Welcome to Lake Lanier, Georgia
Nestled in the foothills of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains and nurtured by the Chattahoochee and Chestatee Rivers, Lake Sidney Lanier is named for the post Sidney Clopton Lanier, whose admiration of the area's scenic beauty inspired him to compose his famous "Song of the Chattahoochee".
Lake Lanier is one of America's favorite lakes. With several million visitors annually enjoying its recreational facilities, it has been the most visited Corp of Engineers project in the nation.
One reason for for the lake's popularity is its proximity to metropolitian Atlanta, Georgia. A well-developed road network surrounds Lake Lanier, with several highways crossing the main body. Visitors can enjoy the city of Atlanta and, in the space of a short drive, can lose themselves in the tranquility at Lake Lanier.
Lake Lanier, impounded by Buford Dam, encompasses 38,000 surface acres of water with 540 miles of shorelines. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has developed and operates numerous public parks around the lake for camping and day-use activities.
Lake Lanier Islands, a development by the State of Georgia and the Corps of Engineers, is the major resort area on the lake. The Islands complex provides picnicking, camping, beach areas, a water theme park, tennis courts, golf courses, rental boats, and hotel accommodations. Numerous other recreation areas operated by county and city agencies also offer recreational opportunities around the lake.
Lake Lanier was host to the 1996 Centennial Olympic Rowing and Sprint/Canoe/Kayak Events, as well as the 1996 Paralympic Yachting events. These honors have helped make Lanier a world class lake.
With summer just around the corner, INK (the Interactive Neighborhood for Kids) is creating a new school – of fish. All week May 14-18 from 10-5 visitors to the hands on kids museum can make a fishy themed craft for $1 (members are free.)
Fish Craft Week
10 a.m. to 5 p.m
May 14-18
999 Chestnut St., Suite 11, Gainesville
770-536-1900
For more info, go to their website: www.inkfun.org
The comments received during the Glades Reservoir EIS scoping period are now posted to the project website. Please visit http://www.gladesreservoir.com/scoping-comments to view the scoping comments.
Please check the project website for updates and information http://www.gladesreservoir.com/
Forsyth County marked the completion of the county’s first stream restoration project with a ribbon cutting ceremony held Monday, May 7. Located inside Forsyth County’s Midway Park, the stream restoration project was designed to improve overall downstream watershed conditions by stabilizing and restoring approximately 1,000 feet of degraded stream bank, using natural channel design methods.
This project was supported by a United States Environmental Protection Agency 319(h) grant administered by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
Forsyth County School District has an average graduation rate score of 86.27% - far above the state average of 67.4%. Also higher than Fulton County at 70.05%. Forsyth County School superintendent Buster Evans stated he was pleased, “that our percentage of completion is at an even higher level above the state average than under the old rate. I think it is also significant that Forsyth is the largest district by size represented with a completion rate above 80 percent.”
The Lake Lanier Association has begun our review of the Glades reservoir project sponsored by the Hall County Board of Commissioners. After attending the US Army Corps of Engineers Public Agency and Scoping Meeting in Gainesville on Wednesday, March 20, we have some observations.
As background, the Glades project began in 2007. The proposed reservoir would have stored available natural stream flow from Flat Creek and would have been intended to supplement existing water supplies from Lake Lanier (through the City of Gainesville water system), to meet the needs of eastern and northern Hall County through the year 2060. It was to provide 6.4 million gallons per day of water.
In 2009 Federal Administrative Law Judge Paul Magnusson issued a ruling as part of the Tri-States water war litigation that Lake Lanier was not authorized to provide water supply for North Georgia and the city of Atlanta which was subsequently overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In spite of that ruling, the Glades project grew from 6.4 MGD to 80 MGD.
There is a new podcast being developed by folks who love Lake Lanier. It’s part of a grassroots information sharing effort called “Lake Lanier Matters.”
Spearheaded by Mike Williams of Lake Lanier Islands Management, the podcast is a round table discussion about issues, happenings and interesting events on and around Lake Lanier.
The first episode was recorded this week and will be available soon online.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about the types of topics and special guests you’d like to hear on the Lanier Matters podcast.
For more info, visit www.lakelaniermatters.com
28
That's the number of Lake Homes on Lake Lanier that have sold this year. These are all lake homes with private boat docks.
On the last day of each month I post a “Big Number” or interesting figure related to real estate in our area.
Homes for sale in Cumming, Suwanee and all of Forsyth County continue to increase month-over-month. But more importantly, inventory levels are sharply declining - that is what we need for sales prices to move from their bottom and begin to show increases in average sales price.
