The recent Balancing the Basin from the Corps discusses how deepening the Savannah Harbor may affect salinity levels in the lower reaches of the Savannah River. This write up includes a very ominous statement from the perspective of Lake Stake Holders. The statement involved is:
"This monitoring network will allow the Corps to make frequent assessments of river conditions and provide valuable, real-time data they can use to make adaptive management decisions. - See more at: http://balancingthebasin.armylive.dodlive.mil/2014/01/22/riverquality/#more-1392"
At first glance this is innocuous. But on further inspection the adaptive management decisions mentioned would almost certainly involve release rates from the lakes. If the Corps tries to dilute the incoming tides from the ocean with water from the Savannah River we will most certainly destroy the recreational infrastructure around the lakes. From an engineering perspective using river flows to dilute the ocean is as futile as using a garden hose to dilute the river. Unfortunately the decisions made in the past on lake releases seldom represent good engineering practice.
As we've stated many times before, balance to the basin can not be expected without strong representation of Lake Stakeholder interests at Corps meetings where release rates are discussed. If all you have at these meetings is groups trying to dilute salt water from tidal inflows with river water, the adaptive management decisions will always be to release more water from the lakes even if it destroys lake stakeholder interests.
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