Murray to stay higher

[JABIII]

Posted on Thu, Apr. 26, 2007

Water to stay higher

LIFE AT LAKE MURRAY
By TIM FLACH - tflach@thestate.com

The water level at Lake Murray will remain higher, providing a big boost for boating year-round.

The change means many coves no longer will be too shallow for watercraft to sail in for up to six months a year.

Lake levels won’t fall more than four feet annually, half of the former drop, officials at South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. are telling waterfront groups.

In the past, lake levels were lowered as soon as July. Now, the water won’t get lower until after Labor Day.

The water was lowered to create electricity and to make room for winter rain.

Jim Landreth, executive at the Midlands-based utility that oversees operations of the 77-year-old, man-made lake, made the guarantees.

“We’re in good shape with that for many years to come,” he said.

The 47,500-acre lake is used to generate power minimally, he said. Its role now is as a backup in case of massive failure at other power plants.

Reduced reliance on hydropower means lake levels will remain higher.

The change benefits those who visit the lake, as well as those who live on it, by keeping more areas open to boating. An estimated 250,000 boaters use the lake annually, according to studies.

Waterfront groups have sought the change for a decade.

“We’re happy they’ve finally heard us,” said Dave Landis, president of the Lake Murray Association.

But some shoreline community leaders continue to press to limit the drop to two feet. Doing that, they say, will assure all coves are usable.

The change SCE&G adopted is “definitely a step in the right direction, but we still think a higher minimum is doable,” said Bertina Floyd, vice chairwoman of the Lake Murray Homeowners Coalition.

“It’s nice of them to throw out this carrot out, but it still leaves a lot of people out,” said Steve Bell of Lake Watch.

The two groups are asking federal officials to set a two-foot drop as the maximum allowed.

Landis also wants to clarify the conditions under which SCE&G could switch back to full-scale hydropower production.

“We want to define the parameters on that,” he said.

That question probably will be settled as part of a series of changes in lake operations to be proposed to federal officials by late 2008.

Reach Flach at (803) 771-8483.

[mirroman]

Do you think Mungo had any say so in this? And if so hopefully it will pass on down to Santee Cooper.

[JABIII]

Mirro, I think the Santee system is getting ready to see decades of low water. Here is why.

A. The SCE&G Wateree Station plant quit using river water to cool as of March. Forever. A large part of Duke Power's (Wateree Dam) releases was to make sure that the river stayed at a certain level so that Wateree Station had enough water to draw. They have gone to a self contained cooling system now and those flows are no longer needed.

B. The City of Charlotte is petitioning for a vast increase in water withdrawal and they will get it.

C. We just read that SCE&G is going to be keeping Murray full(er) from now on which means less outflow.

I posted on this last year and it is all coming together. I had hoped that Congaree Swamp Park would create a fuss about having more normal flows to keep the swamp healthy but it appears that they are happier to have more "swampland" DRY so that they have more visitors...

[mirroman]

So "they" are going to make a "dying" body of water even worse.
I wonder if The Beach Co. has enough pull or $'s to confront this issue. With all of the developing they are doing you know they want to be able to sell waterfront property and not views of stump fields.
So much for the stripers...

[jwilliams]

no. they can't compete w/ power co's....