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Lake Lanier
Location	Georgia, United States
Coordinates	34°12′14″N 83°58′56″W / 34.20389, -83.98222Coordinates: 34°12′14″N 83°58′56″W / 34.20389, -83.98222
Lake type	reservoir
Primary sources	Chattahoochee River, Chestatee River
Primary outflows	Chattahoochee River
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	37,000 acres (153.8 km²)
Max depth	160 ft
Surface elevation	1,071 ft (326.4 m)

Lake Lanier (officially Lake Sidney Lanier) is a reservoir in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee River. The lake encompasses 38,000 acres or 153.8 km² of water, and 692 miles or 1,114 km of shoreline at normal level, a "full summer pool" of 1,071.0 feet or 326.4 meters AMSL. It was named for poet Sidney Lanier, and was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is patrolled by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR).

The lake is in Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, Gwinnett, and Lumpkin counties, split about 60%, 30%, 5%, 4%, and 1% respectively, filling the valley into numerous small arms and fingers. The former thalweg of the Chestatee and the Chattahoochee south of it form the county line between Hall and a tiny corner of Gwinnett to the east, and Dawson and Forsyth to the west.

One of the main purposes of the lake is flood control downstream of the lake, mainly protecting metro Atlanta. There have only been two major flooding events on that section since then, the most recent in 2004, after the remnants of two major hurricanes (Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan) dropped huge amounts of rainfall across the area.

The lake's original and authorized purposes were to provide hydroelectricity and flood control. Since Lake Lanier's construction, metro Atlanta has been taking water from the reservoir to use for municipal drinking water, which was authorized by Congress as an incidental use secondary to hydroelectricity.^{[citation needed]}

Since the 90's, the Corps of Engineers, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama have all been fighting for use of the water held in Lake Lanier. Federal law mandates that when a river flows between two or more states, each state has a right to an equal share of the water. Additionally, other laws such as the Endangered Species Act require that water be available for threatened or endangered species that live in or around Chattahoochee River and Apalachicola Bay.

Buford Dam, impounding Lake Lanier on the Chattahoochee River in Forsyth County, Georgia

In June 2006 the USACE revealed that the new lake gauge at the dam, replaced in December 2005, was not properly calibrated, yielding a lake level reading nearly two feet (over half a meter) higher than the actual level. Because of this, nearly twenty-two billion U.S gallons (over eighty-two billion liters) of excess water was released over and above the already planned excess releases to support both the successful spawning of gulf sturgeon in the Apalachicola River and to protect several species of mussels in Apalachicola Bay from excessive saltwater intrusion.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said that the Corps had created a "manmade drought", because most of the state is already experiencing dry conditions. This came at a time when outdoor water-use restrictions were already being put in place by local governments, because of enormous water use on the many lawns which have replaced the forests in newer suburban areas. Mainly because of this incident at the lake, the state then declared a drought and enacted a ban on outdoor water use from 10AM to 4PM, in addition to the permanent weekly odd/even address system. Other local counties have imposed further restrictions or even total bans, based on each water system's conditions. Outdoor watering has since been banned completely as the state has fallen under the worst drought in its recorded history.

October 16th, 2007, Governor Perdue gave the USACE until the evening of October 17th to come up with a plan for the continued release of water for Florida wildlife. Senator Johnny Isakson stood before the Georgia General Assembly saying, "The health, safety and welfare of people are threatened. They are threatened by an act this Congress passed that had no intention to threaten them." He eventually withdrew his threat to sue the Corps of Engineers but the Lake Lanier Association has indicated that it will attempt a private legal action. Governor Perdue's attempts to reach an agreement with Florida over water releases fell through, leaving a final decision on releases from the lake in the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

As of November 22, 2007 the water level was at 1,052.34 feet [1], setting a new record low; however, rain came days later (see daily water levels, below: External links). The previous low was 1,052.7ft, set in December 1981 [2]. The Current water level as of November 28, 2007 had dropped below the newly set record to 1,051.98 feet and still decreasing at .05 feet a day[3].

The record low lake level revealed parts of the lake bottom not seen since the 1950's, when approximately 700 families were moved from the area to create the lake. An abandoned stretch of Georgia Highway 53 ran along one edge of new shoreline, and concrete foundations from homes and part of what was once the Gainesville's Looper Speedway were uncovered. More recent additions to the lake including discarded trash, boat batteries and even sunken boats were discovered, and local efforts to clean up the lake bottom were organized. Several automobiles, some stolen, and also stolen firearms were also recovered by law enforcement officials.[4]

Lake Lanier at River Forks Park in Gainesville.

Atlanta

Lake Lanier

Lake Lanier northeast of Atlanta

The lake is extremely popular with boaters, houseboats, jetskiers and others, particularly around the summer holidays. Over 7.5 million people per year visit the lake, including the marinas and the Lake Lanier Islands waterpark, which was used for the rowing and canoeing events at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Two resort hotels sit on the lake: Emerald Pointe and Pine Isle. Both were recently sold by CNL Hotels & Resorts, a hotel investment firm in Florida, to Georgia businessman Virgil Williams. Both assets sit on a ground lease from the Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority which in turn leases the land from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

Many marinas are scattered all around the lake, with AquaLand Marina being one of the largest freshwater marinas in the world. AquaLand is located near the town of Flowery Branch.

Lake Lanier was also the site of the 1997 Bilderberg conference

• Lake Lanier daily water levels (measured and posted daily by USACE at Buford Dam): http://water.sam.usace.army.mil/gage/acf/prob1.txt
• Lake Lanier Protection Group
• Lake Lanier News
• Lake Lanier Information
• Lake Lanier - US Corps of Engineers

Preceded by Banyoles Barcelona, Spain 1992

Olympic Regatta Venue 1996

Succeeded by Penrith Lakes Sydney, Australia 2000