The Report of the Intensive Survey of the Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake, Savannah River, 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 water's edge to 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 600 feet. The project area may be described in terms of six subareas: 1) the dam and spillway; 2) the reservoir; 3) operation and administrative 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 concrete 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 the 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, Beaverdam 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 Beaverdam Creek basins. Other large tributaries of the Savannah on the Georgia side of the project area, in order northward from Beaverdam Creek, are Van Creek , Coldwater Creek. and Cedar Creek. Upstream of the Rocky River in South Carolina, some of the larger tributary es are Allen Creek, Little Generostee Creek, and Big Generostee Creek. Facilities for the operation and administration of the completed dam are to be located adjacent to the dam on the west side of the lake. As of the current writing, the projected guide acquisition line will extend 300 horizontal feet above the maximum power pool contour at 375 feet 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 the only highway crossing the lake's main body. The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad currently crosses both the Savannah River and Beaverdam Creek, while the Atlantic Coast Line route crosses the Rocky River below Lowndesville. As planned at the time of the survey, 27 recreational areas comprising 7000 acres were to be set aside for public use (Fig. 1). 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 Savannah Rivers and contains 2,137 acres above the acquisition line. The Georgia area is composed of the two peninsulas on either side of Coldwater Creek, and includes 1,518 acres above the guide acquisition line. Construction of restrooms , access roads and other recreationally oriented structures will occur within these recreational 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 Dam and Lake. Currently, about 90% of the project area is in woodland. Roughly half of this is in hardwoods, about one-fourth in pine-hardwood, and one-fourth in pine. About 6% of the total is improved sites, cropland, and pasture with 5% of the improved land in the upland sector and just 1% in the bottoms. The riverbed itself takes up 4% of the project area.