With water levels on the rise and predicted to remain stable for the near future, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, expects to soon lift the moratorium on new dock permits.

The corps “will shortly announce the procedure for accepting new permit requests,” said spokesman E. Patrick Robbins in an official statement today.

The corps announced it wouldn’t accept new applications for private boat dock permits starting April 27, 2007.

Permit applications received before the moratorium were processed, however.

After “issuing permits to those who qualified, Lake Lanier now has approximately 174 remaining boat dock permits available,” Robbins said.

The Lake Lanier Shoreline Management Plan and accompanying Environmental Impact Statement completed in 2004 limited the number of boat docks on the lake to 10,615.

“The corps will set up a process that will give everyone an equal opportunity to submit their request in a simple way,” says a press release from the corps.