SPEAKING TO THE CORPS' EMPTY CHAIR

Someone at the Army Corps of Engineers is the decision maker for the Savannah River Basin.  This blog is directed at the empty chair normally occupied by that person.

Sir you need to come to grips with the fact that the Savannah River Basin has evolved to a much different rainfall situation since the turn of the century.  It is time to recognize that fact and make large enough changes to the way water is balanced through the system to prevent the destruction of lake interests.  Our calculations show that the drought plan recommended by the various lake organizations when Ed Kertis was here would have corrected our current situation.  Lake Thurmond and Lake Hartwell would be within 3 foot of full pool instead of 12 foot down. And the various downstream responsibilities assigned the Corps would be in balance. Instead the lakes look horrible, recreation has been greatly impacted, and all this is without any real benefits downstream.

We know that the environmental arguments against reduced releases from Lake Thurmond sound good.  We understand that the reasoning is well intentioned.  But as you know the road to destruction is paved with good intentions.  We ask that you take charge and balance the system using the engineering data and lessons learned in the drought of 2008 instead of waiting on further studies.  Future studies are fine but they should not be used as an excuse to delay achieving balance between all the various interests you are in charge of.  We already know how to achieve a good balance for all lake parameters by holding releases to the amount of water nature supplies averaged over the year.  We've got to adhear to the limits placed on the system by the amount of rain provided by nature rather than compromising with the well intentioned requests from the various environmental groups.

We are totally dependant on you.   No one else is in a position to do this.  So far as fears from the environmental groups that problems could occur with these changes, you are in a position to drive home the fact that the changes can be reversed at any time should a real problem (not an imagined problem) be encountered.

I know you think we are being unreasonable and should just calm down and leave all this to the scientists and engineers associated with maintaining the Savannah River Basin.  But sir our scientists and engineers looking at the same data do not agree with the way you are operating the Savannah River Basin.  If we were destroying your homes and communities the way you are destroying ours you would be upset as well.