Heavy Rain Causes Hartwell Lake to Rise Well Above Full Pool

A month of heavy rainfall has raised Lake Hartwell’s level to two feet above full pool.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, Hartwell stood at 662.44 feet above mean sea level.

It had started the day at 662.22 msl, but with extra water flowing in from the Georgia Power reservoir lakes in Rabun County coupled with more rain, the Corps watched the level slowly rise throughout the day.

Corps spokesman Billy Birdlwell said however, opening the spillways is a last resort to bring water levels on Hartwell Lake down.

“The way we do this is we follow our water management manuel, which says we are to release water as much as possible through the turbines, even if it that means generating electricity at less than peak hours,” Birdwell explained. “So we can manage the water carefully that way and do controlled release that way and produce energy that is available to us. That is the main that we manage water levels.”

On Wednesday, Georgia Power made the decision to begin releasing water from their reservoir lakes in Rabun County because of localized flooding.

Birdwell said that could bring levels on Hartwell Lake up even more, which would prompt the Corps to change their plans about opening Hartwell Dam’s spillways.

“Any water coming downstream will impact the water level on Lake Hartwell,” he said. “So, when we get more water coming down then obviously the water level is going to go up. And that requires us to get into a very active management program. We manage it every day, but sometimes we have to make adjustments when we get more water coming downstream that we may or may not have expected.”

Lake Hartwell must reach five feet above full pool or 665 ft msl before the decision would be made to open the spillways in order to bring the lake level down.

Birdwell says the Savannah River office has been in constant contact with officials from Georgia Power and they are closely monitoring the situation.

“We are in constant contact with the power producers; Georgia Power on the Georgia side and Duke Energy on the South Carolina side,” Birdwell said. “So, we are not surprised whenever releases are made. They talk to us on a regular basis.”

According to Birdwell, even if the lake level does not reach 665 ft msl, there is enough excess water in the lake right now to perform a spillway test, which is done once or twice a year.

WNEG News will continue to follow this story and let you know if and when the decision is made to open the spillways at Hartwell Dam.