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.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Just as we are finally nearing full pool in Lake Thurmond the Corps has announced that they need to drop the lake 4 feet to permit repairs to the Dam. These repairs are being done with stimulus money. This brings to a head the issues we've been talking about for over a year.
We've been pleading for a drought control plan that specifies release rates of 3600 cfs (3100 during the months of October to February) any time Lake Thurmond is 2' below full pool. And we've been asking the Corps to end the practice of dropping the lake level 4' for the winter.
The reasoning behind the release rate of 3600 (3100 during October to February) is to match the annual rain input during the worst drought of record. This would limit the swing in Lake Level over the year during a drought to less than 8' which avoids destroying upstream viability. So far as downstream affects, this release rate has been demonstrated to be acceptable for all downstream stakeholders. Furthermore this protects downstream interests from the catastrophic consequences of Lake Thurmond dropping to the bottom of it's conservation pool . Once the lake hits this level there is no longer a pool to operate from and river flows would vary with daily rainfalls.
The Corps is claiming they need to drop 4' for the safety of the personnel doing the repairs to the dam. Save Our Lakes members with experience in this area feel that the Corps should be able to modify their equipment to allow the work to be done safely with a 2' or less drop in level.
The Corps is assuming they need to continue the practice of dropping the lakes 4' in the winter to protect against flooding downstream if we get heavy winter rains. We've asked that they reassess this because we feel this amount of drop is not necessary to protect against downstream flooding because of numerous changes since the 4' rule curve was put into use.
The biggest challenge for upstream lake interests trying to get the Corps to make changes in the way they manage lake levels is there is no mechanism in place for proposing changes. And the Corps claims economic affects upstream of the dams are not their responsibility. We are totally at their mercy if they chose not to listen to our suggestions. The biggest thing in our favor is the number of people involved who have an interest in the lakes. A meeting of Save Our Lakes Now is planned for 7:00pm on Monday 10/16 at the Lincolnton Court House. By that time we should know whether the Corps is willing to modify their plans. If not we need to pull everone together to get the benefit of a large number of people speaking with one voice
We've been pleading for a drought control plan that specifies release rates of 3600 cfs (3100 during the months of October to February) any time Lake Thurmond is 2' below full pool. And we've been asking the Corps to end the practice of dropping the lake level 4' for the winter.
The reasoning behind the release rate of 3600 (3100 during October to February) is to match the annual rain input during the worst drought of record. This would limit the swing in Lake Level over the year during a drought to less than 8' which avoids destroying upstream viability. So far as downstream affects, this release rate has been demonstrated to be acceptable for all downstream stakeholders. Furthermore this protects downstream interests from the catastrophic consequences of Lake Thurmond dropping to the bottom of it's conservation pool . Once the lake hits this level there is no longer a pool to operate from and river flows would vary with daily rainfalls.
The Corps is claiming they need to drop 4' for the safety of the personnel doing the repairs to the dam. Save Our Lakes members with experience in this area feel that the Corps should be able to modify their equipment to allow the work to be done safely with a 2' or less drop in level.
The Corps is assuming they need to continue the practice of dropping the lakes 4' in the winter to protect against flooding downstream if we get heavy winter rains. We've asked that they reassess this because we feel this amount of drop is not necessary to protect against downstream flooding because of numerous changes since the 4' rule curve was put into use.
The biggest challenge for upstream lake interests trying to get the Corps to make changes in the way they manage lake levels is there is no mechanism in place for proposing changes. And the Corps claims economic affects upstream of the dams are not their responsibility. We are totally at their mercy if they chose not to listen to our suggestions. The biggest thing in our favor is the number of people involved who have an interest in the lakes. A meeting of Save Our Lakes Now is planned for 7:00pm on Monday 10/16 at the Lincolnton Court House. By that time we should know whether the Corps is willing to modify their plans. If not we need to pull everone together to get the benefit of a large number of people speaking with one voice
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