Finally there is a glimmer of hope for forcing the Corps to manage the Savannah River Basin properly. SC DHEC and DNR are in the process of putting together a formal body of Savannah River Basin Stakeholders. This body should give stakeholders a voice that the Corps has to respond to. At present we can shout and holler all we want but unless the Corps wants to listen they can simply ignore what we say. At the formation meeting for this group it was refreshing to hear SC DNR ackowledge that the problems with lake level are not the amount of water coming into the basin but rather mismanagement of that water.
I've been following the drought problems on the Savannah River Basin for years. Looking at the droughts of the past 20 years it has become evident that there is plenty of water in the Savannah even during a drought to supply all stakeholders both upstream and downstream of Lake Thurmond. It has become equally evident that the drastic drops in lake level during the droughts is due to mismanagement by the Corps and totally uneccesary from the stand point of meeting any real downstream needs. Not only does mismanagement by the Corps cause havoc to the economics of lake communities but it also puts downstream interests in jeopardy of losing control of river flows.
Unfortunately the Corps adamantly refuses to acknowledge these facts. Furthermore they insist that economics and recreation can not be factored into their decisions on lake level management. We pointed out that the Corps was forced to consider economics and recreation in a Federal Court decision in 1993. This was done in emails in early December. To date the corps has refused to even discuss the matter.
In a nutshell our problem is lack of cooperation from the Corps. The problem is solved from the standpoint of coming up with a procedure that would work. But the Corps has tucked their head in a shell like a turtle and stubbornly refuses to even discuss the matter.
