Lake Lanier drought story: Fact or fiction?

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October 10, 3:45 PM

by Mary Thompson, North Georgia Real Estate Examiner

 

 

Welcome readers! Thank you so much for stopping by my web page. I am very happy to be your North Georgia Real Estate Examiner. I have been a Real Estate Appraiser in the North Georgia area for 15 years. Prior to this I was a Realtor. My specialty is in the Lake Lanier market, so I thought I would dedicated my very FIRST article to Lake Lanier.

As your North Georgia Real Estate Examiner, I will keep you posted on all things related to this topic and any news that may have a direct impact upon North Georgia Real Estate. I promise to be straight forward, state facts and even throw in some humor now and again to make this an educational, thought provoking and fun place for you to return to frequently.

Don't forget to book mark this page or better yet, subscibe to my blog and forward to your family and friends as I hope to have a longstanding relationship with all of my loyal readers.

As many of you may have heard in the news, Lake Lanier is suffering through the worst drought since the lake was filled in the 1950's. This is a Corps of Engineers Lake and full summer pool is 1071. We are now just below the 1054 level or over 17.0 feet below full summer pool.

This great lake has enjoyed significant annual appreciation in property values to the tune of 15-20%. However in the past year those increases have shrunk and for the unfortunate homeowners who are without water or who have very little water at their docks, they are suffering a loss of CURRENT market values. I do want to emphasize the word CURRENT.

This situation has become fodder for all the local news channels as well as the National ones. Good Morning America and The Weather Channel to name a few national shows have done stories on our drought several times. Yours truly was interviewed just this week by the Weather Channel, WGST and the AJC (Atlanta Journal Constitution) about the Lake Lanier Drought. AJC Article Here.

When I talked with the reporters of these various publications and shows, I told them to be fair and balanced in their reporting of this story, meaning quote me on both the positive and negative aspects of this story. Well I am sure you can guess what happened, it was all negative! I called WGST on the carpet for this, not to mention they misquoted my stats on the property value decline by over 10%....so now they are going to do a follow up story giving the other side....the positive outlook for this great Blue Waters Lake.

Here is it in a nutshell.  Lake Lanier goes up and down regularly due to the release of the water at the Buford Dam in order to allow for water flow down to Florida and Alabama. That is another story all together. Stay tuned, I will talk about that at a later date. This lake has dropped more than 10 feet 8-9 times since the early 1980's when we had our worst drought before this one. It was 18.0 feet below full pool then.

Every single time that this lake has gone down, it has ALWAYS come back to full pool and sometimes even higher. Typically the return of the water occurred by the following season, sometimes it took 2 seasons to return. This one may take 3, because we have had such a long spell of dry weather. Past history tells us that this Lake will return again to full pool. I believe wholeheartedly this will occur.

Many people from out of town think we are running out of water on Lake Lanier the way the medial tells the story. This is SO far from the truth! There are places in the main channels that are over 100 feet deep, plus this lake encompasses over 600 miles of shoreline. Lake Lanier is FAR from empty and never will be empty, short of a disaster like the Buford Dam collapsing. This is highly unlikely as it is built like Fort Knox.

So any of you out there that may be thinking about visiting this great lake for fishing or boating enjoyment come on down. You just have to be a smart navigator, stay in the main channels and slow down a bit. If you are thinking of buying real estate on this great lake, there is NO time like the present. The deals are fantastic and as one well known Lake Lanier Realtor here has said...."Full Pool....Means Full Price". So don't delay, get your piece of heaven right here in the South.  I am confident as a Lake Lanier Appraiser that the 15-25% annual increase in values will return on this Lake in the next 1 to 2 seasons.

You need not  take just my word on this, please check out what Frank Norton says about Lake Lanier Real Estate and his predictions have been right on the money most every year.

Well, that covers it for my first article. I do hope you enjoyed it and learned something new about Lake Lanier.

Please come back to visit me!

"If North Georgia Real Estate is on your Mind"  I will keep you in the loop!

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