Irma Didn’t Bring Rain For Reservoirs

Hurricane Irma did not have as much of an effect on raising the level of Lake Hartwell as hoped.

Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District had hoped the Hartwell, Russell, and Thurmond Reservoirs would get an extra five to seven inches of rain from Irma as it passed over the Upper Savannah River Basin, but that was not to be.

Irma dropped up to three inches of rain overall across the Lake Hartwell region last week and Corps spokesman Billy Birdwell says what rain did fall, has not yet made its way into the reservoirs.

As of Monday, Hartwell Lake stood at 652 feet mean sea level – still about eight feet below full pool leaving the reservoir still stuck in Drought Trigger Level 2.

But despite not getting the extra rain from Irma, Birdwell said we have been experiencing near normal rainfall for most of the summer – unlike this time last year.

However, he says there’s still a lot of catching up to do.

Birdwell says as we head into the winter months, the Corps is expecting average rainfall through November.

December is normally the wettest month of the year, but Birdwell said it’s too soon to tell if we can expect enough rain to bring Lake Hartwell out of drought status.