It is no secret that Lake Russell is one of the finest
fishing lakes in the Southeast, offering both cold and warm water
fisheries, but did you know that Lake Russell is one of many projects of
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers? To tell its story, let us go back to
the beginning.
The
Corps carries on a proud heritage that began on June 16, 1775. On that
day the Continental Congress established the Army. And Lieutenant
General George Washington appointed Colonel Richard Gridley as the Chief
of Engineers of the Continental Army. That same day, Gridley began
construction of a fortification near Boston to protect American soldiers
at the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was to take place the next day. This
was the first of many fortifications the Corps built during the American
Revolutionary War, but in 1783, like most of the Continental Army, the
Corps of Engineers were disbanded after the War.
In 1802,
President Jefferson recognized a need for a continuous national
engineering capability. In response to this, the Congress provided for a
Corps of Engineers to be stationed at West Point, where the U.S. Military
Academy was established for and by the Corps. This constituted the
nation’s first military academy as well as the first engineering school.
It was under the direction of the Corps of Engineers until after the
Civil War when in 1866, it was transferred to the War Department. Even
though it is no longer responsible for the Military Academy, the Corps’
tradition of military and civil works missions continue to this day.
By 1824
the Corps’ duties began to expand. In addition to its role in wars and
national defense, the Corps was authorized to plan a national
transportation system of roads and canals, improve harbors, and clear
major rivers as the nation expanded westward. Normally you wouldn’t
associate outdoor recreation with an organization like the Corps of
Engineers.
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The
conservation movement of the early twentieth century prompted
multipurpose planning for the Nation’s resources. As a result, in 1909,
Congress directed the Corps to consider the potential for hydroelectric
power generation in all its navigational projects. In the meantime, the
recurring and devastating floods in the Mississippi River Valley and
other areas of the United States led to passage of several Flood Control
Acts. These acts recognized flood control as a proper activity of the
federal government and were responsible for expanding the Corps’ civil
works responsibilities. By 1936 the Corps had been authorized to build
levees, dams and reservoirs across the entire Nation for flood control.
In 1944 the Corps was authorized to construct multipurpose dams and
where there is a dam there is a lake. These dams provided not only flood
control, but irrigation, navigation, water supply, hydroelectric power,
and eventually recreational areas.
With 80
percent of its lakes located within 50 miles of a major metropolitan
area, the Corps has become the leading federal provider of water based
recreation in the Nation. The Corps directly operates and maintains more
than 2500 recreation areas at 463 projects. Another 1800 sites are
leased to other federal agencies, state agencies, local park and
recreation authorities, or private interests. Altogether these
recreation areas attract approximately 414 million visits each year. It
is estimated that one in ten Americans visits a Corps’ project at least
once a year.
In
response to the environmental movement in the 1970s, the Corps has since
developed and refined new solutions and approaches to energy
conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the environment to
minimize possible environmental damage. Today the Corps carries out an
active environmental and natural resource management program at its
projects, managing thousands of square miles as forest and wildlife
habitat, monitoring water quality at its dams, and developing new
habitat to replace past environmental losses. In doing so, the Corps
serves as custodian to 12 million acres of land and water. Recreation
opportunities are therefore managed to promote the responsible use of
public lands with a minimum impact on the environment while offering a
wide range of opportunities and facilities for outdoor recreation.
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Richard
B. Russell Dam and Lake is a multipurpose project constructed under the
supervision of the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It
was authorized for construction by the 1966 Flood Control Act as
Trotters Shoals Lake. It was later renamed to commemorate the late
senator from Georgia, Richard B. Russell.
The
Russell Project is one of three inter-connected dams and lakes located
in the Piedmont region of Georgia and South Carolina on the upper
Savannah River. The first project, J. Strom Thurmond Dam and Lake was
completed in 1954. Hartwell Dam and Lake was the second and was
completed in 1962. Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake was the last of the
three projects constructed on the Savannah River. Permanent filling of
Lake Russell began in October 1983 and it reached full pool in December
1984.
Together,
the three projects form a scenic chain of lakes 120 miles long on the
Georgia/South Carolina state border. To make the most complete use of
the Savannah River Basin’s water resources, the lakes are managed as a
multipurpose integrated system. The three projects share the
congressionally authorized purposes of power production, incidental
flood control, recreation, additional stream flow regulation, water
supply, and fish and wildlife management including the preservation of
regional endangered and threatened plant and animal species. Thurmond
and Hartwell were authorized with the additional purpose of downstream
navigation. Lake Russell is not designed to store enough water to
supplement downstream navigation and essentially just passes water from
Hartwell Lake through to Thurmond Lake.
