Nothing! Betcha' thought I was going to jump on the train with those who like to rant on the CoE . . . didn't you? Well, sorry to disappoint. The Corps of Engineers are the favorite demon of those who live around Georgia's revered recreational lake, but they are not doing anything wrong. The lake is low because it simply has not rained.
The CoE is not purposefully lowering the lake in a hidden agenda to get us all riled up, build a superramp, or even to prepare for the flood of the masses of snow melt coming next Spring. As a matter of fact, they are not purposefully lowering the lake at all.
We may see them at night releasing water from the dam. The Lake Hartwell Dam forms the Savannah River. Lake Russell is the beginning of the Savannah River. The Savannah flows down to the ocean, on the way passing by many Georgia counties lying South / South East of Hartwell.
A certain amount of water needs to flow through the Savannah River at all times to carry the water out to the ocean - with a certain swiftness to dissipate and wash away pollutants without allowing them the opportunity to muck up the lovely shores of Georgia along the way.
Thus, it doesn't matter if it has been raining non-stop in Savannah; if it hasn't been raining in between here and Savannah, we still have to release enough water to assure the river doesn't become a dry river bed mired in commercial polution thick enough to kill all of the wildlife in various areas along the way.
Considering the potential outcome, I'm o.k. with sharing, even if it means having a little less lake to play in. We still have a lovely lake. So, lets try giving the CoE a break. I recommend this outlet for our frustration over the lake levels: Hope and pray for rain with all of your might! Shoot - if you feel the need, don't hesitate to pull out the rain dances or wash all of your cars by hand (that's always certain to bring rain!).
In the meantime, please try to conserve on the amount of water used. A lady recently complained her flowers wouldn't be pretty if she didn't use the lake to irrigate her beds. I sympathize, because I enjoy pretty flowers as well, but not at the price of loosing an entire river of wildlife and polluting another part of our state. Now - more than anytime in our recent history - we have to learn to share and think of others. All it takes is for every family to make one small contribution per day for conservation to make a large difference.
My recommendations to her: when you are warming the shower in the mornings, collect the water in watering pails, and hand water the flowers (or wash those cars I mentioned earlier). Small sacrifice to make, a little extra time, but our docks all stay in the water that much longer and her flowers continue to bloom. The desire to blame someone comes from a feeling of helplessness. But, we don't have to be completely helpless; waiting for someone else to help us. We can take positive action NOW to help our lake, ourselves, and our fellow Georgians. If enough of us do, we have worked together to make a difference. Wow! Wouldn't that be satisfying!!?? Conservation - Try It; You'll Like It!
