Congressman Nathan Deal said with all the negative effect of the current drought, it did make the restoration possible.
"I think this is one of the better things we can do to increase the holding capacity of an existing facility such as Lake Lanier," Deal said.
Dredging more than 125,000 cubic yards of silt from the cove now begins. When complete, Longwood Park will have a boat dock, fishing pier and a lakeside trail, according to project manager Paul Krippner.
"The goal of our project is to return Longwood Cove to its original intended use, that's boating and fishing and water sports," Krippner said.
Additionally Krippner said a retaining wall constructed along with eastern shore of the cove would stabilize the shoreline and stop erosion.
Recent rains are beginning to stabilize Lake Lanier and the Corps of Engineers is releasing only minimal discharges into the Chattahoochee River below Buford Dam.
That's according to Corps lake manager Jonathan Davis, who attended the Longwood Cove groundbreaking.
"Discharges have been what we call minimal discharge, and that's just discharges for water quality and water supply," Davis said.
Davis said the rain occurring below the dam has reduced the water demand from the lake.
'Dredge Fest officials gather at bulldozer
Congressman Nathan Deal at 'DredgeFest'
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/207177