9.27 LAKE ALLATOONA WATER RELEASE

[bigfish]

PRESSES

Lake Allatoona cutbacks enacted
Water sent to Alabama reduced by a third

By STACY SHELTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/27/07

With Lake Allatoona dropping about a foot a week, officials announced plans Wednesday to reduce water being released downstream to Alabama by one-third. It's the latest effort to deal with an unyielding drought parching much of the Southeast.

Douglas Otto Jr., chief hydrologist for the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said without the reductions — and if the drought continues as is — Allatoona could be empty by February.

Even with the reductions, Otto said there's a concern Allatoona, which started out low this summer, will not be able to reach its normal level next summer. Indicators show an increasing probability that the extreme drought, which began in 2006, will continue.

On some days, more water is evaporating off Allatoona and being pulled out for drinking water than is entering the lake through its rivers and streams.

"If that trend were to continue through the winter, which all indicators are that it will, and if we don't cut back at Allatoona, we're just going to run out of water," Otto said.

The Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority, which gets nearly half its water from Allatoona to serve Cobb, Paulding and Douglas counties, sent divers down last week to determine whether it will be able to withdraw water from a lower depth.

Currently, the authority is pulling water at a level that's about seven feet below the surface. It likely will need to draw from the lower level by mid-October as the lake drop continues.

The divers found that a channel dug years ago to pull water from the bottom of the lake is now sitting under a foot and a half of sediment, unusable, authority director Glenn Page said.

Another intake possibility, which is currently 17 feet below the lake's surface, appears fine, he said.

The Cobb authority also depends on Lake Lanier for water. That lake, too, is dropping fast and could hit a historic low by the end of the year. As a result, the authority last week imposed a total ban on outdoor water use.

"We can't survive with either one of [the lakes] gone, so we're doing what we can to preserve both of them," Page said.

The state Drought Response Committee meets Friday to discuss imposing more restrictions statewide.

Alabama officials oppose the reductions in releases from Allatoona because most of their state's water comes from the lakes and rivers fed by Allatoona. They are pressuring the corps to send more water downstream and believe the corps is illegally supporting Cobb's water supply while disregarding Alabama's needs.

[Mike Bucca]

bigfish, GREAT article. Thanks for sharing. So if it reduces the output by 1/3 that brings us to about .6ft lower per week. Not much of a save but it's some.

Mike

[waterworld]

I dont think that is enough to worry about. (let it drop)

[dannyp]

According to TV news reports the reduced output along with some rain would level off or bring up the level. ( Thats what he said not me )

[Mike Bucca]

All I got to say is it's going to take a poop load of rain to bring it back up when the gates are open.

Mike

[waterworld]

Mike you hit that dead on the head.

[dogwatch]

My past experience says, 1" rain in the drainage basin=1' rise in water level. A tropical storm or two ought to do it.

[toonafish]

Dogwatch is right. This past spring, I ran across a gentleman who is a retired corp of engineers and was asking him why they drop the lake so low in winter pool. He said the exact same thing... 1 " of rain equals 1' of watershed. Of course it still didn't stand to reason why they drop it 17 ' when they bring it up within 6 feet of full pool before the spring rains even set in. (Well when we used to get spring rains that is)

toona