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Private
shoreline use may be permitted on Thurmond and Hartwell Lakes, but
Federal regulations prohibit private use of public lands surrounding
Lake Russell. Because of this, Lake Russell offers a quieter recreation
experience in a pristine environment. This experience has been described
as being similar to fishing on a remote Canadian lake while being
surrounded by civilization. The experience goes beyond just fishing –
visitors enjoy the beautiful scenery as well as the abundant wildlife.
At
Russell Lake, almost all recreation areas are leased to and operated and
maintained by either Georgia or South Carolina. The project has two Corps-operated recreation areas; Russell Dam Overlook
and Below Dam Fishing area; as well as an informative visitor centers at the
Project Management Office. In addition the
project has 21 state-operated recreation areas (8 in Georgia and 13 in
South Carolina); 1 locally-operated recreation area; and 1 Marina lease.
The project also includes about 600 prehistoric and historic sites
ranging in age from the end of the last Ice Age to the early 20th
century – some of which are now under water, but many of which can be
visited. In all, the Richard B. Russell Lake and Dam has more than 1.1
million visitors per year enjoying a wide variety of recreational
activities including water sports, hunting, hiking, picnicking, camping,
and fishing.
With a 300-foot collar of public land around Russell Lake, most
development on adjacent private property is not visible on the lake.
This coupled with the prohibition against private shoreline development,
has resulted in Russell having a pristine shoreline that provides
abundant wildlife habitat
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Did You
Know?
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The Russell Project is
located in the Piedmont region of Georgia and South Carolina on the
upper Savannah River, 30 miles downstream from Hartwell Dam and 37
miles upstream from J. Strom Thurmond Dam. (Georgia counties – Hart
and Elbert Counties; South Carolina counties – Anderson and Abbeville
counties).
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The Savannah River
begins 7.1 miles above the Hartwell Dam and is approximately 315 miles
long. The river ends in the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah, Georgia)
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Richard B. Russell Dam
and Lake was authorized for construction by the 1966 Flood Control Act
as Trotters Shoals Lake and was later renamed to commemorate a late
senator from Georgia, Richard B. Russell.
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The Russell Project was
authorized for power production, incidental flood control, recreation,
additional stream flow regulation, water supply, and fish and wildlife
management.
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The three Corps managed
lakes on the Savannah River – Hartwell, Richard B. Russell, and J.
Strom Thurmond – are responsible for maintaining water supply and
water quality needs of the Savannah River from below Thurmond Dam all
the way to Savannah, Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean
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Construction of the
Russell Project by the Corps’ Savannah District was initiated in 1974.
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Impoundment of the lake
began in October 1983. The lake reached its full pool elevation of 475
feet in December 1984.
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The first generator in
the power plant went on-line in January 1985.
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The Russell Power plant
is a “peaking power plant” – this means that power is not constantly
generated. Instead, power is generated at times when electricity is in
the greatest demand.
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The power plant contains
eight 140,000 horsepower turbines (this is equal to nearly 1000 family
cars!). The eight penstocks that carry the water that drives the
turbines are 26 feet in diameter.
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The average yearly
generation from the Russell Power plant is 465,500,000 million
Kilowatt hours.
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The power produced at
the Russell power plant is sold through the Southeastern Power
Administration to power companies located in Alabama, Georgia, South
Carolina, and North Carolina.
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Lake Russell contains
26,650 acres of water and 540 miles of shoreline and 26,500 acres of
public land surrounds the lake.
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The concrete section of
the Russell Dam is built of more than 1,100,000 cubic yards of
concrete, and the earthen embankment contains 3,350,036 cubic yards of
dirt.
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The average lake
elevation is 475 ft. mean sea level (msl), and the flood pool is set at
480 ft. msl.
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The depth of the lake
behind the dam is approximately 165 feet.
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The height of the dam is
210 feet and the earthen embankment is 195 feet high.
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There are three storage
zones of the lakes: conservation, flood control, and inactive.
Conservation storage refers to the amount of water that can be used to
meet the lakes authorized purposes. If a lake exceeds the conservation
storage, it is in the flood control zone. Runoff from storms is
temporarily stored in this zone and then released after the storm at a
non-damaging rate. Below the conservation storage zone is the inactive
storage zone. At Corps dams, water cannot be released from this zone
through the turbines.
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Lake levels at Hartwell
and Thurmond often fluctuate more than at Russell, leading people to
believe Russell is always full.
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Since Russell Dam was
designed after the other two lakes had satisfied the conservation
storage needs on the Savannah River it was designed to operate
efficiently by minimizing the drawdown of the lake. Therefore, Russell
lake levels are always maintained within 5 feet of full pool whereas
Hartwell has 35 feet of conservation storage and Thurmond has 18 feet.
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Private shoreline use
may be permitted on Thurmond and Hartwell Lakes but is prohibited on
lakes built after December 13, 1974 like Lake Russell.
