Savannah River Basin

WATERSHED CONDITIONS: SAVANNAH RIVER BASIN Broad Upper Savannah Lynches SANTEE Pee Dee Catawba- Saluda Wateree Little SA Pee Dee V ANN Congaree PEE DEE Waccamaw Black AH Santee Lower Edisto Savannah ACE Ashley- VIRGINI A Cooper Combahee- Coosawhatchie NO RT H C A R OLI NA Pee Dee Santee basin basin SOUTH Savannah CA RO LI NA basin ACE GEORGIA basin South Carolina Water Assessment 8-1 UPPER SAVANNAH RIVER SUBBASIN The region is predominantly rural, and its principal population centers are dispersed along its length. The major towns in 2000 were Anderson (25,514), Greenwood (22,071), Easley (17,754), Clemson (11,939), Seneca (7,652), and Abbeville (5,840). The year 2005 per capita income for the subbasin counties ranged from $20,643 in McCormick County, which ranked 40th in the State, to $28,561 in Oconee County, which ranked ninth. All of the counties in the subbasin had 1999 median household incomes below the State average of $37,082. Abbeville and McCormick Counties had median household incomes more than $4,000 below the State average (South Carolina Budget and Control Board, 2005). During 2000, the counties of the subbasin had combined annual average employment of non- agricultural wage and salary workers of about 216,000. Labor distribution within the subbasin counties included management, professional, and technical services, 26 percent; production, transportation, and materials moving, 25 percent; sales and office, 22 percent; service, UPPER SAVANNAH RIVER SUBBASIN 14 percent; construction, extraction, and maintenance, 13 percent; and farming, fishing, and forestry, 1 percent. The Upper Savannah River subbasin is located in northwestern South Carolina and extends 140 miles In the sector of manufacturing and public utilities, the southeast from the North Carolina state line to the 1997 annual product value for the subbasin’s counties was Edgefield-Aiken county line. It shares its western border $10.4 billion. Crop and livestock production in 2003 was with Georgia along reaches of the Chattooga, Tugaloo, valued at $214 million, and the delivered-timber value in and Savannah Rivers and encompasses McCormick and 2001 totaled $135 million (South Carolina Budget and Oconee Counties and much of Abbeville, Anderson, Control Board, 2005). Edgefield, Greenwood, Pickens, and Saluda Counties SURFACE WATER (Figure 8-1). The subbasin area is approximately 3,200 square miles, 10.3 percent of the State. Hydrology DEMOGRAPHICS The upper part of the Savannah River is the main watercourse of this drainage system. With headwaters The year 2000 population of the subbasin was in the Blue Ridge province of North Carolina and estimated at 343,100, 8.6 percent of the State’s total Georgia, the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers converge to population. By the year 2020, the subbasin population form the Savannah River. Several other tributaries drain is expected to reach 428,000, an increase of 25 percent. South Carolina and Georgia watersheds and contribute Oconee and Pickens Counties are projected to experience to streamflow in the Savannah River. Those streams in the greatest population change between 2000 and 2020, South Carolina include the Chattooga River, Twelvemile both increasing about 26 percent. Edgefield and Saluda Creek, Rocky River, Little River, and Stevens Creek. Counties are projected to lose 6 and 9 percent of their Since 1950, five large reservoirs have been built on the respective populations. upper Savannah River and its major headwater tributaries South Carolina Water Assessment 8-3 . Cr 7 1 Lake e Jocassee to 5 a st a Flat 1845 2 1850 E 178 River ga Shoals Pickens R. PICKENS Chattoo River 1852 1770 . OCO-233 Lake Six Cr Easley Keowee Mile Walhalla 1860 hauga 3 Liberty C OCONEE ile . em Cr lv e 1855 w 76 4 T e 8 il nm 4 tee igh . Seneca E 178 Cr 10 C Clemson 5 o Tu n y galoo e t ro en ss w River 1866.45 1866.99 T 123 Cr and . ee Pendleton Thr 76 . R ky Belton 85 Anderson Roc 1879 1870 76 2 29 9 Honea Hartwell Path Lake ANDERSON Starr 1879.1 6 S 1872.52 A V A N Due N Iva A West H 6 1875 ABBEVILLE River Abbeville Greenwood 3 1928.3 1880 Little Richard B. Russell 72 EXPLANATION Lake . 