Lake Lanier's water level will rise and fall depending upon several factors including periods of drought or heavy rain, hydropower production, flood control, and downstream fish and wildlife management. Water supply is also cited as a factor and is currently at issue regarding the lake's ultimate list of legal purposes.
Since the 90's, the Corps of Engineers, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama have all been fighting for use of the water held in Lake Lanier. Federal law mandates that when a river flows between two or more states, each state has a right to an equal share of the water. Additionally, other laws such as the Endangered Species Act require that water be available for threatened or endangered species that live in or around Chattahoochee River and Apalachicola Bay.
The Water Management Section of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers meets every Wednesday with representatives from the various areas to exchange information concerning the operation of the river systems and lakes. Water management decisions for the upcoming week are determined using the information obtained at the weekly meeting and a report is prepared that summarizes the conditions in each of the river basins. Operation of the lakes are also guided by use of action zones. The action zones provide guidelines on meeting the project purposes for each lake.
In June 2006 the USACE revealed that the new lake gauge at the dam, replaced in December 2005, was not properly calibrated, yielding a lake level reading nearly two feet higher than the actual level. Because of this, nearly twenty-two billion U.S gallons excess water was released over and above the already planned excess releases to support both the successful spawning of gulf sturgeon in the Apalachicola River and to protect several species of mussels in Apalachicola Bay from excessive saltwater intrusion.
Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue said that the Corps had created a "manmade drought", because most of the state was already experiencing dry conditions.
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