CORPS IS DEMONSTRATING SOLUTION TO OUR LAKE LEVEL PROBLEMS

If you read the recent balancing the basin publications, one major difference stands out from the way the Corps has been operating the lakes.  Now the Corps states emphatically that release rates will be changed as necessary to maintain proper lake levels.  This is in stark contrast to the statements the Corps has been using during the droughts that plagued us over the past 10 years.

What I hear the Corps saying during a drought is they have no latitude on release rates.  They have to hold to a drought plan that allows the lakes to drop over 10ft before they get serious about trying to hold lake levels. I find it inconceivable that they have full latitude when the lakes are high and none when the lakes are low.

When I look at the list of items the Corps is responsible for concerning the Savannah River Basin it seems to me that all of them can be satisfied without the lakes dropping more than 8 to 10ft in a drought matching the one that occurred in 2008. If the Corps will use the same logic in a drought they are currently using in flood conditions while at the same time following the limits on flow rates dictated by environmental concerns, they should be able to hold levels within 8ft of full pool while satisfying all their responsibilities. All the changes required have been adequately demonstrated to be safe from the experience gained in recent droughts and the current flood situation.

At the risk of being too technical all the Corps would need to do is vary release rates to hold lake levels within 5 foot above full pool / 8 foot below full pool as necessary without exceeding the following limits:

1. To stay within demonstrated safe range for minimum down stream flows observe a limit of 3600cfs from Thurmond during drought conditions.  This release rate has been demonstrated repeatedly during recent droughts with no unacceptable environmental impact.
2. To avoid downstream flooding, drop the lake levels as practiced now in October but only drop the lakes 2' instead of 4'.  The recent flooding situation demonstrated that a 2' drop is sufficient in a 100yr rain event.

The current drought plan does not protect recreation during droughts.  The reason is the Corps makes no effort to maintain lake levels until recreation is being destroyed during droughts.  The primary difference in what I am recommending and what has been done in the past is to simply hold lake levels in droughts the same as during flood conditions.