Extreme Drought
The South Carolina Drought Response Committee declared on Tuesday, August 5, 2008, Abbeville County is in an extreme drought. The committee, however, chose to encourage voluntary water conservation over mandatory restrictions.
Russell Shoreline Needs Volunteers
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources and its partner organizations were recently awarded a two-year grant totaling $34,476 to enhance fish habitat on Savannah River reservoirs. Members of the public are being asked to assist in this habitat development effort. Volunteers will work with government agency personnel in planting 2,500 water willow plants at pre-selected sites on Lake Russell on Saturday, June 21.
Volunteers should meet at the Elbert County Boat Ramp off Hwy 72 on the Georgia side of Lake Russell at 8:30 a.m. Take SC Highway 72 out of Calhoun Falls, Abbeville County, SC into Georgia. Watch for the boat landing signs about one mile on the right.
Call S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries biologist Gene Hayes at (864) 223-1307 or Jamie Sykes with Corps of Engineers at 1-800-944-7207 before June 18 for more information on the project or how you can volunteer. Volunteers should bring a shovel, a personal flotation device (PFD) and be prepared with waders or otherwise to get wet. Sunscreen, water and sunglasses are also highly recommended.
"An insufficient native aquatic plant seed bed in Lake Russell is considered the primary reason for the lack of abundant aquatic plants," says biologist Hayes.
The Russell sites have been selected based on topography, soil type, and identified lack of established emergent aquatic shoreline vegetation. A project goal is to attain at least a 450 square feet coverage area at each site. Twenty-five planting sites have been identified on both the South Carolina and Georgia side of Lake Russell.
Water willow (Justicia americana) is a native emergent wetland plant that grows in shallow, shoreline areas of lakes and rivers. It has been successfully established in other South Carolina reservoirs including, Lakes Marion and Moultrie, where it has expanded significantly beyond the initial colonies. Such vegetation provides habitat for a host of organisms both aquatic and terrestrial, as well as protection against shoreline erosion due to wave action. A number of sportfish, such as largemouth bass, bluegill and redear sunfish, benefit from vegetation providing cover and harboring food items.
This is particularly important for spawning and recruitment, because water willow provides excellent nursery habitat where juvenile fish can grow to sizes that allow them to compete for food in the more open water environments that are typical of Lake Russell.
A follow-up evaluation is planned during fall 2008 to assess plant survival and degree of area coverage over the life of the project.
Grant partners include Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia and South Carolina Bass Anglers Sportsman’s Society (B.A.S.S.) Federations, Lake Hartwell Association, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
DNR protects and manages South Carolina's natural resources by making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state's natural resources and its people.
Memorial Day, Summer Lake Safety
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials who manage Hartwell, Richard B. Russell, and J. Strom Thurmond Lakes urge visitors to be careful in and on the water during the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend and throughout the remainder of the summer recreation season.
All camping areas and picnic sites are open and Corps officials expect heavy Memorial Day weekend crowds at these areas. A number of boat ramps at Hartwell and J. Strom Thurmond lakes have been closed due to the low lake levels. Information on boat ramp closing/opening, current lake levels and projections, can be found at the Corps’ website at www.sas.usace.army.mil.
Information can also be obtained by calling the appropriate lake office: Hartwell Lake - 888-893-0678, Richard B. Russell Lake - 800-944-7207, J. Strom Thurmond Lake - 800-533- 3478.
“Memorial Day weekend is one of the busiest weekends on the lakes,” said Tanya Grant, Park Ranger at Hartwell Lake. “For many people, it is the first opportunity of the year to get the boat out of dry dock and onto the water. We urge boaters to check their boats carefully to make sure they are in good working order and check all safety equipment, especially life jackets, which may have been misplaced or damaged over the winter. It is also every boater’s responsibility to know and understand the state boating laws before getting out on the water.”
“Unfortunately, it is all too common for drownings to occur on area lakes, especially on holiday weekends,” Ranger Grant said. “We know that people are coming out to the lake to have fun and relax but they still need to think about safety”. Whether boating or spending the day picnicking and swimming in one of the many lakeside parks, if you plan on being in or near the water, the most important thing you should do is bring a life jacket for you and everyone in your family or group and wear it.
