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Government, business, civic leaders
discuss lake on radio show
By
Jane Harrison
 Lt.
Gov. Casey Cagle cast half the blame for a sluggish Lake Lanier
economy on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during a July 11 radio
broadcast from Lake Lanier Islands. Cagle, hosting the WDUN 550
Newstalk Martha Zoller show in her absence, aired a barrage of sound
bites after commercial breaks that blasted the Corps’ management of
the lake and seemed aimed at further rousing listeners’ ire at the
government agency.
Water discharged by the Corps downstream of Lanier
would more than fill the Georgia Aquarium every 30 minutes, Cagle
said, quoting from a list of statistics compiled by his staffers.
“The amount of discharge would fill every swimming pool in Georgia
every 26 minutes,” he told listeners after another break in the near
four hour morning broadcast with WDUN host Joel Williams. Williams
estimated the show’s average audience ranges from 60,000 to 80,000
listeners.
The program, broadcast outside the lower entrance
gate of the water park, featured scheduled phone interviews with a
variety of government and corporate officials. Georgia Speaker of
the House Glenn Richardson, U.S. Senators Johnny Isaacson and Saxby
Chambliss, Alex Laidlaw of Westrec Marinas, and Forsyth County
Chamber of Commerce President James McCoy were among those who made
air time.
No representative from the Corps was invited to
speak, although they would have been welcomed to participate if they
had called in, said the Lt. Governor’s Communications Director
Jaillene Hunter.
“Our main objective was to hear first-hand how the
drought has affected Georgians and our businesses, real-estate,
landscaping, summer water activities and more,” Hunter said.
Cagle said Corps management is at least half the
cause of Lanier’s low level and associated economic hardship. He
estimated the drought was accountable for about 40 percent of a
slowdown in lake-related business, while the remaining 10 percent
may be attributed to high gas prices.
“The current lake condition has resulted in very real
economic hardships in North Georgia and the fact remains that we are
experiencing one of the worst droughts in Georgia’s history,” Cagle
said in a press release prior to the show. “We will continue to
press the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to respond by increasing, not
decreasing, our lake levels. The drought has choked our economy,
forced small businesses to the brink of bankruptcy, destroyed the
value of some family homes and drained reservoirs.”
Asked if he was using what was labeled “The Lake
Summit” program as an early springboard toward a 2010 gubernatorial
pursuit, Cagle replied that his intent was to “highlight the issue
of what the drought has meant to lake levels and how the Corps of
Engineers has managed the reservoir not for human consumption but
for mussels, sturgeons and the Endangered Species Act.” He added he
aims to protect the lake he grew up playing in as a child and to
“underscore the importance of securing the water supply” that serves
as an economic engine for the state.
About 25 individuals, many from the Lake Lanier
Association, attended the summit, but few spoke on the air. “I’m
here to support the Lieutenant Governor and to get some water
reservoirs built,” said Ralph Gage, who lives on the lake. “We need
to build reservoirs now. We get enough rain in Georgia, we just need
to tap our potential.”
Jackie Joseph, president of the association, rounded
up about a dozen association members to attend the summit. In off
the air conversations, some said they share the views of the Lt.
Gov. regarding the causes of slumping lake-related business. “I
think gas prices have an impact,” Joseph said. But she speculated
that “if the lake were at full pool,” lake business would suffer
less. “Controlling releases (by the Corps) is also an issue,” she
said. “The Appalachicola Bay area is not suffering,” she added,
referring to the Florida panhandle region where Lanier waters
ultimately flow.
Ann Danchak, a 10-year lake dweller, advocated
dredging to deepen water around docks. She said 10 feet of siltation
near her dock has created a safety issue similar to quicksand.
“Siltation is a real concern,” Cagle responded. “In
1986 we lost 10 percent of the capacity of the lake due to siltation.
I estimate it to be 20 percent now. Dredging must take place.”
Laidlaw, Vice President of Westrec Marinas, said his
company spent $500,000 dredging beneath docks at Holiday Marina. “It
definitely made a difference in appearance and usage,” he said.
He added that “people are still coming to the marinas
… they’re coming to their boats, they’re just not taking them out as
much.” Boat owners and those who rent from marinas traditionally
seek stress relief on the lake, he said. “People need to recreate,”
he continued, adding the low lake level supercedes high gas prices
as the reason people choose to keep their boats docked.
“It’s primarily lake level more than anything, gas
prices are a minor part of the issue. There are so many hazards”
created by declining lake levels that large boat owners choose not
to risk damaging their expensive crafts by getting snagged on
exposed obstacles.
News of Lanier’s low level, 15 feet below full pool
in late July, has business executives all over the country thinking
the lake is drying up. Laidlaw insisted, “The day to day management
of the lake has to be addressed.”
Georgia House Speaker Richardson told radio listeners
that “for a long time (the state) did not do the best job”
impounding water for future use. But, he said that “for every gallon
that rains, the Army lets go three gallons” from Lanier.
U.S. Sen. Isaakson, calling in from Washington, D.C.,
said tri-state water negotiations between Georgia, Alabama and
Florida and the Corps have been frustrating. But, he believes there
has been “progress the last couple years.” That progress is coming
through the updating of lake operation and usage manuals that should
consider the lake’s role in recreation, drinking water and flood
control, he said.
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