The Dog River Reservoir goes dry

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The Dog River Reservoir goes dry

The epic drought socks the Dog River Reservoir in Douglas County.

Reasons for the intense crackdown of water use in Douglas County are in plain view at the county's main source of drinking water: the Dog River Reservoir. Water levels are so low that the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority has run a pipe over the reservoir's dam in order to move water from one side to the other.

What happens when your water supply hits an all-time low? That academic question is being answered in real life in Douglas County, which went to a full outdoor water ban in July. Here a deer run across the exposed bed of the Dog River near Douglasville.

Barry Millwood, who works with the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority, stands on the dam at the Dog River Reservoir. The dam is usually overflowed by water. Millwood described crossing the exposed dam as "eerie." He said he had never been able to do it until the recent drought.

The reservoir has reached levels that have exposed much of the shoreline during the recent drought. In many places vegetation has started to take over the ground.

The reservoir is usually full this time of year, but it is now more than half empty, reaching its lowest level since it was built in 1991.

The dock for sightseeing and fishing at the reservoir lies twisted in a crazy angle on the muddy banks.

The epic drought across the region has socked the reservoir so hard that you can walk across parts of it that are normally under as much as 10 feet of water.

All the ground in this photograph would be under several feet of water in usual weather conditions.

Geese fly over the dry Dog River Reservoir.

Vegetation pops up through cracks in the Dog River Reservoir dam, which is usually covered with water.

The problems at the reservoir have broader implications. The dwindling supply of water has forced Douglas to start buying most of its potable water -- about 6 million gallons a day -- from the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority.

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Reasons for the intense crackdown of water use in Douglas County are in plain view at the county's main source of drinking water: the Dog River Reservoir. Water levels are so low that the Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority has run a pipe over the reservoir's dam in order to move water from one side to the other.

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