The rainfall deficit in Gainesville now tops 26 inches and some lakeside property owners say recent rains are not helping Lanier. As we've all been told more than once the past several months, it's going to take much, much more rain to make a difference in the drought and the lake level.
Mary Wareham and her husband moved into a condominium near Holly Park in 1997 and back then, the lake level was up, allowing them to dock their sailboat at their nearby dock.
As she looked at the lake in dismay and disbelief Thursday, snapping photos at the ever-receding water line, she said instead of lake front property, they have 'beach front' property, and they don't go sailing.
"With there being so many things under the water that are now near the surface of the water or above the water, we don't want to hit anything or take a chance of injuring the sailboat," she said.
Their sailboat is in the driveway, not at their dock, which is high and dry. Even their pet Labrador 'Lucy' does not want to go swimming anymore.
""We never had in our wildest dreams the idea that the lake would get to the low level that it's at," she added. " You can walk out in the lake I'd say at least 50 feet."
The rainfall deficit has grown by about six inches since mid-October, and Lake Lanier is now down just over 20 feet. Friday morning, the lake level was 1050.77.
But, longtime Gainesville residents remind us that in 1981, when the lake reached a then-all time low, it quickly bounced back and was full again within a matter of months.
Lake Lanier at Holly Park, 12-27-07
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/12/205264