Tag Archives: Russell Lake

Upper Savannah River reservoirs enter Drought Level 2

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The three reservoirs operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the upper Savannah River entered Drought Level 2 as of 6 a.m. Sept. 19, when the level of the J. Strom Thurmond Lake dipped to … Continue reading

Posted in Drought in the News, Flood Risk Management, Water Safety | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Richard B. Russell – not your average hydropower plant

(A version of this article originally appeared on this blog May 29, 2013.) The youngest of Savannah District’s three multipurpose dam and lake projects, Richard B. Russell Dam differs from Hartwell and Thurmond, not just size and appearance, but also … Continue reading

Posted in Flood Risk Management, Hydropower, Recreation, Water Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Rain is coming, but will it be enough?

If the first three days in August are any indication, things could be looking up for the Savannah River Basin. Last month, on the other hand, the only reason to look up was in a fit of frustration. Russell’s take … Continue reading

Posted in Rainfall Update, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , |

Upper Savannah reservoirs enter Drought Level 1

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The three reservoirs on the Savannah River operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entered the first drought level today when pool elevation at Thurmond Lake dipped below 326 feet above mean sea level (ft-msl). Entering … Continue reading

Posted in Declaration/Projection, Drought in the News, Drought Response, Studies, Water Quality/Water Supply | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Commander: Persistent, below normal rainfall expected to impact lake levels

Since I took command of the Savannah District in June 2015 we’ve been fortunate to have adequate, and sometimes abundant, rainfall and inflows to maintain full reservoir levels. Beginning in January we observed below-average rainfall throughout the basin, yet were … Continue reading

Posted in Declaration/Projection, Drought in the News, Drought Response, From the Commander, Studies, Water Management, Water Quality/Water Supply | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Dry conditions begin to emerge as inflows decrease

The last three months of 2015 brought with it a surge of precipitation that exceeded normal rainfall by more than 200 percent across the upper Savannah River Basin. At Thurmond in particular December rainfall approached 300 percent of normal, soaking … Continue reading

Posted in Declaration/Projection, Rainfall Update, Water Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , |

Corps responds to shoreline management concerns

As we expected, the original post last week generated significant attention here on the blog and through email directed to our office. Five issues seemed to stand out which I will address.

Posted in Recreation, Water Management | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Local weather systems in tune with fiscal calendar

The Savannah River Basin sputtered its way through September but somehow still landed close to par. This feat seems even more astonishing – if watching rain gauges can be considered astonishing – when you consider the entire basin collected more … Continue reading

Posted in Rainfall Update | Tagged , , , , , , , , , |

Lakes prepare for busy summer

As the temperatures rise and summer shifts into full gear, the recreation areas along the Savannah River Basin are, too.

Posted in Recreation, Water Safety | Tagged , , , , , , , |

April is the new March

I’m normally pretty humble, but it’s hard to believe I wasn’t at least partially responsible for April’s stellar rainfall numbers. Each of the sub-basins more than exceeded its average for the month, with Thurmond and Russell besting it by about … Continue reading

Posted in Rainfall Update | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , |