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Aqualand Marina initiates
program to continue dock usage in drought
By Pamela A. Keene
The low lake levels this past winter served as a
wake-up call for folks who both enjoy Lake Lanier for recreation and
those who make their living on one of the most-visited U.S. Army
Corps of Engineer lakes in the nation. Aqualand’s management took a
hard look at the situation and for the past six months has been
working on a plan that will keep its tenants and their boats in the
water if and when levels drop again.
“To continue wishing that someone would turn off the
dam or that we would be lucky enough to experience two or more
tropical storms to fill the lake back up was taking an enormous
gamble with our facility and more importantly, our boaters,” said
Len Jernigan, general manager of Aqualand, which is owned by
Flagship Marinas. “So we developed our Strategic Drought Management
Plan that will help us keep our tenants’ boats in the water and
usable as the lake levels drop.”
Aqualand has already begun extending ramps, rotating
and moving docks and adding power/electrical/water to docks that
would have been unusable down to 1055 feet above sea level. Browns
Bridge Dock Company began implementing the plan in July.
“They’re building extensions and moving docks with
the boats still in place to keep everyone in maneuverable water,”
Jernigan said. “In this first phase, we’ve committed $600,000 to
assure that our tenants can still go boating, that their property
will be safe and that our docks will be sound.”
Work began last winter with extensive research that
included engineering, survey, and side-scan sonar resources to
develop a systematic approach of what docks to move, at what lake
elevation they get moved, and where they are moved to. Jernigan, his
consultants and staff have been working closely with the Corps to
have the plan implemented within the agency’s guidelines.
“Once action is taken with a particular dock, that
dock will be floating and usable down to an elevation of 1035 feet
above sea level, which is 36 feet below normal full pool,” he said.
“In addition and unprecedented on Lake Lanier, the Corps of
Engineers has also given us permission to extend electricity to the
relocated docks when necessary.”
The first docks to be moved are on the Flowery Branch
Bay side of the marina within view of Aqualand’s trademark
lighthouse. Some docks will be attached to existing docks; others
have been moved to new locations.
“Obviously because we only reached 1058 feet of lake
elevation this year we cannot impact all of our docks,” Jernigan
said, “but we can protect most of them. Our goal is to accommodate
our tenants so that they can safely use their boats, despite the
predicted lower-than-ever water levels.”
The concept is based on similar response plans used
by marinas along the coast when they prepare for hurricanes and
severe storms.
“Coastal marinas in the South have hurricane plans,
we have our Strategic Drought Management Plan,” he said. “As far as
we know, we’re the only inland marina that has ever gone to this
extent to assure that our tenants can still use their boats when in
an historic drought.”
The plan includes provisions to move the remainder of
the docks if the water level drops below 1050 feet above sea level
at an additional cost of $400,000.
“There is still plenty of water in Lake Lanier for
boaters, fishermen and others to enjoy for recreation,” Jernigan
said. “Of course, this is a very different lake at lower levels than
it is at full pool, so we urge everyone to be cautious to keep an
eye open for low-water areas, exposed tree tops and other underwater
obstacles. We’ve developed a strong program to help keep our boaters
in the water.”
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