CLEMSON — The Georgia counties of Hart, Stephens and Franklin and the South Carolina counties of Anderson, Oconee and Pickens want to know just how much they’re hurting in the wallets from Lake Hartwell’s low lake levels.

In a collaboration among the counties, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Clemson’s Strom Thurmond Institute a study has been scheduled for early 2009 to examine the impact Hartwell’s levels have on local economies.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District commander Col. Edwards J. Kertis signed off on the agreement Tuesday. The study is projected to cost $211,522.

“Anderson County is acting as the executive agent,” Billy Birdwell, of the Corps said. “The counties are funneling money into Anderson, and then they’re taking care of the local side of the funding and dealing directly with us.”

The study involves a 50-percent federal match, which means the six counties will have to cover the cost of roughly $100,000, which will be split according to length of shoreline each county has on Hartwell, Birdwell explained.

Engineers made the decision in November to cut downstream outflow from Hartwell into the rest of the Savannah River Basin from 3,600 cubic feet per second to 3,100. That, combined with recent rains, has raised the lake’s elevation by more than two feet since Dec. 9.

“We never thought we’d see it. We never thought the lake would go this far down,” Jane Davis of Big Water Marina in Starr told The Associated Press. “Everyone needs water, but Hartwell has finally given more water than it can take.”

The study is expected to last 12 months and begins in February.

“This is something that kind of developed over several months,” Birdwell said. “I don’t know if any one county initiated contact with the others, but they all approached the Corps together with the idea for this study.”

Hartwell, which sits far away from any bustling metropolitan area, continues to become a physical manifestation to many of the extreme drought blistering Upstate South Carolina. Some say it has been ignored.

“There’s a feeling that the lake has been forgotten, in part because it’s not near a major metropolitan center,” Jan Brown of Anderson told the AP. “And in part because it’s divided by two state with varied interests.”

The National Weather Service reports that the Upstate has fallen well short of its average annual 47 inches. That deficit is coupled with last year’s mere 25 inches of precipitation. The South Carolina Drought Response Committee has Oconee and Pickens counties listed in “extreme,” or the worst category of drought.

Birdwell said he’s hopeful the study can help determine what economic problems the drought and subsequent low lake levels may cause, which can lead to the formulation of solutions.

“It’s good that we have Clemson’s involvement in this,” Birdwell said. “The Strom Thurmond Institute is a known expert in these kinds of studies, and it is also a neutral third party.”