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Lake association issues position paper of
recommendations
By Pamela A. Keene
 Although
it was formed only a few years ago, the Lake Allatoona Association
is already 2,000 members strong. Dedicated to preserving the lake,
the group has recently issued an extensive position paper requesting
various items from the stakeholders of the Alabama-
Chattahoochee-Tallapoosa river basin.
“Our objects are to address the overall water level
and stability improvement of Allatoona Lake,” said Sean Nichol,
president of the association. “We realize that it will take everyone
working together, from the Corps of Engineers and the Congress, to
the people of Georgia, Alabama and downstream, to make a difference,
and we’ve created an overview document that can help summarize the
challenges and help move us forward.”
The document’s five proposed objectives are:
• Increase Northwest Georgia’s water supplies
• Reduce water quality degradation
• Improve Alabama River navigation water release
capabilities
• Improve Lake Allatoona recreation benefits
• Continue to support power generation and flood
control needs.
The group’s recommendations are specifically directed
to four entities that are involved in the water wars: The US Army
Corps of Engineers, the state of Georgia, the state of Alabama and
the Southeastern Power Administration. The 29 separate
recommendations are aimed at raising the lake’s water level by two
feet in the summer, holding the level four weeks longer in the fall,
raising the level six weeks earlier each spring and reducing the
winter drawdown by eight feet each year.
“We call this our 2-4-6-8 Lake Allatoona Clean
campaign,” Nichol said. “The LAA is confident that these sought
changes are rational, realistic and practice and that their
implementation as a whole would serve to relive the tensions and
stresses that have brought he water wars issue to its present
problematic state of affairs.”
For more information about the Lake Allatoona
Association visit
www.lakeallatoonaassoc.com.
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