Level of the Lake

Lake Lanier

Elevation at Buford Dam

1,064.22ft

feet above sea level

6.78 ft below full · down 0.42 ft this week

First pinch points
updated 12:15 PM EDT

Since midnight

−0.01 ft

level change

Past 30 days

−1.51 ft

level change

Storage

1.71 million

acre-feet · 87% full

Water temp

52.3°F

below Buford Dam

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Lanier is easing down (−0.42 ft this week). Releases, evaporation and intake are taking out more than the rivers bring in (≈254 cfs). That puts it in the “First pinch points” range, 4.22 ft above the “Widespread low-water impact” line.

Past 30 days

−1.51 ft over this window
1,064.001,065.001,066.00Aug 29Sep 13Sep 28
Lake elevation, past 30 days, now 1,064.26 ft, down 1.51 ft over the window
DateElevation (ft)
Aug 291,065.77
Aug 301,065.73
Aug 311,065.67
Sep 11,065.62
Sep 21,065.57
Sep 31,065.51
Sep 41,065.45
Sep 51,065.40
Sep 61,065.37
Sep 71,065.31
Sep 81,065.22
Sep 91,065.16
Sep 101,065.09
Sep 111,065.04
Sep 121,065.06
Sep 131,065.07
Sep 141,065.02
Sep 151,064.98
Sep 161,064.91
Sep 171,064.84
Sep 181,064.79
Sep 191,064.74
Sep 201,064.69
Sep 211,064.65
Sep 221,064.62
Sep 231,064.60
Sep 241,064.54
Sep 251,064.46
Sep 261,064.40
Sep 271,064.31
Sep 281,064.26

Daily mean elevation · USGS 02334400 daily means · provisional

The lake in cross-section

Flood pool 1085Historic high 1077.151964Full pool 10712007 drought low 105…6.78 ft to full1,064.22 ft

Rivers into the lake

Rivers & rain →

Swipe sideways to follow the river to the lake →

184 cfs70 cfs254 cfs613 cfsout the dam nowChattahoochee184 cfsChestatee70 cfsLake LanierChattahoochee + Chestatee87% fullLanier storagein 254 · out 613 cfsnet −359 cfs ≈ -0.25 in/day on the lakeChattahoochee below…USGS gauge at the dam
SteadyReceding · high water draining downOn the rise · climbing right nowInbound wave · big rise upstreamFlooding · NWS, by river heightNo current readingRising or falling is judged from each gauge’s last 48 hours, scaled to its river. Dot speed follows the flow. NWS flood status comes from river height and outranks direction.

Streamflow at the 2 USGS gauges, plus the current flow out through the dam (USGS). Labels are gauge readings in cfs. Line width isn’t to scale. The lake’s net is worked out from these gauges (flow in minus flow out), so it misses ungauged creeks, evaporation and withdrawals.

The rivers, gauge by gauge

254cfs combined

72% of the inflow is coming from the Chattahoochee

Gauged rivers only. Runoff below these gauges and ungauged arms aren’t counted. Streamflow: USGS (provisional). Flood status: NOAA/NWS, from river height at each gauge rather than flow.