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Lake Drawdowns Blasted: Reductions at Lake Murray for Events Downstream Further Lower Water

Posted on: Saturday, 20 May 2006, 06:02 CDT

By Tim Flach, The State, Columbia, S.C.

May 20--Some Lake Murray homeowners are challenging SCE&G's slight drops of already low water levels for charity fundraisers and other events this spring.

The Midlands-based utility lowered the lake two inches last weekend for a fundraiser on the Saluda River downstream, and a similar drop is planned June 5-6 for river rescue training, said SCE&G spokesman Eric Boomhower.

Every inch lost matters to homeowners unable to launch boats because the water is seven feet below normal -- the result of insufficient rain to replenish the lake after a drawdown for dam repairs four months ago.

"I don't agree with it," Sam Unangst, who lives near Chapin. "They're telling everyone else to tough it out."

South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. is "very conscious" of anger about low lake levels, Boomhower said. But the utility occasionally releases small amounts of water into the river for fundraisers and ecological studies.

"We're well aware of the concerns of those who live at the lake," Boomhower said, "but other folks also have a right to enjoy those waterways."

The Midlands-based utility usually releases water to generate electricity, particularly when demand for air conditioning in the summer is high.

Federal officials limit lake drawdowns to six inches daily, a maximum that records show are rarely met. And new state environmental standards, designed to prevent fish kills in the river, further inhibit significant hydropower production at the dam.

Still, homeowner, sports and environmental groups are pressing for more restrictions on water releases from the lake into the river. They also want advance public notice of all planned drawdowns.

Homeowners' frustration boiled over May 13, when water was released into the river to create rapids for a fundraiser for Canoeing for Kids, a nonprofit group aiding disadvantaged children.

That water release, which lowered the lake two inches, was the fourth -- but largest -- in the four months the lake has been lower than usual.

Jay Alley, director of the group, said he is sensitive to the disappointment of lakefront homeowners but never considered calling off the event.

"People on the lake need to be reminded this is a community resource," he said.

The fundraiser brought in $15,000, about a fifth of the group's annual budget. "It keeps us going," he said.

Joy Downs, executive director of the Lake Murray Association, said the event's timing was unfortunate but called the water loss minimal.

"The disappointment to the kids wouldn't be worth those few inches," she said.

Still, dried-up coves on the lake with no prospect of a quick fill up has some homeowners resigned to being drydocked all summer.

Unangst is making travel plans instead of looking for fun at home.

The lake needs to rise two feet to get his boat launched, but he calls that unlikely.

"I've given up. We just figure it isn't going to happen."

Reach Flach at (803) 771-8483.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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