Corps says NE Ga lakes are dealing with drought

The Corps of Engineers says northeast Georgia's Lake Hartwell and Lake Thurmond are in Drought Trigger Level One status. The Corps says Hartwell is now more than four feet below its full pool, while Lake Thurmond is also suffering from a lack of rainfall.

Corps spokesman Billy Birdwell says the drought status change "means that we limit the amount of water that we release from the system. That is measured out at Thurmond Dam. We try to keep the two major reservoirs in balance with each other. We're sending water downstream sometimes and we're holding it back sometimes. It just depends on the inflow and the rainfall is on each of the sub-basins."

The Corps expects the levels at Hartwell and Thurmond lakes to stay in drought trigger level 1 and continue their gradual decline through December.