The continued dry spell has caused the level of the Bear Creek Reservoir to drop more than five feet below full pool, but so far no water restrictions have been ordered.
“We had an Operations Committee (Of the Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority) meeting,” said Eric Klerk, manager of the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority, “and it was suggested that all participating counties at Bear Creek just tell everybody to conserve water, really. There was no official action…just inform everybody they needed to conserve water to avoid outdoor water restrictions.”
That probably will not be enough, unless some unexpected rainfall occurs.
“I expect restrictions to start real soon,” Klerk commented.
The first step would be to enter Level 1 of its drought contingency plan, which would place further restrictions on the outdoor use of water. The decision to take that step is based on factors including soil moisture, rainfall and the lake level.
As of Friday, Aug. 27, the lake level was at 690.27, which is 4.73 feet below full. By Tuesday morning it was down to 689.53.
During that week, the four owners of the reservoir used an average of 29.32 million gallons of water a day (mgd). More than half — 15.42 mgd — was used by Athens-Clarke.
The drop in the lake level led the Jackson County Recreation Department to close the boat ramp off Hwy. 330 because boats were getting hung up on rocks and trailers were getting struck.
The 505-acre reservoir is owned by Athens-Clarke, Jackson, Barrow and Oconee counties. It is the primary source of water for Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority customers. The basin authority fills the reservoir by pumping water from the Middle Oconee River, but the flow of the river has been so low that the pumps have run just one day during August.
Commerce Reservoir
As of Tuesday morning, the Commerce reservoir, located in Banks County off Grove Level Church Road, was two-tenths of a foot below full pool
“And that’s with zero rain for I don’t know how long,” observed Bryan Harbin, Commerce’s director of water and sewer operations. “We’ve had just 1.2 inches at the plant during August.”
The city’s 300-acre reservoir proved to be remarkably stable during the last drought, partly because it is fed by several springs in the lake and partly because its large drainage basin allows it to capture rain that falls over a wide area.
