- there's not a river anywhere that doesn't have widely varying flows so amount of water to the river is not a valid reason
- increasing the release rates to 4800cfs does nothing for dissolved oxygen to Augusta or in the harbor
- fish and wildlife do just fine at 3600cfs
- water supply to cities downstream is OK at 3600 cfs based on past experience
- water quality was never a problem at 3600 cfs in the past
- navigation and flood control are not effected
Based on these observations the only responsibility assigned the corps that may benefit is power production. But that is a non plus situation when you realize that SEPA can get power at the same cost from other lakes in the grid or at slightly elevated cost from other sources. Besides it is ridiculous to save a few pennies on power at the expense of huge costs to the people who built homes along side the lake for the purpose of recreation. It's just not fair for one group to suffer great losses for minor gains to another group.
Perhaps the greatest rationale against increasing releases to 1,200 cfs above the rates demonstrated to be safe in the past is the huge waste of fresh water. Everywhere else people seem to think conserving fresh water is extremely important. I've even seen waterless urinals (gee I think that was at the Corps headquarters at the Thurmond dam) designed to cut down on waste of fresh water. There are no urinals that can compare to the huge waste represented by 1,200cfs which equals 103,680,000 cubic foot a day. Ask the people of California what they think about this. Similar behavior by groups like the Savannah District Corps is what caused their recent water crisis.
As I have said earlier, the Colonel DOES NOT CONTROL GENERATION. The forces of money and anti-carbon footprint do.
ReplyDeleteSo I suggest again that you do some research on what the Colonel does control and in fact, must control - marking underwater obstructions that get shallower and extending boat ramps. Then keep pressure on for that.
Thanks for your work.
You are correct in that the Colonel is not the one in control. We spent several years visiting and talking with the various agencies that do and they hide behind each other. The only one we could not get to was the NOAA and only a congressman can touch them. There are two pressure points we can use. One is the Colonel who can ask for a revisit on his guidelines and the other is our congressmen. The congressmen have been too weak to effect a change. Some of the Colonels have tried but with only limited success. The ultimate answer is for our government to slim down or eliminate the EPA but even following that we will be talking a long time to correct unless either the Colonel or our Congressmen decide to help us.
ReplyDeleteYou are right on, BUT what about my recommended pressure to extend ramps and install shoal warnings? That is solely in Colonel's responsibility and authority. Peel the onion.
ReplyDeleteThanks
I will put that into a future blog. If for some reason I forget please remind me.
ReplyDelete