Just like a carpenters level, lake level is an accurate measure of where we are in a drought. But the Corps insists on ignoring that and using weird bases for release rates such as inflows from the Broad River. Something along the lines of when inflows from the Broad are less than 10% of normal they respond with certain release rates. Excuse my French but using this instead of lake level is the height of stupidity. When the lakes cannot be held at full pool we are in a drought or the effects of a drought and release rates need to be held to a minimum until the lakes refill.
The corps was guilty for years of using misleading information to justify their poor performance with drought management. Over the last 10 years we got rid of all those erroneous claims one by one. But now we are left with downright stubborn refusal to use common logic to minimize the damage to lake levels from droughts. Insisting on release rates of 4,000 and 3800 versus 3600 while in the middle of a drought has cost over a foot of lake level in the current drought. Refusing to restrict flows to 3600 immediately when lake levels can no longer be held at full pool has cost many more feet of lake level. And refusal to stop releases when the river downstream is flooding has cost still more loss of level.
If the Colonel were judged for his handling of Recreation during droughts in the same manner as a CEO handling profits during difficult times he would have been fired for incompetence years ago.
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