High flow in the lower Saluda (above)
Lake Murray Dam & Hydro-electric plant (right)
| Federal Relicensing of the
Lake Murray Hydro-electric Plant by Malcolm Leaphart
 |
A new federal license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the focus of a multi-year process for the South Carolina Electric and Gas (SCE&G) owned Lake Murray hydro-electric plant. With the importance of Lake Murray and the state designated 'wild & scenic' lower Saluda River below it, interest is high in how the hydro-electric plant is to be operated for the next 30 to 50 years, depending on the new license term. Because of the length of the term, the many 'stakeholders’ in the process, including Trout Unlimited, SC Wildlife Federation Lake Watch, SC Coastal Conservation League, American Rivers, Trout Unlimited, and state and federal resource agencies such as the SC Department of Natural Resources (DNR), SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, have been meeting regularly since 2005 to help SCE&G formulate the details of how the plant will be operated.
Key issues being discussed include:
1) operations guidelines
2) water quality
3) fisheries management
4) public access
5) shoreline and riverbank protection and access
6) safety
Resource Conservation Groups have been established for the major issues, and Technical Working Committees
have been in turn set up by those groups to help with gathering data, formulating surveys or studies, and developing a consensus of stakeholder recommendations. SCE&G will use the consensus views when drafting an operating plan to FERC that will make the final decisions on plan, including the term length for the new license which will go into effect in 2010. For more information, see the relicensing website at: http://www.saludahydrorelicense.com/ .
Of key concern to Trout Unlimited are the issues of fisheries management and public safety and recreational access points for the lower Saluda River below Lake Murray. Many of these issues have been discussed and recommendations have been developed over the past 20 years from a consensus built by the Lower Saluda Scenic River Advisory Council. That council is mandated by the legislation approved giving the lower Saluda state wild and scenic river status and is chaired by Bill Marshall of the SC DNR. Trout Unlimited has been represented by Malcolm Leaphart since the inception of the council and has been an active participant in working with the other interests represented to develop workable solutions for the many river issues. More information about the council, including recommendations published in 1990 in the Lower Saluda River Corridor Plan and revised through a public input process (‘Charrette’) in 2000, is available on the DNR website at: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/water/envaff/river/scenic/saluda.html .
Trout Unlimited has long advocated for improvements to the aquatic habitat to provide suitable water quality through higher dissolved oxygen levels in the fall months that would not impact fish as the low lethal levels released from the lake had for years. SCE&G has installed turbine venting and baffles as a good first step towards maintaining dissolved oxygen in the waters released into the lower Saluda. However, those solutions are only partial ones as they are not effective at higher flows. Experience from the TVA that has resulted in the healthy Tennessee tailrace trout fisheries has shown that additional measures such as oxygen injection are usually needed too. Also, 208 wastewater planning is a key community effort that impacts water quality and the dischargers to the lower Saluda have not been removed to regional lines as requested by DHEC; but, that is an issue outside of the relicensing.
And while year-round survivability is the needed first step in improving the aquatic habitat, the next step in this established coldwater fishery as the TU funded 1985 USGS study proved is to improve the physical habitat so that natural trout reproduction could occur. While hatchery trout would probably still be needed to augment any reproduction of trout because of fishing pressures and seasonal striper runs, making improvements to what is now a marginal trout fishery to allow some reproduction is the needed second step to developing the full potential of the lower Saluda as a trophy or ‘blue ribbon’ fishery.
Many tailrace trout fisheries around the country have had success by repairing eroded river banks, by building gravel collection points for spawning sites, and by improving channel depth in areas widened and shallowed by high flows. Arkansas is a leader in this with their extensive tailraces, including the world famous White River below Bull Shoals Lake. Funding for annual physical habitat projects is gotten from their trout stamp proceeds; and, information on their efforts and successes can provide guidance for similar projects on the lower Saluda River.
The large amount of water released in very short periods of time is another major issue as those high flows scour and degrade the aquatic habitat and result in an extremely dangerous situation for any river user. For example, over 18,000 cfs can be released at once to generate the full electrical capacity of the hydro within the 30 minutes required for regional generation requirements or other SCE&G system needs. That scenario produces a literal wall of water of several feet that roars downstream through a river corridor with a very limited warning system that does not cover most of the river – only the Zoo and Saluda Shoals areas. And the warning system is triggered by a rise in water levels recorded just upstream from each of the 3 sites now in place, instead of being triggered as the water is actually released at the dam. A new website has been created recently by SCE&G to provide some advance warning of releases at http://www.sceg.com/en/my-community/lower-saluda-river . The specific flow levels are not provided, only color ranges of up to 8,000 cfs, and there is always the caveat of large, unanticipated flows being released at any time --but at least the site is good beginning effort by SCE&G to try to provide the public with more information for a safer river trip.
Recreational access is also a key issue, especially for a river front trail up the ‘Irmo’ side of the river as strongly supported by the public at the 2000 DNR charrette. The River Alliance presently has plans that they are trying to secure funding for from local governments which would create a public park above Riverbanks Zoo that would include a trail to the I26 bridge. That is important as the critically needed access point above the Mill Race for safe river exits could be provided there. SCE&G owns property above I26 where additional public areas and an extension of the trail towards the dam could be run. Also, a boat ramp that would allow for safer upstream runs and also trailer access for paddle boats is another key need that should be seriously considered.
Meeting summaries are available on the SCE&G relicensing website. Also, information is also posted on the Saluda
River Trout Unlimited chapter website at www.saludatu.org such as the intial recommendations put into the relicensing records as initial comments to the process in August, 2005. Questions and comments can also be offered to either Mike Waddell or Malcolm Leaphart who are representing the chapter and the state TU council respectively.
Scenic lower Saluda River
below the Lake Murray Dam
--beautiful, but can turn deadly within minutes |  |
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