General Semonite gave an excellent impression when he spoke to the Lake Hartwell Association in Anderson a month back. Everything he said and the way in which he handled himself with the audience indicated he was going to be great to work with and responsive to our needs. Hopeful that we will be able to communicate with the General on Drought Control for the Savannah River Basin we sent an email to him on December 13th about a very important policy matter. To date we have not received a reply. If this is an indication of the kind of cooperation we can expect from the Corps for the future we will have to ask Santa to set aside a lump of coal for the General.
A copy of our email to the general follows:
To: General Semonite
From: Save Our Lakes Now
At the Anderson meeting with the Lake Hartwell Association you stated that local economics was not a legitimate basis for managing the lakes because it was not one of the responsibilities specified by congress. This is in direct conflct with a precedent set by the Corps in '93 during a law suit over their control of Missouri lakes in a major drought. I have attached a copy of the GAO testimony given to the Senate on this subject that year. The pertinent testimony is highlighted in yellow.
Unless there is something we are missing here, this would add tremendous weight to our recommendation that Lake Thurmond releases be reduced to 3600cfs (3100 during October to February) anytime the lake is below 328'. Our recommendations are justifiable from simply keeping the lakes full enough to avoid endangering downstream needs. But increasing economic considerations to the same level as flood control, etc. mandates a plan such as ours to avoid dropping the lakes more than 8 ft in a major drought. Local economics are devastated anytime the lakes drop more than this.
With this email we renew our request for an immediate correction to the drought management plan for the Savannah River Basin to reflect the new knowledge gathered in the last drought. Namely the knowledge referred to is 1) that the average rain input during the worst droughts of record is 3600cfs, 2) that release rates of 3600cfs did not present any major problems for downstream stakeholders over a period in excess of 12 consecutive months and 3) that lake levels would not drop more than 8' during the worst drought on record if our plan were followed.
3 comments:
One year ago Lake Hartwell was 20 something feet below full pool and it easily appeared to be a natural disaster. The fact that the Army Corps appeared to do little until it was nearly a disaster speaks volumes about the need for an updated water managment plan that is more transparent to all stakeholders on the Savannah River system.I applaud any efforts to have all stakeholders become more aggressive with the management of this water system. Take a trip into the communities around the lakes in the Savannah system to see first hand evidence of a poor economy made even worse by poor water management.The Army Corps certainly has a local economic impact based on their water management actions regardless of their political mandates. Considering changes should be part of their mandate!!!
Kudos to you. Your letter is succinct and valid. I am disappointed to hear there has been no response however, and will gladly contribute a lump of coal. I agree with "Hope Floats" that transparency should be mandatory, but that seems like that has been purposefully dodged.
You wont get an answer because it would mean that these people in so called charge would have to admit responsibility and what is really going on.
How can the lakes be at uch low levels but flooding is at an all time high!
It is all mismanaged alright!
The raping and pillaging of mother nature has to stop yeterday. Bulldozing, dynamiting land, mountaintop removal, moving rubble and earth in to streams and creeks filling them in forcing water to seek levels where ever it can, abnormal run offs, flooding.
it time we all took a stand and the time is over due!
Post a Comment