-
Impounded in 1928 to supply power for the Badin Works aluminum smelting plant
-
2nd largest lake in North Carolina - 365 miles of shoreline, 15,180 acres,
average depth = 16 feet
-
There are 2800+ homes and seasonal cottages around the lake who pay an annual
Private Recreational Facilities fee but they are specifically excluded in the figures reported in the FORM 80 Recreational Report submitted to FERC.
-
Every drop of water in the lake ( 234,866 acre feet ) is considered as
storage for Hydro Power generation. There is NO reserve at all for
environmental concerns or fish and wildlife as mandated in the Electric Consumers Protection Act of
1986 or drought reserves for drinking water. This figure does NOT take
into consideration that the main river channel has filled in as much as 20 feet
in places with silt since 1928.
-
High Rock Lake is not licensed as a Flood Control Reservoir but is operated similar to one
with winter drawdowns from 8 to 14 feet from September 15th to May 15th.
This has had the net effect of killing or preventing the growth of any aquatic vegetation ( which is
listed as PREMIER fish habitat in APGI's Shoreline Management Plan ) around the
shoreline.
-
According to the FORM 80 Recreational Reports submitted to FERC in 1997, High Rock Lake supports almost twice as much recreational activity as the other three lakes
in project 2197 combined yet is the only lake in project 2197 that does NOT
enjoy year round recreational friendly water levels
-
High Rock Lake has always had one of the best Bass fisheries in the
state. It is the only lake in North Carolina that has been chosen to host
the prestigious BassMasters Classic three times, as well as numerous national
qualifying tournaments and hundreds of local private and charitable tournaments.
-
The Bald Eagle Habitat Evaluation and Survey report documented that High Rock Lake
supports more than twice as many Bald Eagles during the summer than any other
lake in project 2197 but the numbers dwindle greatly during the other
months. That is strange since summer is the time of the most recreational
activity. Co-incidentally it's the only time that the lake is maintained
anywhere close to full pond.
-
Local individuals and homeowner associations complained for many decades to
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about the management of High Rock Lake
but were continuously told that Yadkin Inc. ( now Alcoa Power Generating Inc. )
was operating within the regulations included in their license.
-
Beginning in 1999, the Yadkin/Pee Dee River basin entered what would become
an unprecedented drought period that continues until the present time.
Since all of the rules pertaining to the management of project 2197 were
written by power related agencies decades ago with no provision for conservation
during drought periods, High Rock Lake has been severely damaged ecologically as
well as economically. Instead of reacting proactively when the drought
began to worsen, the entities that were in control of the management of project
2197 continued to use every drop of water available to make power for private
corporate gain. No one in a position of power did ANYTHING to try and
avoid totally destroying High Rock Lake. Requests for a variance to the
current management rules were not made until there was a HUGE public outcry
after Alcoa Power Generating Inc. announced that unless there was substantial
rain very soon that they expected to completely drain High Rock Lake within 30
days and there was a barrage of bad publicity in the news media. When the
lake was within 6 feet (-24 feet) of being returned to a "run of
river" state there were several fish kills due to fish being trapped in
isolated pools as the lake went down. The dissolved oxygen content of the
entire lake was very low due to low water flow and the overcrowding of a fish
population from a 15,000 acre impoundment into an area that was very small and
very shallow. After the fish kills were reported, North Carolina and
Federal agencies finally decided that High Rock Lake's dam should be closed and
some of the other lakes along the Yadkin/Pee Dee chain should be used to supply
downstream water flow requirements ( since they were all still at FULL POND
levels ). High Rock Lake was allowed to recover slightly to -17 feet for
about two weeks and then started to go down again. When challenged by a
local resident and business owner the responses from
APGI and the North Carolina State agencies that were supposed to be monitoring
the situation varied from drinking water contamination to operator error.
-
When NCDENR became the moderator for meetings between APGI, CP&L,
Duke Power, South Carolina agencies and local associations there was a new
"Protocol" established that allowed all of the lakes in NC to share the
burden of downstream discharges more equitably. This
"Protocol" allowed all of the lakes to survive the drought without
destroying any of them. This was the first time that High Rock Lake
received any reasonable consideration compared to the other lakes in the
project, but APGI
specifically included a paragraph stating that this "Protocol" should
not be considered a precedence setting event even though it was the
best management scenario that all the parties working together could come up
with.
