.

“This is a relatively minor cost that has major benefits from Lake Lanier to Apalachicola, Fla.,” Cloud said. “Regardless of the water need, whether environmental, water supply, recreation, navigation, business, or agriculture, everyone benefits from more stored water to use in times of drought.”

The release stated that by increasing the “full pool” of Lake Lanier from 1071 to 1073 feet above mean sea level, an additional 16 billion gallons of usable water would be added to the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.

“Over 4 million people in Metro Atlanta depend on Lake Lanier for water supply. An additional 26 billion gallons means that the growing Atlanta population will have more assurance of a continued supply of water during and after droughts and that the $300 million economic contribution of Lake Lanier to the counties surrounding the lake can be sustained,” the release stated. 

Cloud urged Lake Lanier Association members to contact their congressional delegates to fund an Environmental Impact Study by the United States Army Corps of Engineers to determine the implications of raising Lake Lanier’s full pool level.