The most common causes for drowning on Corps lakes are overestimating one’s swimming ability and falling from the boat. Ranger Grant said, “Area lakes are not like backyard pools – water depths vary, drop-offs, holes, rocks and tree stumps may exist, and visibility into the water is limited. Plus you have the added factors of wind and wave action. Just because you and the kids can swim in a pool, doesn’t mean that you can swim well in a lake under these conditions.”
Don’t be tempted to swim across coves or out to an island, buoy, boat, or a raft or toy that has drifted away. Distances across water are difficult to estimate and are usually much further than they appear. Falls from boats are very dangerous but wearing a life jacket will significantly increase your chance of survival even if you are injured. The bottom line is be prepared by wearing your life jacket.
The majority of drownings happen quickly and silently; a child can drown in less than 20 seconds and an adult in less than a minute. It is estimated that 90 percent of drownings could have been prevented if the victims had been wearing a life jacket.
Low lake levels, due to the extended drought, continue in area lakes. There is still plenty of water for recreation but Corps officials urge everyone to use an extra degree of caution and common sense.
Memorial Day weekend visitors will find Hartwell Lake at 651.7 ft. below full pool, or 8 ¼ ft. down from guide curve. J. Strom Thurmond Lake is projected to be at 321.7 ft. below full pool, or 8.3 ft. down from guide curve. Richard B. Russell Lake will be at 473.7 ft. below full pool, or 1 ½ ft. down from guide curve.
Boaters and skiers are encouraged to stay within the marked navigational channels and to be on the lookout for exposed or barely submerged hazards such as shoals, rocks, and tree stumps as well as shallow areas. Park rangers periodically inspect the main channel and routes from public boat ramps to the main channel for hazards. New hazards found are marked with orange basketball-sized buoys. Hazards outside the main channel or routes from private ramps and docks to the main channel are not marked.
Swimmers are warned against swimming in unfamiliar areas because of hidden hazards such as stumps, holes and debris. Swimmers should never swim alone or in remote areas of the lakes. Water skiers should have a responsible driver and spotter, and should stick to marked channels, and be on the lookout for exposed or barely submerged hazards and shallows.
Visitors should use extreme caution when walking or wading along the shoreline or other low areas created by the present water conditions. Officials have seen an increase of people walking and wading out to areas such as shoals and islands. Walking to these areas can be hazardous - the lake bottom can be extremely slippery and hidden drop-offs or holes may be present. Also, water depth and the distance across water are often very deceiving, often being deeper and further than they appear.
For more information, contact the appropriate lake office: Hartwell Lake - 888-893-0678, Richard B. Russell Lake - 800-944-7207, J. Strom Thurmond Lake - 800-533-3478.
Arthur Hills to Design Golf Course at Sanctuary
Esteemed course architect Arthur Hills has been selected to design 18 holes here on the tranquil shores of Lake Russell, where the initial development phase of The Sanctuary at Lake Russell — a residential resort community in Abbeville County — is now underway.
Developed by Charlotte-based U.S. Land Investments, The Sanctuary is all about Lake Russell, the most beautiful of three inter-connected lakes located in the Piedmont region of Georgia and South Carolina. Formed by a late 20th century damning of the upper Savannah River, the shores of Lake Russell will soon be home to private homes, a semi-private golf club from the hand of Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, a marina, and the luxury of Calhoun Falls State Park (with its 25,000 acres of protected public land) right next door.
“The Sanctuary at Lake Russell is a different sort of second-home/retirement opportunity because, while it sits close to the populations centers of Atlanta, Charlotte, Greenville and Augusta, it’s a world away in terms of pace, lifestyle and environment,” said Stephen Rosenburgh, chairman of U.S. Land Investments. “The Lake is truly a wonder: 26,000 acres, 500 miles of shoreline, 176 feet deep, crystal clear and — because it’s a damned river — the water height never fluctuates more than 5 feet. The area all around our community is almost completely undeveloped for miles. We like to say that resident of The Sanctuary will have Calhoun Falls State Park for their backyard, Lake Russell for their swimming pool and neighbors of whitetail deer, eastern wild turkeys and more waterfowl than we have time to name.”
