Do you honestly think the Corps of Engineers cares about property owners at the lake? Just be thankful you are not in New Orleans where everyone witnessed their handy work.(or lack of it)
The fiasco we are witnessing with lake levels at Thurmond Lake shows a terrible lack of leadership matched only by the way Congress is handling the current energy crisis.
For some reason the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers thinks it acceptable for everyone with property at the lake to forfeit fortunes in real estate values so the city of Augusta doesn't have to apply engineering skills to obtain safe water supplies and dispose of waste safely. It's very much like Congress thinking it is better for the public to pay exorbitant prices for gas rather than apply engineering skills to modify our energy supplies.
Just as with the energy crisis, there are many alternatives to destroying the value and usability of the lake. Water quality for drinking and industry could be solved by taking the water from above the dam. Waste disposal could be solved using the techniques used by cities that don't have a river into which to pump waste.
There are other concerns such as the wildlife and shoreline saltwater incursions. But these concerns always have been there at time of drought. As long as the dam passes as much water as comes in from rain (this would keep the level constant), we've matched Mother Nature and not artificially damaged anything.
Why not set the bottom of Thurmond Lake (the level where only the water coming in from rainfall is allowed past the dam) at six feet below normal fill where the value and usability of the lake are still acceptable? At present, the Corps has that level set at 18 feet below normal fill, and both the value and usability of the lake are totally destroyed.
Jerry Clontz, Aiken, S.C.
Comments
Do you honestly think the Corps of Engineers cares about property owners at the lake? Just be thankful you are not in New Orleans where everyone witnessed their handy work.(or lack of it)
Isn't the dam there for hydroelectric production instead of making sure that the people who overpaid for land have a nice shoreline?
All the land owners and users go pee in the lake and see if it raises the water level or just causes an algae bloom. Does lake Hartwell have the same problem??
I was on the river yesterday morning and it was high. Apparently all the rainwater we accumulated over the weekend was run through the dam.
Thurmond lake is a multiuse lake. Recreation is one of the uses. Lack of rain and lack of good resource management a good part of the problem. Lakes managed by SCE&G and GA power are near full pool. Maybe it's time for the power companies to have a crack at it. Jerry is correct, what do the towns without river resources do?
Corp of Engineers sounds like an attempt to give more credit than is due. What have these people engineered other than a lake that the level can move from too full to too empty. But they really enjoy riding around getting on someone's case about cutting brush or trying to clear a view of the lake. Lake Sinclair is beautiful and they have docks all around the shore. People have built beautiful homes and they are maintained because they have water that is maintained. I guess this is why Clarks Hill is surrounded by mobile homes.
Mr. Clontz is selfish and narrow-minded. He wants the government to operate for the benefit of himself only and not try to balance the needs of all humankind.
All of you morons playing the wealthy-envy card are apparently too damned ignorant to know that the lake is there to use for ALL. Not to mention, not everyone who lives at the lake is "overpaid", TechLover. What a dumb friggin' statement. As for Hartwell and Russell, neither are being mismanaged like Clark's Hill.
"All of human kind," that's very touching but are we still on the same topic. Try to follow along: The majority of people could care less about property values at the lake and I'm one of them but doesn't it make sense the dam should pass only what is natural river flow and runoff from rain. When lake levels drop it is because they are pulling more than is being put in. That is why other lakes don't have this problem, even in a drought state.
Lake Hartwell was 10 foot plus low, Lake Russell is full, plus or minus a foot, because it has reverse turbines that pulls released water from below the dam back into the lake. This is water that use to flow into Clarks Hill. Clarks Hill has not been the same since Lake Russell was created. Too many lakes on one river system.
I hear mud-boggin is good at the lake. That should increase attendance from the South Augusta crowd.
Not only does Augusta use the river, but there are also property owners along the river, fishermen and boaters who depend on the outflow being kept at proper levels. They were there before the lake was built in many cases. Keep in mind the rights of those who live on the river when you start talking about limiting outflow. There are guidelines in place and they should be followed. Rain is eventually going to fill the lake back up.
How much water would be flowing down the river if the lakes were not there? I'm guessing that we would all be digging wells.
...until the brothas get wind of a new place to hang out and start bussin' caps on each other because they're wearing the wrong colors, Shivas. ...you know, while we're both being ignorant (Me just playing the part, you acting naturally). {sarcasm}
"How much water would be flowing down the river if the lakes weren't there?" Did someone really ask that? Heh.
The problem with the low levels is that the corp has to use more water to make the same electricity. This means that the levels drop faster. If they cut back on the flow, then they wont make as much electricity. They then are caught in a bind that they created. The power company lakes are full because they can generate more power with full pools.
Do we really need a power-generating dam on Clark's Hill when we have a nuclear power plant that's building another reactor right down the river?
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