Corps to release more water from Lanier

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday denied metro Atlanta’s request to further raise Lake Lanier by minimizing water releases for another month.

The corps cited the drought’s abatement as the reason.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch, who previously requested the reduced releases, declined to make the request this time. She determined sending less water down the Chattahoochee River in May could harm the trout population. As temperatures warm, water quality declines.

The corps’ decision was announced in a regularly scheduled conference call with Georgia, Florida and Alabama. The states have been fighting over Lanier’s water since 1990.

Florida and Alabama opposed the corps’ decision last year to reduce releases from November through April 30, a conservation measure that raised the lake about one foot.

Winter rains raised Lanier far more. Since late December, the lake has risen nearly 13 feet and stands about 7 feet below full, higher than it has been since August 2007.