Lake Lanier Georgia - Lake Lanier Drought Marinas Parks

'The Spirit of Lanier' is already attracting tourists and cruising up and down the lake. The owner, Bill Odrey, now hopes to gain permission from the City of Gainesville to use its parks as a passenger loading site.

Based at Holiday Marina, the restored stern-wheeler is a 65' paddleboat that travels at 5-miles an hour up and down the lake. With its own retractable walkway for passengers to get off, it can park at any shoreline. Though 'The Spirit' has a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to cruise the expanse of the lake, it needs permission to retract its 2' wide walkway on city governed land. It currently has permission from the City of Cumming to use Mary Alice Park as a passenger loading site. The agreement went into effect on July 20th and expires in January. As part of the agreement, boat passengers would pay for parking and admission fees to Mary Alice Park. Bill Odrey wishes for a similar agreement with the City of Gainesville.

Lots of people consider that Lake Lanier Real Estate has taken a hit during 2007. With weak national housing market and low water levels locally, there seem to be a lot of homes sitting unsold. However, Arthur Prescott, a local realtor, has been crunching the numbers and the picture is actually more rosy than it seems. Since last year sales volume is down but prices are stable:

• Quantity of sales down. January to July 2006 produced 157 lake home closings versus only 121 in the same time in 2007. That means there was roughly a 23% decrease in the number of closed sales.
  
• Sale prices hold steady. During January to July 2006 the average sales price was $630,332 versus $639,891 for the 2007 period. That's about a 1.5% increase this year.

The moratorium on new dock permits on Lake Lanier has been extended for the second time. On this occasion the extension is indefinite due to the lack of rain in Northeast Georgia.

Last April, the Corps of Engineers announced the moratorium to carefully analyze how many permits were left. That moratorium was extended through the summer after 10 deaths on the lake left shoreline management park rangers busy with safety duties.

Now the low lake level has caused another extension.

The Lake Lanier Rowing Club are holding a festival next month where you'll be able to taste the best offerings of some North Georgia’s finest restaurants!

The event is called "Taste of Gainesville at the Docks" and there will be plenty of food and entertainment for all. Tickets are $25.00 each in advance and will be $30.00 each the day of the event. Tickets for ages 12 and under are $5.00.

Lake Lanier has dropped nearly 8.5 feet below full pool. This has left many docks grounded, closed swimming areas and has made boating a hazardous activity close to the shore. The question is ... how low is the lake now compared to the past?

The simple answer is unusually low, but far from setting any records. The lake hasn't dropped this low since 2001. Since then it has always been within five feet of full pool.

With temperatures in the 100s and Lake Lanier water levels continuing to fall, many people and business have been slowing down.

Not so at Lake Lanier Islands. The record temperatures have increased visitor numbers to the Beach and Water Park by 20%–25%. Boat Rental at the Islands has also spiked.

Every weekend during August people have been gathering in large number at Clarks Bridge Park on Lake Lanier. They are practicing one of the fastest-growing sports on the lake - Dragon Boat Racing.

Dragon Boat racing is popular across Asia. The boats are long and narrow canoes that are often rigged with decorative Chinese dragon heads and tails and are required to carry a large drum aboard.

Flat Creek, Gainesville

One of the worst areas of the whole lake is close to the industrial section of Gainesville. Flat Creek is a stream just south of Browns Bridge and catches the runoff from many factories plus output from a wastewater treatment plant. The stream is also clogged with trash including old tires, shopping carts, and household appliances.

The problem in Flat Creek is so bad that the Gainesville and Hall County governments are putting up $350,000 study for a study on the area.

We're delighted to announce the launch of a new feature on LakeLanier.info - 100% free classifieds ads. If you have a boat, jetski or anything else, you can sell it here, for $0 and 0 cents.

Three Simple Steps to Post Your Ad

1. Create an account
2. Write your ad
3. Click save!
   

More Information About Your Free Ads

• You can post as many ads as you wish
• Your ad will run for 2 months and then you can renew for free
• Its free to add photos

Despite all the recent rain around Lake Lanier it seems that water levels on the lake continue to drop.

The principal reason for the continually dropping water levels? The rivers flowing into Lake Lanier remain low. State Climatologist David Stooksbury put it this way:

The International Amateur Tour (INT League) will hold an open qualifiying event at Lake Lanier Islands Beach and Waterfront Park on Saturday, August 18. Successful qualifiers will then be eligible to compete in the wakeboarding INT national championship that is set to be held October 10-13 in Zachary, Louisiana.

The all-day event will be held at Lake Lanier Island's cove at the beach near the waterpark. The cove will be a no-boat, no-wake zone for the event. The event will be sponsored by Atlanta Inboard, Gainesville Marina, and JOA Marine.

Feel like you've heard this story before?

You're not alone. These fights are springing up all over Lake Lanier as the pace of development increases. The latest dispute is on the Cleveland Highway, on the north end of Lake Lanier.

Potential Toll Road Route from i75 to Lake Lanier

There are suggestions that the highway could be paid for by private companies that would get repaid by tolls.

• What are the most popular restaurants and marinas on the lake?
• What's the best place on the lake to fish?
• What are the best and worst things about Lake Lanier?

We aim to answer all these questions and more via the 1st Annual Lake Lanier Survey.

What is more .... take this quick 10 question survey about Lake Lanier and you get free entry into a prize draw. We have Lake Lanier books, restaurant gift vouchers and even cash prizes.

What are you waiting for? Take the survey now!

There's a new addition to the list of books about Lake Lanier.

"The Home Place" is a novel by by Mike Addington based on two mysterious deaths in Lake Lanier over 50 years ago. The writer was living in the Gainesville area and was 7 years old when his family received a call in the middle of the night in December 1956. One uncle had been found dead outside of a submerged car in Lake Lanier, while another uncle was missing and also presumed drowned. The bodies of both men were located in a shallow inlet of the lake in Forsyth County.