Savannah River Basin in Drought Level Status

Lake Hartwell’s lake level is on the rise, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District still has the Savannah River Basin in Drought Level status. 

Corps Spokesman Billy Birdwell said the lake is still in Drought Trigger Level Two and will remain there until we get more rain. 

As of Tuesday, Hartwell Lake’s level was 652.3 feet mean sea level, some eight feet below full pool of 660 ft msl.

To come out of drought trigger level two, the lake would have to rise to 654 feet msl and at the same time, Thurmond lake would have to rise two feet to 324 ft msl.

As of March, the Corps reported the entire Basin was still far under normal levels for this time of year due to below normal rainfall for the year.  

Thurmond’s rainfall deficit was most pronounced in March, at 62 percent of normal for the month and Hartwell Lake was 70 percent of normal. 

However, Birdwell said the recent rains last month and this week are helping to bring both Hartwell and Thurmond levels up.

Still, Birdwell said while that is good news, it is doubtful the lake will be back to full pool by Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer boating season.

Birdwell reminds everyone who goes out on to the lake to use extra caution when boating or swimming because trees and sand bars normally well below the surface are closer now and that can cause hazardous conditions for boaters as well as swimmers. 

And he said always remember to wear your life jacket when on the water.