New Initiative Underway - Introducing the Dock Builder’s Pledge
Extracted from the Summer Kickoff 2026 Newsletter
New Initiative Underway
Introducing the Dock Builder’s Pledge
For 60 years, the Lake Lanier Association (LLA) has been seeking to protect the quality, quantity, and safety of Lake Lanier through education, action, and advocacy.
For the past 37 years, that effort has included the annual Shore Sweep cleanup, the largest single day lake clean up event every year in the U.S. This past year, thanks to over 1,200 volunteers and record participation from the quality dock builders on Lanier, a record 128 tons of trash and debris was removed from the lake.
As impressive and gratifying as record numbers may be, the straightforward fact is most of that tonnage comes from improperly discarded docks and dock materials. Floats, frames, boards, ports, dock-boxes, even entire docks, improperly and illegally left behind, or left to fall apart by neglect. The total count of abandoned floats is in the hundreds year after year.
In 2014, the LLA created the Abandoned and Derelict Docks and Vessels (ADDV) Team. The team is composed of representatives from LLA, Georgia DNR, USACE Lake Lanier Management Office, the Hall County Solicitors Office, and the Forsyth County Solicitors Office. This collaborative ADDV Team is able to approach the issue through multiple facets to reduce the number of dumpings. Even with our working with all those agencies in that manner, we still have year over year records being set during Shore Sweep.
Lake Lanier Homeowners:
We are asking for your help by accepting responsibility for the proper disposal of any and every item associated with your dock. From an individual float to the entire structure, ensure confirmation that it was properly disposed of by an accountable dock company. In that regard, we believe we have some of the highest quality dock companies in the U.S. right here on Lake Lanier. Many of them are sponsors and supporters of the LLA and help with Shore Sweep. These dock companies are on board with our Dock Builders Pledge. Please identify and use them. They have all agreed to legally and properly dispose of all those materials.
Lake Lanier residents should understand you are legally responsible for the proper disposal of derelict docks, boats, floats, and other related items. For your own protection, you should require whomever you hire to provide document proof all items have been properly disposed of. Should a company improperly handle your dock or items, the responsibility still comes back to the homeowner and puts your permit in jeopardy.
While the LLA has no enforcement authority over companies and individuals who abandon docks, floats, or vessels on the lake, by monitoring repair and removal activities, we hope to identify transgressors, remove them from our list, and report them to the proper authorities. Let’s work together to eliminate the abandoning of derelict docks and floats on Lake Lanier.
Last September, the LLA met with several of the Lake Lanier dock builders to strategize how to ensure a smooth and effective Shore Sweep. From this meeting, the ‘On-Lake Support,’ or Mobile Sites, idea became reality. This led to our most sucessful Shore Sweep yet! The LLA is excited about what we can accomplish together with this initative moving forward. Thank you to these dock builders for helping achieve a Clean Lake Lanier in more ways than ever before!
