The drought that’s affecting many parts of the country has had an impact at a local level. Several residents living near the Talladega Cheaha Lakes said the lower lake is completely dry.
Allen McBride, whose family owns a summer camp for children on the lake, said both the upper and lower lakes had to be drained for maintenance.
“The lakes were drained late in the fall,” McBride said. “We completed the work in January and just waited for them to fill up.”
McBride said because of the ongoing drought, the lakes, also known as Mac Lakes, never did fill.
“If we’d gotten half the normal amount of rainfall, they would’ve been filled by now,” he said. “There’s so many mountains in the area that the rain usually just runs down off of them and into the lakes.”
Lakefront property owner Rusty Stephens said the upper lake is about two-thirds full. “When the upper lake gets full, it spills over into the lower one,” Stephens said. “We just haven’t had enough rain to fill them up yet. You can actually see the grass growing on the bed of the lower lake.”
McBride said the lack of water has forced Camp Mac, which his grandfather opened in 1948, to make some changes to their program.
“We can’t do some waterfront activities that we usually do,” he said. “It would be a lot nicer if we had a lake, but the kids don’t really know the difference. They’re just having fun anyway.”
Though the camp had to change its plans, McBride said the condition of the lake doesn’t cause a significant problem for most property owners.
“It’s more of an inconvenience, than a problem,” he said.
Stephens, who lives on the lower lake, said he agrees the situation doesn’t pose a serious threat.
“It doesn’t really affect me,” he said. “I don’t go boating. In fact, there’s only about seven or eight lots on the entire lower lake, and most of us don’t have boat ramps.” Stephens said the upper lake is usually busier because it’s open to the public.
“Anyone can come to the upper lake, but you can’t come to the lower lake unless someone who lives here lets you in.”
McBride said for those who do have boats, the low water level on the upper lake would make getting the boats in the water more challenging.
“It’s a little more difficult to get a boat launched when the water’s that low,” he said. “Some people can’t get their boat back in their boat house.”
McBride stressed that though he’s not disturbed by the water level of the lakes, he is concerned about the extreme drought conditions that are affecting them.
“This is bigger than just not being able to get your boat in the water,” he said. “We’re all looking for a little rain, but it’s a lot bigger problem for the farmers and people like that.”
McBride said that although the lakes are at the lowest level they’ve been in years, he’s staying optimistic.
“We still have a chance of getting some rain in June,” he said.
Until then, McBride said there’s not much he or anyone else can do.
“We’ll take what we can get,” he said. “Whether it rains or not is up to God, so all we can do is pray, I guess.”
