Ga. wants Corps to again reduce water flow from Lanier

ATLANTA - State officials want the U.S. Corps of Engineers to reduce the amount of water flowing out of Lake Lanier to meet metro Atlanta's needs.

State Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch sent a letter this week asking the Corps to keep an additional 130 million gallons of water a day in the federal reservoir. She says keeping the water in the lake is necessary ``to preserve valuable storage in Lake Lanier for future use during this exceptional drought.''

If the Corps agrees, the water won't flow down the Chattahoochee River past the pipes that withdraw water from Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties and the City of Atlanta. The water also won't be available to dilute millions of gallons of treated sewage discharged daily in the region.

Couch has requested the lower flow through April. After that time, water demands increase and water quality begins to worsen as the temperature rises.

Corps spokeswoman Lisa Coghlan said yesterday the federal agency is still evaluating the request.

Cities downstream from Atlanta also have expressed concern. LaGrange Mayor Jeff Lukken said during a teleconference call with the Corps yesterday that his community was ``surprised and alarmed'' by Couch's request since the city pulls its water from West Point Lake, which is on the Chattahoochee River downstream from metro Atlanta.