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Phillip Gentry

Record-low water levels on Lake Hartwell are causing concern to many area lake users. Fortunately, the Corps of Engineers is looking at options to extend existing boat ramps.

The lowest level ever recorded on Lake Hartwell was in 1981 at 642.4 feet above sea level. Subtracting from Hartwell’s normal elevation of 660 msl, that was a little over 17½ feet low. According to projections on the Corps of Engineers’ website, that record will be broken sometime next week. The drop in water levels on the entire Savannah Chain has left local and area residents with a lot of questions.

“The lake is dropping due to an ongoing drought,” said USACE Hartwell Project spokesperson Sandy Campbell. “Due to continued drought conditions and record low inflow, the reservoir system entered Drought Level 3 in mid-August.”

Hartwell is not maintained independently as a water body. Instead, the entire Savannah system, including Lakes Russell and Thurmond, are managed as a continuous unit. Because of environmental impacts and the reliance on the Savannah chain as a water source for cities and businesses all along its course, the Corps must maintain adequate water flow through the system to prevent salt water intrusion up the river from the coast. This intrusion would create havoc among fragile ecosystems inland, as well as leave many residents and businesses without freshwater.

This fact dispels a recent rumor about the operation of Lake Hartwell. The rumor is that once Hartwell reaches its record low, the lake will be lowered an additional 10-15 feet to give government agencies an opportunity to do maintenance on federal and state properties such as bridges or the dam itself. In truth, the Corps is doing all they can to preserve the remaining water they have while meeting the water flow requirements.

Currently, Lake Hartwell has more water reserve than either of its sister reservoirs, and as such, the contribution of water from Hartwell is being converted from an equal flow based on foot-to-foot drops with Thurmond, which is down to only three feet of reserve capacity, to a percentage of remaining reserve pool.

“At full pond, Hartwell has a 35-foot reserve pool while Thurmond has only 18 feet,” Campbell said. “With the level 3 situation, the owning states of Georgia and South Carolina have consented to allow us to reduce the flow of water through the system. Even so, we can’t reduce Thurmond on a foot-by-foot basis with Hartwell any longer, so we’re going to an equal percentage. In essence, this means Hartwell will pick up most of the flow requirements because one percent of its remaining 18 feet is more water than one percent of Thurmond’s remaining three feet of reserve pool.”

Intentionally lowering water levels would defeat the purpose of maintaining a continuous water flow. These reductions will continue until hopefully, spring rains will bring some relief to the system.

The encouraging news for lake users, such as fishermen, who are wondering if Hartwell will be accessible through the winter is that a large percentage of boat ramps won’t be unusable until the lake level reaches 638 feet – an additional 5 feet below current levels. But what then? What if the levels render these remaining ramps unusable?

“We’re looking at what we need to do if that happens,” said Kenneth Bedenbaugh, Facilities Manager for the Lake Hartwell Project. “Our options are to provide some temporary extensions to the longest ramps to get them back in the water. We’re also looking at making some permanent extensions to some of the shorter ramps that are already out of the water. If we extend these short ramps out, they will be usable now and in the future when in the past we’ve had to close them with just a few feet of drop in lake level.”

Got outdoor news or photos to share? E-mail Phillip Gentry at pgentry6@bellsouth.net