Drought out, water fun in

MONCKS CORNER — After a nasty stretch of exposed dry lake beds, the water levels in lakes Marion and Moultrie runneth over. And spilling out are fun, sun, fishing and, best of all for the locals, cash.

The twin lakes have rebounded above and beyond their pre-dry-spell days. The December 2007 low — more than 10 feet below normal — is mostly forgotten and everyone seems happy. Boats aren't hitting as many submerged tree stumps. Stores are selling extra bait, beer and gas. And more people are returning on weekends.

Best of all, said Michael Weissmann of Bonneau, gone is the foul odor that sprouted from decades of exposed rotting goop.

"It doesn't smell like dead clams anymore," he said last week as he prepared to push his tiny speed boat into Lake Moultrie.

The S.C. Drought Response Committee last week announced that for the first time since August 2006 no counties in the state were under a drought declaration.

During the drought's worst stages at the Marion and Moultrie lakes, practically all the boat landings had to be shut down when the water levels receded too far for even the strongest four-wheeler trucks to reach. Now they're open and overflowing, and environmentalists, wildlife officials and the Santee Cooper utility all say the refilled lake bowls are reason to smile.

"We're up 30 percent over last year in our business," said Allan Weiss of Black's Fish Camp on Moultrie's north shore.

To be sure, local officials thought they had a physical and financial disaster on their hands as the drought took root in the early part of the decade. The combined 160,000-acre surface area of the two lakes had influenced life in and around about a half-dozen South Carolina counties and the financial suffering was widespread. During the drought, the lakes retracted by about one-quarter normal size, and people stopped coming.

What was exposed on the once-wet lake bottom proved to be a wasteland. Trees acted like boat hazards, snagging hulls. Old buildings were revealed and, in some cases, ancient cemeteries that had been covered over long ago when the Santee River was dammed by the Santee Cooper public power agency to generate the agency's first electricity. The dam created the lakes and diverted most of the Santee's flow to the Cooper River.

But it was during this "low" time that fields of grasses began sprouting below the former water line — which later would turn out to be a benefit in disguise. Scott Lamprecht, a freshwater fish expert with the Department of Natural Resources, said the now-submerged grasses provide cover for the smaller bait fish, while the expanded water areas allow for the larger predator fish to expand their movement. And he's excited about it.

"All this water brings in more nutrition to the system and it should be nothing but positive for the fisheries," he said. "I'm extremely optimistic. It should bode well for every fish species in the lake." That includes the elusive striper and the bottom prowling catfish.

While the main beneficiaries are fish, alligators should do well too. The expanded waters should allow them to get into places previously cut off by receding water. That means fewer gator surface "U-boat" cruises across the exposed lake centers.

Lakefront businesses are happy as well. About the only people making big money last year were boat repairmen called on to fix props that hit trees or to plug holes and punctures for the few sailors lucky enough to get or keep boats in the water. But Weiss, of Black's Fish Camp, said calls are coming in from far-flung tourists interested in returning to his assortment of waterfront marina, restaurant, motel rooms and trailer spaces after news that the drought has lifted began to spread.

"We have seen an almost normal recovery," he said, adding that gas is also way down from the $4 threshold it burst through last year. "We've got a lot of people who haven't been here in three years calling back to ask 'is the water back up yet?' "

Santee Cooper, the state utility, is happy to see more boaters and skiers on the lake. But for the utility, the return of high water also means the power-generating station at St. Stephen is being used again after it was shut down for the better part of two years. "That was a real hardship," said spokeswoman Molly Gore, adding that 100,000 megawatt hours have been tapped since March.

At the popular swim spot Lion's Beach near Moncks Corner, the recovery was illustrated with an abundance of visiting children now out of school, and parents on work break. Among them was David Vincen, of nearby Thornley Forest. He remembers the water being so low a year ago that he could ride a golf cart for more than a mile on the lake bottom. Now he's echoing the common happiness that the water is back where it needs to be.

"When I took my boat out, it just about tore my prop up," he said. "I don't have to worry about that now."

Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551, or skropf@postandcourier.com.