Peachtree City is a thriving community filled with natural lakes, trees and animals. However, if the city doesn’t maintain it’s beauty, it will soon be at risk of losing it all.

It has been seven months since the city drained Lake Peachtree in order to repair the docks and complete a required maintenance check. However, once the Lake was drained, more problems than just the broken docks arose.

According to WSB-TV Atlanta, a series of cracks in the spillway were discovered. If these cracks are not repaired, Lake Peachtree could be in danger of collapsing and destroying property.  Will Frampton, a reporter on CBS46, said, “City and county officials aren’t sure when they will be able to repair the Lake Peachtree dam spillway and refill the empty lake.”

The lake plays an important role to Peachtree City’s community because most of the city’s major events happen on or around Lake Peachtree. Without the lake, events are disrupted or cancelled.  Many residents also enjoy the lake as a recreational area.

Over the summer, residents were confused about where the July 4 fireworks were going to take place. While they were still at the same location, people could no longer take their canoes out onto the lake and celebrate the event traditionally. Other annual events that have been impacted are the fall Dragon Boat Races and the annual triathlon. The annual boat races’ location was simply changed, however, the annual triathlon was cancelled.

The triathlon is known to be one of the city’s signature athletic events, so its cancellation is a problem for residents and businesses in Peachtree City. With the tourism and media usually involved with the event, a lot of money was lost.

Senior Elsie Nelson said, “I used to go fishing, canoeing and swimming in Lake Peachtree all the time until one day I arrived at the lake and it was gone. Just like that my everyday routine got distorted. Now I am too sad about the environmental impact it has made to continue my daily exercises.”

Some citizens of Peachtree City have lost the value of property around the lake. The houses had a higher value than those of most to other properties in Peachtree City. However, since the lake is no longer there, property values have dropped drastically.

Lake Peachtree is not only home to humans but also to many animals. From the loss of water, most animals have either migrated to better habitats or have died. Many of the fish were left behind and suffocated to death from lack of water.

Environmental science teacher, Ms. Danielle Okamoto said, “The draining of Lake Peachtree has not only taken away some of the natural beauty of Peachtree City, but it also may have disrupted the local food webs by decreasing the aquatic habitat. It may have changed the availability of several food sources for fish, waterfowl, and local birds.”

Lake Peachtree is essential not only to Peachtree City but also to Fayette County since a portion of the county’s drinking water comes from this lake.