Petition to Save Cagle Lake

I have an update on the efforts to save Cagle Lake from being drained. Our State Representative, Brad Thomas, and County Commissioner, Richard Weatherby, will be hosting a town hall on 12/16/21 at 6:30 at Dean Rusk Middle School. We need everyone to show up and show opposition to the State and Fed's study that recommended draining the lake. Our petition got their attention and they are in agreement to save the lake, but we need to show up to this town hall. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!

Please sign this petition to support saving Cagle Lake in the area of Hickory Flat/Holly Springs, GA. This beautiful little lake supports wildlife including great blue heron, otters, ground hogs, fish, and many bird varieties.

Cagle Lake is named after the Cagle family who had a farm on the land for over 100 years. It is a symbol of what many Georgians remember from the annual fall corn maze and working farm tours. This is not just another lake in a watershed study. This is a landmark for Metro Atlanta and North Georgia. The City of Holly Springs even has plans to to make the land next to Cagle Lake a park in the future.

Cherokee County and other government agencies are conducting a dam removal study that would drain Cagle Lake. The link to this study is posted below. The findings illustrate the potential hazard if the dam were to fail without showing any direct evidence that the dam will fail. The results place the dam failure of Cagle Lake at a lower category of danger than the other dams in the study. The study provided a cost analysis in which removal of the dam is a cheaper option than reinforcing it, but has not included the costs for flood proofing the area after destruction of the dam, cleaning the drained lake bed, or developing the land. These additional costs could fall on the City of Holly Springs or Cherokee County and ultimately the taxpayers.

***7/26/2021 update: Hello Friends and Neighbors,
I have some updates on our efforts to save Cagle Lake from being drained. We do have support from our local leaders in Cherokee County, Holly Springs, and the State. Our County Commissioner, Richard Weatherby, and our GA State House Representative, Brad Thomas, are meeting with the Chairman of the Limestone Valley Soil Conservation Authority and another dam expert later this week to discuss Cagle Lake. This is a great step to saving our beautiful lake! What we have found is that the GASWCC (GA Soil and Water Conservation Commission) and the NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) are the state/federal agencies that have the decision making power, so we are leaning on our representatives to support our position. Our US Congressional Representative, Barry Loudermilk, did reach out to me and stated they are in contact with the NRCS. I will post again when I have more updates.***

Here is the link to Cherokee County's website about the study of eliminating Cagle Lake: https://www.cherokeega.com/Stormwater-Management/NRCS-Watershed-Dam-Information/?fbclid=IwAR1pLZZ0RAphdRLvo92Kc08WJ1vbSRyb3W4Dn6etIgFSFw2pOpGGxldUkpA
Video of the watershed study: https://vimeo.com/551523668/abdd06df8d

*Photography courtesy of David Holtzer