On May 3, the development launched its second sales event; the first sold 34 of 370 available home lots. For sales information, call 800-831-LAKE.
The Sanctuary at Lake Russell is a multi-phase development of considerable scope and ambition. This first phase will include 370 homes, pool club and pavilion, recreation fields and picnic areas, trail systems, marina and fishing piers (Russell renowned as one of the best fishing lakes in the Southeast). Phases II through V will include the semi-private golf course, resort hotel and second marina. The full master plan calls for no more than 2,000 residential real estate units.
“We’ve done a great deal of course design work across the Southeast, but we’ve never seen a piece of property quite like this one,” said Arthur Hills, partner and principal with Toledo, Ohio-based Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associations, designers of more than 200 courses worldwide including the Golf Club of Georgia, famed Palmetto Dunes on Hilton Head Island, and the new Club at Olde Stone, recently named by Golfweek magazine the top course in all of Kentucky.
Hills/Forrest is expert at fashioning golf courses in the context of luxury real estate communities, a priority at The Sanctuary. In 2007, Golf Connoisseur ranked three of the firm’s designs, including Fiddler’s Creek and Bonita Bay in Naples, Fla., among the nation’s top 40 real estate courses in the world. “We see that sort of potential at Lake Russell, which is why we’re involved,” Hills added. “The lake is exquisite, and its creation seemed to have been executed with great golf in mind.”
US Land Investments is the force behinds some of the region’s most successful residential developments; Legend Oaks Plantation in Summerville, S.C.; Starnes Crossing in Waxhaw, N.C.; Stonebridge in Mineral Springs, N.C.; and Grass Meadows in Charlotte, to name just a few. But The Sanctuary at Lake Russell is a departure not just in scope but, in Rosenburgh’s view, setting.
“It’s a unique place, a retreat — in large part because it’s a lake that, until 1984, wasn’t even here,” he says. “You can see and feel these untouched, pristine qualities the moment you stand there on the shore. It’s like living in a national park.
“Fact is, there simply aren’t too many places left like this one. It’s one of the many serendipities surrounding Lake Russell and this project. Here’s another one: The Army Corps of Engineers insisted on a 300-foot setback reserved for public use and recreation. Accordingly, our golf holes will sit in this buffer, lining the lake, and they will be stunning.”
Arthur Hills/Steve Forest and Associates is one of golf’s most active and respected practitioners of golf course design. Today the firm has more than 40 separate original design and renovation and projects underway in Mexico, Canada, the United States and Europe. Course raters can’t stop gushing about two of the firm’s new Swedish designs: iiHBiSand Golf Club, just more than a year old but already ranked by Golf Digest among the world’s Top 100 courses outside the United States (#82), and Hills Golf Club, named by Travel+Leisure Golf magazine among the top 10 courses to open worldwide in 2005. Both are strong candidates for the 2018 Ryder Cup Matches in Sweden. Closer to home, the Wolfdancer Course at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines near Austin, Texas — was named among GOLF Magazine’s “Top 10 New Courses You Can Play” for 2006.
Campground Cookoff Thanks
by Allen Stancil, Senior Ranger
Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area
Thanks to all that came to our Spring RV Show at Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area this past weekend. The weather could have been better, but we still had a great time. Jody's RV of Greenwood came and had RV's for people to tour. Jody also donated prizes for our campfire raffle. Thank you and your staff. I would like to thank the CF Market for donating the hotdogs and s'mores for our campfire. Everyone enjoyed them. Also, I'd like to thank the Sportsman for providing biscuits, hotdogs, and BBQ sandwiches. People are still talking about how good the food was. And a special that thanks to all the employees of the park that helped to make this event a success.
"Severe" Drought Continues
A severe drought continues for Calhoun Falls and many other South Carolina areas, according to the State Department of Natural Resources. The counties that remain in the severe category are Abbeville, Anderson, Chester, Cherokee, Greenville, Lancaster, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union, and York. The counties downgraded to moderate drought include Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Colleton, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenwood, Hampton, Kershaw, McCormick, Newberry, Orangeburg, and Saluda. Twenty other counties throughout the state were lowered to incipient drought status.
