Nearly 10,000 tons of rip-rap stone has been used to protect the shorelines of seven Lake Lanier islands from erosion.
The Lake Lanier Association announced last week that the two-year project has been completed on three islands near the Old Federal Park campground and four located in the Three Sisters island chain. The stone was installed on more than a mile of shoreline. The project was completed in late May.
In a news release, the association said its Shoreline Erosion Project, which started in 2014, helps protect islands in the lake, which it said are "wonderful irreplaceable assets." The islands provide wildlife habitat, as well as beaches and coves for recreation and fishing sports.
But as shoreline erodes into the lake, the area between islands becomes shallower and less usable for recreation, the association said. Some islands, it said, have completely disappeared because of erosion.
In addition, the association said the erosion of islands reduced the storage capacity of the lake, which could affect the amount of drinking water storage.
The Shoreline Erosion Project is the result of public and private funding. Public funding came from Hall County, the City of Gainesville Department of Water Resources, the City of Cumming Utilities, Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Private funding came from the Bagwell Family Foundation, Fieldale Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride and Sunrise Cove Marinas. Marine Specialties and Boat Dock Works were the contractors.
“This project is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished for the lake through joint partnerships. Each funding partner could not afford to complete this work alone,” Rich York, an association board member and project manager, said. “However, together we were able to protect these islands from disappearing completely.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown began, Lake Lanier has been a getaway for many people and has seen heavy boat traffic. The increased wake from boat traffic and the extremely high water levels this winter would normally cause erosion and take a toll on the shorelines of all of these beloved islands.
Since the program began, the association has protected 12 islands and just under two miles of shoreline.