-
In the fall of 2002, the drought finally broke and
began 15 months of the wettest period ever recorded in the Yadkin River
basin. This abundance of rain filled the lakes to full pond and the river
exceeded flood stages on several occasions. Ground water tables, devastated
by the prolonged drought, returned to normal levels by the end of 2003.
This was several years before all of the experts had predicted they would
recover. High Rock Lake remained at full pond for the entire period and
power generation ran at maximum capacity for almost the entire time. This
was one of the first times High Rock Lake had ever been allowed to remain at
levels
-
Unfortunately, nothing has actually changed yet
and historical lake operations have resumed. This effectively wipes out
the positive changes that had begun to occur. Winter draw downs dewatered
the thriving aquatic vegetation and caused it to die out. Many of the weed
beds returned in 2004 but were obviously struggling to survive and continue to
be hampered by repeated dewatering.
-
During the next 18 months
representatives from state agencies and recognized stakeholder groups will be
involved in helping define the terms and conditions that should be included in
Alcoa’s new license to operate Project 2197.
The operation of High Rock Lake
is the controlling factor of the
Yadkin-Pee
Dee
River
from
Davidson
County
NC
to
Myrtle Beach
,
SC.
The way High Rock Lake is operated
has a profound effect on not only the citizens of Davidson and Rowan counties,
but on hundreds of thousands of people, many industries, recreational
opportunities, tourism, and a vast array of fish and wildlife throughout the
remainder of the river basin. Many of the industries located along the river in
SC chose their location based on the leniency of the regulations in SC on
wastewater assimilation. While many
changes will be required to comply with today’s environmental regulations
there are many aspects that are somewhat subjective and will be negotiated
between Alcoa, state agency officials and representatives of recognized
stakeholder groups. At this point in
time Alcoa has not committed to negotiating settlements on issues raised during
the relicensing process, even though negotiated settlements are most likely to
be approved by the FERC. If they
feel that an issue is likely to be highly controversial, they will simply submit
their request to the FERC and note the opinion of opposing groups in the
official record submitted. This will
result in someone in
Washington
,
DC
who may never have been to NC making decisions that will affect NC and SC
citizens for the next 50 years with little to no recourse.
-
Since 1928, High Rock Lake
has been managed solely for the profit of private industry and their
stockholders with little regard for the environment, the economic impact to the
communities surrounding it, or the recreational interests stated in the Electric
Consumers Protection Act of 1986. While
it would be foolish not to utilize the environmentally friendly power generating
capabilities of the river, it must be done in an environmentally correct fashion
with full consideration for all affected stakeholders within the river basin.
If managed properly High Rock can be used to protect the environment
within the river basin, the economic interests throughout the river basin,
drinking water supplies for many communities, as well as the preservation of
recreational opportunities and safety. To
accomplish this, operational guidelines based on watershed management
principals, not just power production, will have to be established.
There will have to be very specific rules included to address periods of
drought that will require early implementation and will maintain as much water
as possible at the highest points in the river basin to allow for potentially
prolonged protection needs of the rest of the river basin.
Depletion of those reserves must be managed proportionately throughout
all of the impoundments to protect the environment and ecosystem at each.
Once the reserves upstream have been unnecessarily released, any excess
simply flows into the ocean and is effectively lost.
-
The state officials in SC fully
understand the impact the rules included in Alcoa’s new license can have on
the natural and economic resources in their state.
They are fully prepared to provide whatever political influence or legal
resources are necessary to ensure changes are made that are beneficial to their
state. They are intent on
influencing as many changes as possible in Alcoa’s new license and have
already discussed the possibility of legal action if they are unhappy with the
results of the relicensing process. To
ensure the future protection of the environment and the economic interests of
the citizens of NC, we will NEED the support of our elected legislators.
Without it, the future of many NC citizens and communities will be at the
mercy of SC officials.
>