Army COE addresses rumor

In spite of this week’s abundant rains, the Savannah River Basin drought remains ongoing. And this week District Commander Jeff Hall of the Army Corps of Engineers addressed the need to balance outflows during dry spells. “We updated our drought plan after a series of droughts. We also recently completed the 2012 Interim Drought Environmental Assessment. This assessment provides updated data to enable us to better fine tune how we distribute the limited water resources during drought. If we get enough rain this winter, we plan to disregard the conventional winter drawdown guidance. And finally, pending resource agency approval, we will try to keep outflows around the minimum 3,800 cubic feet per second as we refill.