Named for Confederate veteran and poet Sidney Lanier,[1] it was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and water supplies.

The rapid suburbanization of the Atlanta region, in particular, has greatly increased water consumption by private homeowners for lawns and gardens.

During droughts of the 21st century, Lake Lanier reached record lows, and regional actions have been needed to reduce state water usage in the area.

[3] The lake is in Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, Gwinnett, and Lumpkin counties, split about 60%, 30%, 5%, 4%, and 1%, respectively, filling the valley into numerous small arms and fingers.

[citation needed] Prior to the groundbreaking of the reservoir in March 1950, the town of Oscarville occupied a part of the current location of the lake.

The lake's original purposes purportedly were to provide hydroelectricity, navigation, and flood control of the Chattahoochee River, and water supply for the city of Atlanta.

[16] Lake Lanier reached its intended full-pool level on August 1, 1958, approximately one year later than initially expected due to droughts.

[17] In early fall of 1958, the region had two solid months of drought, which would have left the Chattahoochee and its tributaries nearly dry, if not for the construction of Buford Dam and the reserve of Lake Lanier.

In the spring and summer of 2013, the water level reached some of the highest points due to high amounts of rain and flooding in the north Georgia area.

Because of the error in managing Lake Lanier, the governor's office declared a drought and enacted a ban on outdoor water use from 10 am to 4 pm, in addition to the permanent weekly odd/even address system.

He eventually withdrew his threat to sue the Corps of Engineers, but the Lake Lanier Association indicated that it would file a private legal action.

[10] In July 2009, a federal judge from Minnesota (chosen from a neutral location as an arbiter) ruled that Congress never authorized Lake Lanier to be used as a source of the water supply for metro Atlanta.

Georgia was given three years to stop withdrawing from the lake (except for the adjacent cities of Gainesville and Buford), unless Congress authorized it, or if it and the other two states using water from the reservoir came to agreement about use.

In 2013, Florida filed an original action against Georgia in the Supreme Court of the United States, requesting equitable apportionment of waters in the ACF Basin.

On April 1, 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint in a unanimous opinion, holding that Florida did not prove any serious injury caused by Georgia.

The venue is host to many other events such as Food Truck Friday, ACRA Championships, and the Atlanta Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival.

Lake Lanier has over 90 corps, state, county and city parks spread around its 680 miles of shoreline, 23 of which provide swim beaches.

[citation needed] Magical Nights of Lights is an animated drive-through display that ends with a Christmas village, carnival rides, bonfire, Santa Shop, and live nativity.

Due to the displaced cemeteries and unmarked graves Lake Lanier submerged during its creation, the body of water is rumored to be haunted with ghosts.

[34] Phil Torres, on an episode of Expedition X, performed a dive on a submerged cemetery and discovered tombstones that had not been disturbed, complete with mementos left by loved ones, suggesting that the government did not relocate graves as promised.