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Lake Lanier drops, exposing risk to boaters and beach-users

HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Lake Lanier water levels have dropped to their lowest in three-and-a-half years, exposing shoreline and dangerous debris in the lake.

As of 7:40 a.m. on Friday, Lake Lanier reported an elevation of 1,066.06 feet, about 5 feet below normal summer pool. At 1,066 feet, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins enacting their Low Water Level Plan, but U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Natural Resource Manager Nick Baggett told Channel 2’s Katie Walls that the Corps has stayed ahead of the game, deploying temporary buoys to warn boaters of hazards just beneath the surface. %

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“We always advise the public to be very responsible and cautious when the lake starts to drop because these hazards, we don’t know where all of them are at,” Baggett said.

The USACE hits the water three to four times per week, assessing new reports and marking rocks and sunken vessels that become exposed as the water levels lower. If you encounter a hazardous unmarked location, call the Corps at (770) 945-9531 to make your report.

Lake Lanier is peppered with 100 islands that become more exposed as the water level lowers. There are approximately 1,500 permanent markers on the lake. During the 2007-2008 drought, the USACE deployed about 150 additional large red temporary markers.

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Baggett told Walls that at this time their public boat ramps are unaffected by the low levels, but at just three feet lower, many ramps become unusable.

As for the beaches, he’s already seeing impacts.

“The use is getting to be minimal because the water level just isn’t high enough,” Baggett told Walls in reference to Buford Dam Park, one of the largest beaches at the lake.

Baggett reminds boaters that “as the water drops a lot of times the hazard will be further away from the point that’s marked.” That’s especially true at night. The hazard may be much closer than you expect.

So far there have been 16 deaths at Lake Lanier in 2016 -- 11 water-related, an already too-high number that Baggett doesn’t want to see climb as water levels lower.

He reminds boaters to always wear a life jacket, file a float plan with a friend and take extra precautions when the lake level is down.