Dam Delays! Lake Peachtree Empty This Year & Next?

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Author: Jocey & Renae

Date Published: June 24, 2014

Dam Delays

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We just received word today that the dam for Lake Peachtree has been reclassified as a Category 1 dam by the Environmental Protection Division (EPD). Which means that if the dam breaks people could die and property could be damaged.

I, like many of you, am anxiously waiting for the day when I can see our beautiful lake filled, but it looks as if we will have to wait even longer. The Lake Peachtree Dam may need repair so don’t expect to go swimming in the lake anytime soon.

What Does This Mean For Lake Peachtree?

This means that we can’t just put a bandaid on the dam. It will need either a major repair or to be completely redone. We are going to go out on a limb here and predict the future. We predict that Lake Peachtree will not be refilled this entire year. We are going to have an empty lake until next fall. The county and city might be able to dredge the lake in that time but we are not sure.

The good news, though, is that annual events that are typically held on Lake Peachtree have been approved to be hosted at Lake McIntosh. Those events include the Dragon Boat races and the Get Stoked event. Oh and the Peachtree City 4th of July fireworks will still be launched off at Drake Field.

EPD Findings

The Environmental Protection Division has classified the Lake Peachtree Dam as Category 1, which “denotes a probable loss of human life if the dam failed, based on 2008 maps of the 100-year flood plain. The reclassification may result in more stringent construction standards for the dam and spillway, with a corresponding higher cost to make the repairs necessary to refill the lake.” Vanessa Fleisch, the Mayor of Peachtree City, said, “’Obviously, the safety of those downstream will be the first priority. But if the modeling shows significantly different results than the findings of the EPD, an appeal may be our best option to ensure the correct level of repairs are made.’”

What Can You Expect?

So basically, there hasn’t been a hard conclusion on the extent of repairs necessary to the dam, but I’m not holding my breath on seeing our lake full anytime this summer.