Lake Lanier weathers winter drought

Metro Atlanta

Lake Lanier weathers winter drought

Photos of continued severe drought affecting Georgia's Lake Lanier from December 2008.

"Lucky", a dog owned by local property owners Bill and Barbara Loden, has lots more room to roam along the shores of Lake Lanier due to the ongoing drought. The area where Lucky is standing is normally covered in water clear back to the houseboat in the background, which is the location of the normal shoreline. Weeds and small shrubs have started to take over what used to be the lake bottom where Lucky is standing.

A boater pulls his boat and trailer up from the boat ramp at Charleston Park on Lake Lanier. The ramp, one of the few public boat ramps still open for use on Lake Lanier, was extended in January 2008 by adding more concrete to the existing structure and was paid for through private donations. Most of the public boat ramps on the lake no longer reach to the water because of the dry conditions, rendering them useless for boat launching.

Fishing guide Clay Cunningham, a full-time fishing guide, has watched Lanier's levels drop to the lowest he can recall seeing in all his years on the lake he knows so well.

Bill Loden (left) and wife Barbara have lived on Lake Lanier for 11 years. They have a 21 ft. Glastron deck boat (in background) that is high and dry due to the drought. They like to use the boat to tow their grandchildren for water skiing, but haven't been able to, thanks to low lake levels.

Fishermen in a boat work near a greatly increased shoreline normally covered by water at Lake Lanier. The lakebottom has been exposed for so long that shrubs and other vegetation are beginning to take hold.

Frank Norton, Jr. is a real estate agent and land developer who has lived on Lake Lanier for most of his life. He is shown on the dock at his house on the lake. Norton considers himself lucky to still have water.

A barren shoreline usually covered by water is the background for a boat house (above right) which is built to sit at at normal water level, is high in the air as a houseboat (at left) is moored at the current water level on Lake Lanier.

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"Lucky", a dog owned by local property owners Bill and Barbara Loden, has lots more room to roam along the shores of Lake Lanier due to the ongoing drought. The area where Lucky is standing is normally covered in water clear back to the houseboat in the background, which is the location of the normal shoreline. Weeds and small shrubs have started to take over what used to be the lake bottom where Lucky is standing.

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