Campground Cookoff to be at CF State Park
Competitors from around the Southeast are invited to gather around the campfire for the first annual South Carolina Old 96 District Campground Cookoff to be held Sept. 19-21, 2008 at the Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area on Lake Russell.
The Old 96 District Tourism Commission, which markets the South Carolina counties of Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens and McCormick, has developed the event with support from the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
The winners will be crowned by three nationally known celebrity judges – Rick Browne from “Barbecue America” on PBS; Dotty Griffith, the former dining and food editor for 30 years at the Dallas Morning News, and Charles Mattocks, “The Poor Chef” seen on NBC affiliates and purveyor of spices in Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart stores.
Interested amateurs can enter one of three categories: appetizer, entrée or dessert. Each dish must be prepared from scratch and cooked over a campfire of charcoal or wood. Cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 and other in-kind donations from companies such as Camping World and Dodge Manufacturing will be awarded for first- through third-place winners. Applications are available online at www.campgroundcookoff.com and must be received by Aug. 15, 2008.
A minimum two-night stay at the Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area campsite is required for the entrants, and there will be many activities for the entrants, family and friends to attend, including a “ring of fire,” complimentary barbecue for the contestants, bluegrass band, displays from sponsors, and cooking demonstrations by the celebrity judges. Contestants must be 18 years of age or older and there can no more than three members to a cookoff team.
The award-winning recipes will be compiled into a cookbook available after the Campground Cookoff at the Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area and through the Old 96 District Tourism Commission Web site at www.sctravelold96.com.
To enter and view general rules visit www.campgroundcookoff.com or call toll-free at 1-866-354-0003. Reservations at Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area can be made by calling (864) 447-8267.
Elbert County Asks for Hearing Over South Carolina Dock Plan
By Gary Jones
The Elberton Star
Saying an application to construct floating docks on Lake Richard B. Russell “violates the original intent of pristine conditions” on the lake, Elbert County Administrator Bob Thomas has written a letter to the South Carolina Department of Commerce (SCDOC) asking for a public hearing in Elbert County or in Abbeville County, S.C., because of objections by property owners on the lake.
The application calls for floating docks “strategically placed in front of private property and as such will become private docks for the residents and homeowners of the development company,” Thomas wrote in a letter dated March 7 to the SCDOC.
The letter was sent prior to a March 10 deadline established by the Charleston (S.C.) District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for comment on the Lake Russell project in which the SCDOC has submitted the application to build floating boat docks in the Blue Hole Recreation Area.
The proposed docks are strategically located just off the shoreline on the South Carolina side next to a private gated-community development project.
The letter by three days precedes a March 10 letter to the Corps of Engineers from Hunton & Williams law firm in Atlanta, which is representing 14 businesses around the lake who “have interests along the shores of Lake Russell, in the form of businesses, real and personal property, and recreational use and enjoyment of the lake.”
According to documents submitted to the Corps of Engineers by the law firm, a company known as The Sanctuary (out of Charlotte, N.C.) is advertising that the 125 boat slips proposed in Lake Russell would be for the development’s “private exclusive use.”
This violates the Corps of Engineers intent for the lake to the body of water in a pristine state for recreational use, say the homeowners.
The interested parties in the Hunton & Williams law firm are Evergreen Resources, Beaverdam Marina, Vandiver Family Investment LP, Beaverdam Estates Homeowners Association, Savannah Bluff Homeowners Association, Allen Creek Homeowners Association, Horseshoe Pointe Homeowners Association, Wilson Creek Homeowners Association, Pickens Creek Homeowners Association, Newton’s Pointe Homeowners Association. Newton’s Landing Homeowners Association, Craft Ferry Homeowners Association, Patriots Pointe Homeowners Association and Coldwater Creek Homeowners Association.
Thomas said his letter is an effort to “level the playing field” for development at Lake Russell.
