Santee Cooper Lakes System of Marion & Moultrie In Jeopardy

I’m not sure that most of us even knew this was as big of an issue as it is, but I will try to help people understand what is really going on. The state of South Carolina may be on the hook for at least $180 Million expenses for improvements and protection of fish the 180,000-acre reservoirs require. The South Carolina Legislature is considering selling Santee Cooper, lakes Moultrie, and Marion and if they do the system could dry up unless taxpayers take over the $11 million annual cost of maintaining the lakes.

There are a few hurdles at play here. One is the $11 million yearly cost of the upkeep of the lakes: damn maintenance, roads, dikes, spillways, staffing, protection, etc. Two is transferring the operations of the lakes, to the state would potentially put taxpayers on the hook for building fish passages for eels and the endangered Atlantic sturgeon at an estimated cost of $180 million according to The Post & Courier. 

The Santee Cooper lakes were created some 80 years ago, and this would be a huge loss for South Carolina in many ways if officials decided to sell the, as the new buyers could opt to close the hydroelectric facilities and open the Santee River back up to its natural state, thus drying the lakes.  This would have a huge and negative impact on lakefront real estate on the lakes. 

Fortunately, there are safeguards in place to protect against this. A potential buyer could not pick and choose what parts of Santee Cooper’s lake system to maintain, said senior vice president Pam Williams of Santee Cooper. Everything written into the federal license — which includes managing forests, wildlife habitats, boat landings, campgrounds, and even aquatic weeds — would have to be continued, she said.

The lakes bring in an estimated $415 million worth of tourism to the five counties (Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Orangeburg, and Sumter) surrounding the lakes and employ an estimated 3,750 people.

Currently, the state and Santee Cooper officials are performing a study and in talks, research, and planning to find a viable solution where the lakes remain in control of SC without being sold. Santee Cooper is in the process of negotiating with the federal government on 30-year license renewal. Under state law, only the Legislature can approve selling any or all of Santee Cooper.

The state does have a $15 billion debt from the SCANA debacle which was the attempted construction of the new nuclear power station that went belly up in 2017. That is sadly what is driving this bus. The Palmetto Promise Institute has worked with economists to determine the impact of Santee Cooper’s debt on its customers, who are the state-owned utility’s only source of income.