Despite last weekend's rain and another reduction in water released from Lake Lanier, metro Atlanta's main water source still lags most other lakes in the Southeast that are refilling.

John Feldt, the hydrologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service's Southeast River Forecast Center, said more than two inches of rain or more frequent rainfall is needed in the basin that drains into Lanier for the lake to rise two to four feet.

He doesn't expect forecast rain —including Wednesday's— will do the trick.

"This is show time right now," Feldt said of the next four to six weeks. "This is when we normally get the most rain, the most runoff and the greatest rise at Lake Lanier. The problem is, we haven't had that all winter long. [Lanier] really has been unlucky all winter long in that it's missed out on the rain."

But Feldt said Lanier is "primed" for a big jump in its water level for two reasons: the ground is moist, meaning that additional rainfall will move more quickly into the streams and rivers that feed into Lanier, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has substantially reduced the amount of water released from the federal reservoir in response to a request from the state Environmental Protection Division. n

"The missing ingredient is rain," Feldt said.

On Friday, before the storms rolled through metro Atlanta, Lanier was at 1054.8 feet above sea level, or 13.5 feet below average for this time of year. By Tuesday afternoon, the lake had reached 1055.6 feet, marking a rise of less than one foot. But that represents a lot of water. According to data from the U.S. Geological Survey, that's an increase of about 8.8 billion gallons of water. That's enough water to satisfy the city of Atlanta, Sandy Springs and south Fulton for almost three months.

Lanier is also still at a record low for this time of year.

"We're really chipping away at it rather than making a big improvement, but that's better than nothing," Feldt said.