New dock permit moratorium continues on Lake Lanier

LAKE LANIER - Even with Lake Lanier up two feet from this year's lowest lake levels the Corps of Engineers is still not issuing dock permits.

As of Monday the lake was at 1062.80 feet above mean sea level (msl), nearly 2 feet above this year's lowest lake levels in October.

In accordance with the Lake Lanier Low Water Action Plan, permit requests for new private docks as well as requests for community dock facilities and upgrades to existing docks will not be accepted until the lake level rises above 1064 (msl). These restrictions have been in place since August 28, 2006.

The Low Water Action plan has been implemented several times in the past under similar drought/low lake level conditions. All individual and community dock permit applications that were in review before the moratorium will continue to be processed.

In late 2004 after years of study and public involvement, the US Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Lanier completed its new Shoreline Management Plan (SMP). The 2004 SMP set the maximum number of private docks at 10,615. Once this total number is reached no new permit requests will be accepted.

Currently, approximately 695 dock permits remain. However, adjacent landowners and developers have requested nearly 415 docks before the moratorium went into effect. Since these permits may or may not be issued, it is difficult to estimate the amount of time it will take to reach the maximum number of permits.