TO THE EDITOR:

I would like to thank The Lincoln Journal for again drawing attention to the problem we have in Savannah River Basin.

The meeting reported on your front page, organized by the Friends of the Savannah River Basin, was a packed house. We expected 500 people and we had over 700, many from Lincoln County.

This lingering drought was predicted by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and positive steps to lessen the impact on Lake Thurmond were not taken early enough. Now it may be years before our lakes recover. Our challenge is to keep this from happening in the future.

I would also like to thank our elected Georgia officials for coming to the meeting to see how they can help. Senator Saxby Chambliss, Congressman Paul Broun sent members of their staff to see how the mandate that the Corps operates under needs to be modified to protect all those who depend on the river, both above the dams and below. A strong contingent of South Carolina elected officials were also at the meeting. We need help and cooperation on both sides of the river to fix this problem. The economic impact of low water is enormous.

One of the most recent examples of poor management was when we monitored the river flow below Thurmond Dam after the big rains that we had last week. Below the dam flows were well exceeding the amount needed for downstream obligations during and days after the rain event. But still they continued to release 3600cfs during a four to five day period that we can never get back.

There are other changes needed in the Corps operating procedures. We need the help of our federal elected officials to make those necessary changes. I again would like to thank our Legislators for taking the initiative to cross the river to help us, The Lincoln Journal, and all of you who attended.

CLAY ANTONAKOS