LAKE LANIER ISLANDS - Former state Environmental Protection Division Director Harold Reheis told 1071 Coalition members Tuesday night at their annual meeting Georgia must have a contingency plan ready in case Lake Lanier is lost as a drinking water resource.

Reheis said Governor Sonny Perdue wants that task force plan in hand before the 2010 General Assembly convenes and it must contain viable options to last July’s federal court ruling that bars North Georgia from drawing water from the lake after July 2012.

“We could lose the water that’s needed for three million people in metro Atlanta and around Lake Lanier,� Reheis said.

Reheis said Georgia stands to lose 250 million gallons a day if water is cut off from Lanier and that’s what Congress and the courts need to understand.

“We may find that we can’t make up a gap of 250 million gallons a day in the remaining less than three years that we have,� Reheis said. “That’s important for the courts and Congress to understand especially if making up that gap is going to cost $3-billion to this region.�
“It would cost nothing to allow us to continue to use the water that we are using now out of Lake Lanier; that has to weigh I think in the equation that Congress and the court use in making the decision here.�

1071 LAKE STUDY

1071 Coalition President Alex Laidlaw said he personally knows the effect of Lake Lanier's lake level on business.

During the Coalition's annual meeting at Lake Lanier Islands, he said this year during the recession was better for his marinas with the lake rising than it was during the drought with the lake at a record low.

"We're clearly going to be 10 percent better than we were in '08 and '07, Laidlaw said. "I think it really does go to lake levels and how much they impact our business."

Laidlaw said he expects the Coalition’s economic impact study results will clearly show the value of maintaining the lake level to the Corps of Engineers.

Consultants said they expect to have results by November; Coalition Vice President Kit Dunlap called on members and supporters to help finish paying for the study with an additional $40,000.