We are witnessing an unbelievable demonstration of mismanagement of the Savannah River Basin. Not only is the Corps ignoring the impact of their actions on the economics of communities surrounding Lake Thurmond, they are also ignoring their charge to prevent flooding and the economic losses that result from flooding. Lake Thurmond has been devastated by dropping the lake level 6' in less than 2 weeks with no real reason to do so. This unbelievable waste of precious water and lake level can never be recovered. And there is nothing that required this be done in this time period. Not only has Lake Thurmond been devastated but Savannah is under a flood watch and stakeholders along the Savannah River South of the dam have been pleading to no avail for the Corps to stop these massive releases.
I have given you my assessment of what is happening. Below I present a chronology of events so you can decide for yourself what is happening.
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS:
10/29/09 - We went to a meeting of the Lake Hartwell Association in Anderson where General Semonite who heads Corps operations in the Southeast gave a talk on the status of the Savannah River Basin. We were all exuberant over the fact that the Lakes were finally recovering from the recent drought. Lake Thurmond had reached 328.56 ft msl (less than 2' from full pool) and was continuing to rise. At that meeting our hopes for beginning the long road to restoring confidence in Lake Level management were destroyed. General Semonite announced that they were going to drop Lake Thurmond 4'. The reasons given were 1) that they needed a 4' margin for safety for workers repairing the dam and 2) that the rule curve specifies a 4'drop in lake level during the winter anyway. The General also noted that the economics of the local communities around the lakes were not his responsibility.
10/30/09 - Save Our Lakes Now made a plea to the Corps to reconsider. We asked that the margin for safety be reevaluated to see if 2' would work instead of 4'. And we asked that the Corps reconsider the rule curve in light of the fact that there are 3 lakes now whereas the rule curve was put in place when Lake Thurmond was the only lake on the Savannah River. Save Our Lakes Now noted that the economics of the local communities around the lakes are a major concern for us and we do not agree that damages to the local economics by the actions of the Corps are excuseable. Such damages done knowingly are the responsibility of the Corps just as damages done by one's car are the responsibility of the owner of the car.
11/14/09 - Thanks to tropical storm Ida Lake Thurmond peaked at 332.47 ft msl (2.47' above full pool). The Corps immediately initiated releases in excess of 25,000cfs. The Corps reportedly was holding internal meetings to decide what levels to go to on Lake Thurmond. Shortly thereafter the Corps announced by way of press releases that a 2' drop from full pool will probably provide adequate safety for the dam repairs. The press releases however noted that they would still be dropping 4' to meet the rule curve for winter operations.
11/27/09 - In less than 2 weeks the Corps literally threw away over 6' of Lake Level ignoring our plea for changing the rule curve to preserve the economics of communities around Lake Thurmond. They use the excuse of being afraid of too much water in the lake from spring rains. This excuse is horribly weak however when you see the flooding that is occuring south of Lake Thurmond from these releases. Savannah is under flood warnings and stake holders downstream of the dam are screaming at the Corps to cease the massive releases.
SUMMARIZING:
These actions are not what you would expect from a professional engineering organization. Save Our Lakes Now is convinced that the management of the Corps is not only unreasonble but dangerous. It is unreasonable to throw away all this water just after a major drought and it is dangerous to do so with all the flooding being caused downstream. Additionally the Corps is being very irresponsible. They may not be charged with the economics of the lake surroundings but they are charged with flood control and its economics and they are ignoring both at the expense of all stakeholders along the Savannah River Basin South of Lake Russell.
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