Recent rains have helped boost Lake Allatoona's level to at least a foot higher than normal for this time of year, even as the historic drought still grips the Atlanta region.

Allatoona's elevation topped 832 feet above sea level this week, nearly a half foot higher than the same time last year and about a foot to a foot and a half beyond what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had planned.

AJC (ENLARGE)

JEREMY REDMOND/AJC (ENLARGE)

Drought conditions exposed sediment at Lake Allatoona. Rising water levels are covering it, putting plans for a cleanup at the lake on hold.

MORE ON THE DROUGHT: • Map: Heavy demands on our water • Photos: April showers bring ... • Photos: Lake rises dramatically in January RELATED: [an error occurred while processing this directive] • More on coping with the drought RELATED: Cobb news Georgia and metro news

This is all good news for water-skiers, fishermen and marinas on Allatoona. Things are looking so good that some people are calling the Little River Marina on Allatoona and asking if there is space for them to move their boats there from drought-socked Lake Lanier, said Mary Gilman, the marina's general manager.

"There is pent-up desire to be back on the lake," Gilman said.

In contrast, Lanier has recovered only slightly from the record low it reached on Dec. 26, gaining 2 1/2 feet in the past two months. However, it is still 15 feet below its average depth this time of year, and 18 feet below its full mark. Lanier is the region's main source of drinking water for more than 3 million metro Atlantans.

Allatoona, a source of drinking water for the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority and Cartersville, is about a third the size of Lanier, so it fills up faster.

Earlier this week, Rick Spokes stood outside the Little River Marina off Bells Ferry Road and watched fishermen set out from a public boat ramp on the opposite shore. In December, the marina's operations manager was able to walk out onto the middle of the dry lakebed from his empty docks. At the time, he said the drought conditions at the lake were the worst he had seen in 12 years of working at the marina.

"I'm shocked and pleased," Spokes said as he glanced at the water lapping at the shore. "We are well above where we are supposed to be at this time."

Despite the recent heavy rains and rising lake levels, Allatoona is still vulnerable to a continuing drought, said Tim Rainey, operations project manager for the Army Corps.

"It is just a matter of how long we can hold [the water] during the summertime," he said. "That is our big worry."

Meanwhile, the rising waters at Allatoona are covering more than 50 years of sediment that were exposed by the drought last year. That is forcing the Lake Allatoona Preservation Authority to put on hold a major clean-up proposal for the lake.

In December, the state authority was proposing digging up millions of tons of that sediment and carting it away. The sediment contains phosphorous, a nutrient that feeds algae. Officials said the excavation work could restore some of the reservoir's original capacity and make it cheaper to clean the water.

But with the water rising now, the digging will have to wait until next winter at the soonest.