Save Our Lakes Now Position on New Drought EA

The Corps of Engineers has issued an EA for comment concerning the drought control plan for Lakes Thurmond and Hartwell. The new proposal represents a definite improvement over the past drought plan but falls well short of the drought plan proposed by Save Our Lakes Now and other lake groups over a year ago. Comments are requested prior to May 12th and we recommend all stakeholders around the lakes send in their personal comments. The way the Corps' proposal compares to the one proposed by Save Our Lakes Now and other lake groups over a year ago is summarized below.

Save Our Lakes Now proposed that release rates from Lake Thurmond be reduced to 3600cfs whenever the lake levels drop 2ft below full pool. The basis for the 3600cfs figure is two fold. First it matches the annual rate of rainfall during the droughts of record which means the lakes would be able to withstand the drought of record regardless of how long it may go on. Second it matches the release rates demonstrated to be acceptable to all stakeholders downstream of Thurmond Dam during the drought of 2008.

The New Corps proposal waits until the lakes are down 4ft before starting reduced flows the same as in the past. The Corps proposal then decreases release rates 200cfs (compared to the current drought plan) at each trigger level. The different trigger levels are 4' below full pool, 6' below full pool and 14' below full pool. These rates, while a step in the right direction, only increase the resulting lake level 2ft in a year above the current drought plan (each 100 cfs in release rate represents 1ft of lake level in a year). For example we would have ended up in 2008 at 316' instead of 314'. While this is a definite improvement it is not nearly as good as holding the total drop to 8' the way our proposal does and it leaves us open to the possibility of totally destroying the lakes if the drought goes on longer than in 2008.

Additionally the EA proposes further reductions November through January of 200 cfs at trigger level 2 and 500 cfs at trigger level 3. The proposals from lake groups included a 500cfs drop below the 3600cfs release rate during winter months. So again while the Corps proposal is in the right direction it is not as good as what was proposed by the lake groups over a year ago.

One additonal proposal Save Our Lakes Now recommends for drought control is to completely stop releases from Thurmond dam anytime the river below the dams is swollen from rains during a drought.

The actual Corps publication on the proposed EA is at http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/reports.html .
Comments can be submitted via e-mail to:
CESAS-PD@usace.army.mil

The official comments from Save Our Lakes Now will be as follows:
We have reviewed the proposals in the draft EA on the Savannah River Basin Drought Plan and we see it as a definite improvement over the current drought plan. However we feel a more agressive approach should be used to maintain lake levels. We continue to recommend that the release rates from Thurmond Dam be reduced to 3600cfs whenever Lake Thurmond is below 328' until the lake refills. And we further recommend releases be reduced to 3100cfs during winter months anytime Lake Thurmond is below 328'. Furthermore we recommend releases from Thurmond Dam be completely stopped during a drought anytime the river is swollen from rains so as to maximize the rate the lakes regain normal levels.

NEW EA ON DROUGHT CONTROL COMING OUT

THE FOLLOWING EMAIL WAS SENT BY SAVE OUR LAKES NOW TO OUR CONGRESSIONAL AND GUBERNATORIAL CONTACTS CONCERNING THE UPCOMING EA BY THE CORPS ON IMPROVEMENTS TO DROUGHT CONTROL

As you are aware the Corps of Engineers is planning an EA on improving the drought plan for Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond. One thing everyone seems to have lost sight of is there is a direct relation between release rates and how low the lakes will go. Some say 4,000cfs at a certain trigger point, others say different rates but these figures represent political compromises rather than sound engineering decisions.

There are two very important numbers to keep in mind when looking at release rates:
The amount of water entering the Savannah River System in the drought of record was 3600cfs averaged over a full year and we seem to be hitting around that figure in all the droughts we are experiencing in the past few years
Every 100cfs change in release rate represents 1ft of lake level over a years time.
Basically every 100cfs above 3600 during a drought will cost us 1ft in lake level once we are in a drought. Hence going to 4,000cfs instead of 3600 means the lake will be 4 ft lower at the end of a year than it would be if we used 3600cfs once a drought starts.

We hope the Corps will use sound engineering principals instead of political compromises between the various agencies to control our lakes. We have talked with the various agencies including wildlife and fisheries and they all have assured us their imput is simply advisory and the real decision on flows rests with the Corps.

WORD OF THANKS DUE OUR CONGRESSMEN

I was looking at congressman Paul Broun's website and discovered that he and congressman Jeff Duncan are helping with our plight on lake levels. We've talked with them in the past and they are very aware of the need for better lake level control. It was excellent to see them actively getting involved. The details on their visit to Lake Hartwell on April 4 are presented in the following web site;
http://broun.house.gov/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=288932

Please let both of them know we appreciate their involvement and their help. The more our plight is visible to the public and the more we have help from congress and other public officials the quicker it will be solved. The Save Our Lakes Now website www.saveourlakesnow.com gives details on how to contact them or you can go to their respective web sites via googling their names and their sites will provide ways to contact each congressman.