ALBANY, GA. -- Georgia Power has begun the process of dropping the water level in Lake Chehaw.
From now through Saturday the lake will drop one foot a day.
“We have required maintenance on the hydro dam on the main fence looking at that hydro gage and we also have maintenance to perform inside the power station,” says Steve Green, Operations and Maintenance Manager at Plant Mitchell in Flint River Hydro.
The water in Lake Chehaw will end up 8 feet lower from where it started.
Homeowners in the area say when the water is that low, in some spots, the lake looks like a beach because of the sandy bottom.
When the water is down 8ft some may be tempted to walk across but officials say because of the current that's not a safe thing to do.
Frank Bruner, a lakefront homeowner, says the water level drop can also create a problem for boats.
“A lot of times they'll come through and get down below but then when they get back to this point they can't get back over and well I have to help a lot of them out,” says Frank Bruner.
Although the channel change will slow boat flow, it does give homeowners the freedom to do their own maintenance projects.
Some homeowners will work on their docks but Alex Vanston says he has a bigger project in mind.
“We moved here about two months ago and we wanted to build a boathouse. It's just the timing was right with them lowering the lake,” says Alex Vanston.
Chehaw Lake will stay lowered through the month of October.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWFXL