Survey and Evaluation of Archeological Resources in the Proposed Richard B. Russell Reservoir, Georgia and South Carolina

The proposed Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake Project on the Savannah River (U. S. Army Engineer District, Savannah, Georgia 1974) will entail the construction and operation of a multipurpose reservoir designed to 1) generate hydroelectric power, 2) furnish recreation facilities to the public, 3) foster area redevelopment, and 4) control floods. The project is located in the upper Piedmont physiographic province of Georgia and South Carolina. The Georgia portion of the project embraces areas in Elbert and Hart Counties, while Abbeville and Anderson Counties in South Carolina will be affected (Fig. 1).

The dam site is located about 16 miles southeast of Elberton, Georgia. It is 29.9 miles below Hartwell dam, 37.4 miles above Clark Hill Dam, and 275.1 river miles above the mouth of the Savannah River. At this site the river flows on bedrock at an elevation of 300 feet above mean sea level between steep valley walls that rise from the waters' edge 442 feet on the left bank and 441 feet on the right bank. Above these elevations, gentle slopes rise to the uplands, at elevations 500 feet to 520 feet on the downstream end of the project. Near Hartwell Dam, upstream, the fairly flat uplands are found at about elevation 600 feet.

The project area may be described in terms of six subareas: 1) the dam and spillway, 2) the reservoir, 3) operation and a&ninistrative facilities, 4) land to be acquired for access to the reservoir, generally 300 feet or less above the maximum power pool elevation, 5) highway and railroad route relocations, and 6) recreation areas above the guide acquisition line.

The dam, which is under design, is to be a gravity-type concrete structure with a length of 1,639 feet at a top elevation of 495 feet. The contrete structure includes a powerhouse with four 75,000 kilowatt units or a total of 300,000 kilowatts, and a spillway 599 feet long, equipped with 10 gates, each 50 feet wide and 44 feet high. The concrete.section will be connected to high ground on each side by rolled earth embankments approximately 4, 596 feet long, with a crest elevation of 495 feet. Total length of dam is 6,235 feet.

The Richard B. Russell Lake is to inundate 26,650 acres at maximum power pool elevation of 475 feet (approximately 11,750 acres in Elbert and Hart Counties, Georgia and 14,900 acres in Abbeville and Anderson Counties, South Carolina) and create about 546 miles of shoreline. The anticipated fluctuation in the elevation of the power pool is 5 feet. The total land requirements are about 59,260 acres; 52,260 acres are designed for lake operational requirements and 7,000 acres for public use. The total drainage area between the completed R. B. Russell and Hartwell Dams will be 812 square miles. The lake (Fig. 1) will be roughly trident shaped. The northwestern prong will comprise inundated portions of the Savannah's major Georgia tributary, Beaver Dam Creek. The northeastern prong will be formed by the flooding of the Rocky River in South Carolina. Half of the Richard B. Russell project's drainage area is in the Rocky River and Beaver Dam Creek basins. Other larger tributaries of the Savannah on the Georgia side of the project area, in order northward from Beaver Dam Creek, are Van Creek, Coldeater Creek, and Cedar Creek. Upstream of the Rocky River in South Carolina, some of the larger tributaries are Allen Creek, Little Genrostee Creek, and Big Genrostee Creek.

Facilities for the operation and administration of the completed darn are to be located adjacent to the dam on the west side of the lake.

As of the current writing, the proj ectied guide acquisition line extends 300 horizontal feet above the maximum power pool contour at 475' above mean sea level, except where extreme irregularities of the contour prompt the inclusion of narrow-necked promontories.

Detailed plans for the relocation of roads and railroad routes have not been finalized, but several primary and secondary roads will be affected. Georgia and South Carolina Highway 72 between Elberton, Georgia and Calhoun Falls, South Carolina, is to be raised in its present location and will be only highway crossing the lake's main body. The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad currently crosses both the Savannah River and Beaver Dam Creek, while the Atlantic Coast Line route crosses the Rocky River below Lowndesville.

As planned .Sit the time of the survey, 27 recreational areas comprising over 7000 acres were to be set aside for public use. Five marinas, 10 public parks, and 12 public access areas are planned. Each state chose one of the large areas for development as a park complex. The South Carolina area is located at the confluence of the Rocky and Savarmah Rivers and contains over 2000 acres above the acquisition line. Construction of rest rooms, access roads, and other recreationally oriented structures li.Lll occur within these recreation areas, but the detailed plans for development are not yet available.

Land use patterns would obviously be drastically affected by the completion of the Russell Darn and Lake. Currently, about 90% of the project area is in woodland. Roughly half of this is in hardwoods, about one-fourth is in pine-hardwood, and one-fourth in pine. About 6% of the total is improved sites, croplands, and pasture with 5% of the improved land in the upland sector and just 1% in the bottoms. The riverbed itself takes up to 4% of the project area.