7 1925 Cr 1890 Calhoun 1770 Active USGS streamflow gaging station R I Falls V E Cane R GREENW. OOD 1875 Discontinued USGS streamflow gaging station Cr Mount Long SALUDA Carmel OCO-233 Water-level monitoring well (see Table 8-6) Labor d McCormick Har 1 Lake (see Table 8-2) 378 MCK-52 1 Hydroelectric power facility (see Table 8-3) McCORMICK 221 Stev 25 Johnston e Upper Savannah River subbasin boundary ns County boundary Edgefield J. Strom Thurmond Lake 1 Highway EDGEFIELD 1960 1962.5 Fall Line Cr 8 eek 1950 Anderson Municipality 0 10 20 30 40 miles 9 Figure 8-1. Map of the Upper Savannah River subbasin. 8-4 Chapter 8: Watershed Conditions: Savannah River Basin in South Carolina, inundating virtually all of the upper Streamflow is currently monitored at five U.S. reach of the Savannah River valley. Controlled discharges Geological Survey (USGS) gaging stations, all on from hydroelectric-power facilities associated with these tributary streams. Gages on the Savannah River have all reservoirs greatly affect streamflow in the main stem. been discontinued. Streamflow statistics for these five active and 15 discontinued gaging stations are presented in Table 8-1. Table 8-1. Selected streamflow characteristics at USGS gaging stations in the Upper Savannah River subbasin 90% Minimum Maximum Maximum Gaging station name, Period Drainage Average exceeds daily flow daily flow peak flow location, of area flow flow (cfs), (cfs), (cfs), station number record (mi2) (cfs) (cfsm) (cfs) year year year Chattooga River 1939 85 18,500 33,300 near Clayton, Ga. to 207 646 3.12 221 1770 2007* 2007 2004 2004 Whitewater River 1951 24 3,140 6,900 at Jocassee to 47.3 177 3.74 56 1845 1968 1954 1964 1964 Keowee River 1950 57 10,600 21,000 near Jocassee to 148 488 3.30 159 1850 1968 1954 1964 1964 Little River 1967 8.0 10,000 12,800 near Walhalla to 72.0 173 2.40 61 1852 2003 2002 1967 1967 Keowee River 1939 152 19,600 25,200 near Newry to 455 1,153 2.53 376 1855 1961 1954 1940 1940 Twelvemile Creek 1954-64 23 5,120 6,730 near Liberty and 106 192 1.81 64 1860 1989-2001 2000 1998 1998 Coneross Creek 1989 3.1 2,800 3,590 near Seneca to 65.4 115 1.76 37 1866.45 2003 2002 1990 1994 Eighteenmile Creek 1998 3.3 2,980 3,470 above Pendleton to 47 58 1.23 20 1866.99 2007* 2002 2003 2003 Seneca River 1928 170 76,000 81,100 near Anderson yo 1,026 1,997 1.95 735 1870 1959 1931 1928 1928 Savannah River 1984 10 21,000 below Lake Hartwell to 2,090 2,879 1.38 102 – – – 1872.52 1999 1996 1998 Savannah River 1950 78 47,200 54,400 near Iva to 2,231 4,469 2.00 573 1875 1981 1961 1952 1952 Broadway Creek 1967 7.0 337 904 near Anderson to 26.4 25.6 0.97 – – – 1879 1970 1970 1967 1967 South Carolina Water Assessment 8-5 Table 8-1. Continued 90% Minimum Maximum Maximum Gaging station name, Period Drainage Average exceeds daily flow daily flow peak flow location, of area flow flow (cfs), (cfs), (cfs), station number record (mi2) (cfs) (cfsm) (cfs) year year year Rocky River 1989-96; 6.0 3,810 6,260 near Starr 1996-2001; 111 128 1.16 37 1879.1 2003-07* 2007 1998 1998 Rocky River 1950 9.0 8,440 10,900 near Calhoun Falls to 267 307 1.15 103 1880 1966 1954 1964 1964 Savannah River 1896-1900; 300 96,500 near Calhoun Falls 1930-32; 2,876 5,428 1.89 1,700 – – – 1890 1938-79 1961 1940 Little River 1939-70 1.0 15,200 20,800 near Mount Carmel and 217 207 0.96 35 1925 1986-2003 1954 1940 1940 Blue Hill Creek 1998 0.0 111 294 at Abbeville to 3.2 2.9 0.91 0.47 1928.3 2007* 2007 2003 2000 Savannah River 1940 1,120 185,000 near Clarks Hill to 6,150 8,479 1.38 3,130 – – – 1950 1954 1941 1940 Stevens Creek 1929-31; 0.0 31,700 35,100 near Modoc 1940-78; 545 393 0.72 14 1960 1983-2007* 1954 1940 1940 Horn Creek 1981 0.8 530 3,680 near Colliers to 13.9 14.1 1.01 3.4 1962.5 1994 1982 1981 1985 mi2, square miles; cfs, cubic feet per second; cfsm, cubic feet per second per square mile of drainage area 90% exceeds flow: the discharge that has been exceeded 90 percent of the time during the period of record for that gaging station * 2007 is the most recent year for which published data were available when this table was prepared Extensive development on the Savannah River has Ridge region, exhibits the most variable flow and most eliminated most of the free-flowing streams in this region. poorly-sustained base flow among gaged tributary streams Average streamflow of the Savannah River, measured at in this portion of the subbasin. No-flow conditions were now-discontinued gaging stations, was 4,469 cfs (cubic recorded in this stream on numerous occasions during the feet per second) near Iva (below Lake Hartwell) and 5,428 drought of 1954.

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