Level of Lake Lanier up 5 feet this month

GAINESVILLE - The level of Lake Lanier got a five-foot boost during January, a lot of it because of frequent rains.

The lake began the month at 1058.07 and ended it at 1063.12 but is still about seven feet below wintertime full pool, which is 1070. The level had dropped as low as 1057.91 in mid-November before beginning a gradual climb. That was about a month before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it was cutting back on the amount of water released from the lake through Buford Dam. (See earlier story.)

In Gainesville, where it rained on 13 of the 31 days in January, more than 6.8 inches was recorded at the airport, 2.26 inches on Wednesday alone. Cornelia picked up 2.41 inches Wednesday.

Both Gainesville and Cornelia are in the Chattahoochee River Basin which feeds the drought-plagued lake - and Lanier is likely to continue benefiting from Wednesday's rains over the next two or three days as runoff flows into the reservoir.