According to Thomas, if a private development is allowed to provide homeowners on the South Carolina side “exclusive private access” to those docks, then that precedent would create an environment in which all development would move to the South Carolina side.
“If that kind of development is going to be allowed then Georgia needs the same kind of development access,” said Thomas, who said he was asking the Corps of Engineers to enforce the same rules for both sides of Lake Russell.
Although a congressional mandate for a land swap through federal legislation made possible by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put the development on a fast track, the legislation didn’t allow the developers a pass on Corps of Engineers restrictions on the lake, according to the law firm’s letters.
Russell Dam in President's Budget
President George Bush's fiscal year 2009 Civil Works budget, released February 4, 2008, contains $61,021,000 for projects, studies and operations and maintenance in the Savannah District. The Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake project was included in the budget request for an additional $1.45 million for the continuation of environmental monitoring and the oversight of one remaining hydropower contract for the installation of the static start system to operate the pump back units inside the dam.
'Severe' Drought Status Maintained
The S.C. Drought Response Committee met Jan. 23 in Columbia and decided to maintain the drought status at "severe" for all South Carolina counties except Jasper and Beaufort, which will remain at moderate. While the committee recognized that precipitation has been above normal for the past 30 days, it has not been enough to return streamflows, ground water, and reservoirs to the moderate drought status. The Committee was also concerned because forecasters expect a return to below normal rainfall for February through April 2008.
Lake Russell Surviving Drought
While the lingering drought has dropped Hartwell and Thurmond lakes 10 feet or more, and closed many boat ramps, Lake Russell remains near full pool and all boats ramp remain open. According to the U.S. Corps of Engineers website, "Because Russell Lake has only five feet of conservation storage, it cannot be drawn down equally with the other lakes beyond 3 or 4 feet (this is why Russell Lake may appear fuller than Hartwell and Thurmond Lakes during a drought)." Drought Plan
Third District Designated USDA ‘Natural Disaster’
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 33 South Carolina counties as a primary natural disaster area due to drought and excessive heat. Congressman Gresham Barrett (SC, 03) sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of Agriculture encouraging him to grant a disaster declaration requested by Gov. Mark Sanford.
“A drought of this magnitude not only brings damage to the soil but can make or break family livelihoods for the next few generations,” said Congressman Barrett. “I am pleased that the drought designation will allow farmers in these areas to apply for much needed emergency loans so that, hopefully, this season’s loss will not affect next year’s productions.”
After reviewing the Damage Assessment Reports, the USDA determined the counties were a disaster area as there was “sufficient production losses in all 33 counties.” Included in the natural disaster designation are all 10 counties of Congressman Barrett’s Third Congressional District. These counties are Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick, Oconee, Pickens and Saluda.
This Secretarial disaster designation allows eligible farmers to be considered for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) as long as eligibility requirements are met.FSA will consider each application on its own merit by taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
Nearby Recreation Areas Closed
MT. CARMEL, SC - The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Thurmond Project Office recently announced the closing or partial closing of many recreation areas around Thurmond Lake.
The South Carolina campgrounds that closed in September 2007 include Hawe Creek and Mt. Carmel. Modoc campground remains open until November 30. Leroy’s Ferry campground remains open year round.
The Georgia campground closings in September included Broad River, Hester’s Ferry, Winfield and Ridge Road. The Georgia campgrounds that will remain open until October 31 include Big Hart and Raysville. Bussey Point, Clay Hill (sites 1-4 only) and Petersburg (sites 1-27) will remain open year round.
Day use area closings in September included Parksville in South Carolina. Clarks Hill Park, also located in South Carolina, will remain open throughout the winter. In Georgia, Gill Point, Cherokee, Amity, and Big Hart day use areas closed in September. Also in Georgia, only the Deer Run loop of Lakes Springs remains open, and only the small loop adjacent to the entrance of West Dam is open.
In all the closed or partially closed day use areas, boat ramps remain available to the public unless current low lake levels have made their use unsafe. For the latest information on boat ramp access, visit the Thurmond Lake website at www.sas.usace.army.mil/lakes/thurmond or call 1-800-533-3478 for current information on facilities and ramp closures.