Buford Dam

[Guest donaltopablo]

The Buford Dam and Lake Lanier which was created by the Army Corp of Engineers. It is a top recreation spot for metro Atlanta and north GA.

Buford Dam is on the Chattahoochee River in north-central Georgia about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta and 5 miles northwest of the town of Buford. It is a multiple-purpose dam designed to obtain the maximum benefits from the control and utilization of the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River.

Construction of the project was authorized in 1948. The $45 million Buford Dam and Lake Lanier were officially opened during 1957. It then took about 2 years for the lake to fill with water. The lake was initially constructed for the purposes of hydropower, flood control, navigation, and for stream flow regulation. Recreational opportunities, fishing, wildlife management, and water supply for communities are also major features which are public benefits for the millions of visitors to this man-made project.

It consists of an earthen dam over the original river channel, with a gated intake structure and a powerhouse, connected by two penstocks in tunnels, in deep rock cuts in the right bank. A flood control sluice tunnel parallels the power tunnels. An uncontrolled spillway excavated at a low point about a mile to the left of the dam protects it from overtopping.

The lake extends up the Chattahoochee River to near the Hall-Habersham County line and up the Chestatee River to the vicinity of Dahlonega.