- the new proposal still incorporates dropping the lakes 4' for the winter. The reason given is to provide adequate flood protection for spring rains.
- the new proposal doesn't drop Thurmond releases to the minimum (3600cfs) until the lakes are down 2' first. Again the reason given is this provides slightly more flood protection than dropping to 3600cfs immediately.
Viewing this from the stand point of lake stake holders, we want the least possible drop in lake level during a drought so as to protect recreation infrastructure, real estate values, and attractiveness of our lakes for future growth. The same is true for dropping lake levels for the winter.
Viewing this from the stand point of the corps they want to improve drought performance but they also want to make sure they don't decrease flood protection at the same time.
Both can be accomplished if we change full pool to 2' below current levels (328 for Thurmond and 658 for Hartwell). This would mean the lakes would only be lowered 2' during the winter. This would also mean we could drop Thurmond release rates to 3600cfs when the lakes start down instead of waiting without affecting flood protection. In other words the lakes would finally get a reputation of excellent level control even during droughts. Whether the normal level is 2' below current values is not as important as keeping the level from changing and impacting docks, lake access, shore line appearance, dock placement, etc.
