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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Lake Lanier at 50: Aging gracefully?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I made a wish a few weeks ago and it was granted.
It had been a hectic weekend. My daughter graduated from University of Georgia on Saturday (hooray!). We had out-of-town guests and all of the logistical planning and celebration that entails.
By the time Sunday (Mother’s Day) rolled around, my family asked me what I would like to do.
“I want to go and just sit and watch the water,” I replied.
So we gathered the ingredients for a picnic, headed for one of the parks beside Lake Lanier and set out lawn chairs. I sat and watched the water. All afternoon. Even waded a bit. It was wonderful.
I love the water — the sight of it, the sound of it.
I grew up enjoying the backwaters of the Chattahoochee River. Not Lake Lanier, which was created by the construction of the Buford Dam on the river, but further downstream near Columbus - places with names such as Bartlett’s Ferry and Goat Rock.
My family had a cabin - back when cabins were truly cabins and people rarely lived on the lake. Friends’ families had them as well, so many summers and weekends were spent sitting on wooden docks, swimming, dangling from rope swings, skiing and hanging on to big black inner tubes behind boats.
Before I was old enough for any of that, my family would concoct a bed in the bow of our ski boat with plump orange life jackets, and I would nap to the drone of the motor.
The variety of boats was less extensive then — inboard, outboard, sail, fishing or skiing, wooden or fiberglass, an occasional cabin cruiser or pontoon. There were no ocean-sized vessels, no Jet Skis or “personal watercraft vehicles” on the backwater.
The best part of the day was early or late, when few were in the water and the lake was smooth as glass.
I thought about all of this as I watched the activity on Lake Lanier. I thought about the time a few years ago when a friend took us out on his pontoon boat. Two monstrous vessels came racing up beside us, creating wakes that almost capsized us. I thought about friends who moved to Lake Lanier but won’t go out on weekends or holidays because of the crowd.
Still, despite the growth, the traffic, the noise, the lake wields magic.
Old-timers will tell you that Lake Lanier once was like my downstream memories. On some days, in some spots, it still is.
Lake Lanier turns 50 this year. On June 17, 1957 generators at Buford Dam produced their first electricity. A dedication ceremony was held Oct. 9 of that year. Since then, water levels have gone down and up. Usage has climbed. Development has soared.
The lake’s mission to provide water and power for the ever-growing Atlanta area is far more vital than the recreation it provides. But fun also is part of the lake’s heritage. As is the magic of sitting and watching the water.
What do you think? After 50 years is Lake Lanier aging gracefully?
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