Lake Lanier is a reservoir in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee River. The lake encompasses 38,000 acres or 59 square miles of water, and 692 miles of shoreline at normal level, a "full pool" of 1,071 feet above mean sea level and the exact shoreline varies by resolution according to the coastline paradox. Named for Confederate Army poet Sidney Lanier, it was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and water supplies. Its construction destroyed more than 50,000 acres of farmland and displaced more than 250 families, 15 businesses, and relocated 20 cemeteries along with their corpses in the process.
It is patrolled by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, as well as local law enforcement. The states of Georgia, Alabama and Florida all have rights to the water of the reservoir, as it feeds rivers going through those areas. The Corps of Engineers has responsibilities to regulate flow for flood control and water use.