After its longtime leader left for California, the Lake Lanier Association didn't have to look long and hard for a new replacement.

Joanna Cloud started last week as executive director of the lake advocacy group.

Active on executive boards and serving as PTO president, Cloud and her family also stay active on Lake Lanier from their North Forsyth home.

"It was a natural progression to move into the Lake Lanier Association," Cloud said. "It's a nonprofit with a lot of volunteers working toward the good of community. It was a good fit for me and my interests."

She replaces Vicki Barnhorst, who left at the end of July after nine years, spending much of her time arranging events - such as the annual Shore Sweep in September - and orchestrating monthly board of directors meetings.

"Vicki has been Ms. Lake Lanier Association," said the group's president, Jackie Joseph, and Val Perry, executive vice president, in the July newsletter to members.

The group was founded in 1966 and acts "as an education and knowledge resource for many government and private groups interested in the health of the lake," according to its website.

Cloud, who grew up in Dunwoody and has worked for about 20 years with a software development company, said her chief priority in her new job is to support the association's 2,000 members.

"I want to make sure their needs are being met in terms of what their expectations are, why they belong and why they think it's important to support this particular association."

She also hopes to stress community awareness about the association.

"I really think there needs to be a message put out to the community that this association is ... really the only watchdog for Lake Lanier in terms of preserving recreational use rights and fighting for water cleanliness, quality and levels.

"It's not just the property owners that have a stake in that. It's everybody that's using Lake Lanier - all the fishermen, the recreational boaters, anybody who drinks a glass of water in metro Atlanta."

Joseph said the association is happy to have Cloud on board.

"She has a very big handle on exactly what needs to be done," she said. "Certainly, we are very well pleased we were able to find someone of her abilities and her character."