Lake Lanier is at its lowest level for this time of year ever. Will it ever come back to full pool?

I understand that all of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river basin has to share the water that this small watershed collects. Why does the federal government, and Army Corps of Engineers that runs this system, not put the same restrictions on this whole water basin that we share? Florida and Alabama are crying for the water. Do they have the same water restrictions that North Georgia has?

Does all of the Atlanta area that relies on Lake Lanier for water share the same restrictions? If this is a federally owned basin, then everyone needs to have the same restrictions. If the Chatahoochee and Chestatee rivers that flow into Lake Lanier continue at this record low inflow, there will be no water for Alabama and Florida to cry about. The river will run dry without rainfall and conservation for everyone along the ACF basin.

Susan Garchow
Gainesville

Officers had to act quickly in dog attack
It is unfortunate that Hall County sheriff's deputies were forced to defend themselves from a recent dog attack while serving an arrest warrant on Baker Road. However, before condemning the officers for their actions, let us take a moment to understand why and how something like this could occur.

These deputies were engaged in apprehending a suspect believed to be dangerous and charged with stabbing his girlfriend. These deputies were in an unfamiliar place, looking for a violent suspect, and were subsequently charged by three extremely aggressive dogs. Common sense tells us that anyone faced with this kind of dangerous situation would be forced to make a split-second decision, and would not have time to weigh options.

Of course, no one wants to hear that an animal has been killed. However, I would hope that no one would want to hear how these law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line for every one of us, were mauled while doing their job.

A suspected dangerous criminal is now behind bars, the victim lives to see another day, and I am glad these officers did whatever they needed to protect themselves and to make Hall County a safer place for us all.

Ann Teague
Gainesville