Recent Rainfall Helping to Raise Hartwell Lake Levels
All the rain we’ve been having the past couple of weeks has officials at the Corps of Engineers Savannah office hopeful the Upper Savannah River Basin will be out of drought status in time for the Memorial Day weekend.
As of Wednesday, Lake Hartwell remained remained some five feet below full pool and still in Drought Trigger Level 2 status.
Over the past week, our area has received about an inch and half of rain, and more rain is expected this weekend.
Corps Spokesman Billy Birdwell says that is helping to raise lake levels.
“The good news is that the soil is saturated,” he said. “And that means as rain storms come through we get a higher percentage of run-off and run-off is the key to making the reservoirs come up.”
Hartwell and Thurmond lakes are still struggling to recover from the severe drought of the summer and fall of 2016.
That has kept both lakes in Drought Trigger Level 2 status for months.
Birdwell said, however, both lakes could move into Drought Trigger Level 1 status if the rain we’ve been having continues.
“At some that will bring us up to Drought Level 1,” he explained. “But before we come out of Drought Level 2 discharge restrictions, both Hartwell and Thurmond reservoirs have to be above two feet above the Drought 2 level before we consider going back to Drought Level 1 operations.”
Some parts of Lake Hartwell have been as low as eight to ten feet below full pool this past year due to a lack of needed rainfall.
On Wednesday, Lake Hartwell’s lake level stood at 655.72 feet above mean sea level.
Guide curve for Hartwell is 657 ft msl, which means in order to go into Drought Trigger Level 1 status, the lake level would have to be close to that level.
So what does that mean for the upcoming spring/summer boating season on Lake Hartwell?
Birdwell said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration informed the Corps last week that they are predicting a 50-50 chance of a normal weather pattern this spring.
“NOAA is predicting equal chances of being above normal, below normal or normal; equal chances. That was their prediction last week, but that’s weather forcasting. All they’re doing is giving you their best estimate of what to expect. They make no guarantees on that because weather is too fickle,” Birdwell said.
Still, Birdwell said the Corps is looking forward to near normal lake levels by Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer season on Hartwell Lake.