Lake Lanier advocates ask state to keep drought restrictions

May 27, 2017 Buford - (Foreground from left) Ananya Banerjee, Mel Case and Darby Ford enjoy the fun and sun at Sunset Cove on Lake Lanier on Saturday, May 27, 2017. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

May 27, 2017 Buford - (Foreground from left) Ananya Banerjee, Mel Case and Darby Ford enjoy the fun and sun at Sunset Cove on Lake Lanier on Saturday, May 27, 2017. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

The Lake Lanier area and several northeast Georgia counties are still under significant drought restrictions — and one advocacy group wants to keep it that way.

The Lake Lanier Association, a nonprofit that tasks itself with "protecting the quality and quantity" of water at its man-made namesake, released Sunday a page-long statement urging Georgia's Environmental Protection Division not to downgrade the Lanier area and surrounding counties from their current Level 2 drought designation.

Despite recent rains, the lake — which is vital to the water supply in metro Atlanta, the state and a sizable chunk of the Southeast — remains about six feet under full pool.

“By reducing the drought level from a Level 2,” Joanna Cloud wrote in the statement from the Lake Lanier Association, “the signal would be sent to all water users ... that there is no more need to conserve water, while just the opposite is the case.”

Read the full story — including what the EPD has to say about possibly loosening the drought restrictions — on myAJC.com.