With Tropical Storm Debby threatening, Lake Murray spill gate open, Saluda River up

Dominion Energy partially opened one of the four spill gates at Lake Murray Dam, and it remained open Tuesday as Tropical Storm Debby began to dump heavy rain on the Midlands.

“We continue to release water from Lake Murray by generating through the Saluda Hydroelectric plant and using the spillway gates,” Dominion Energy said via email, noting that it “will monitor the path of the storm and make adjustments if needed to ensure the safe operation of the dam.”

“Due to work on the (intake) towers, one of the generating units at Saluda Hydro is out of service,” Dominion wrote. “To allow for a release of water equivalent to the amount we would discharge if all five generators were fully operating, we have opened one spill gate. Crews are working on the towers Tuesday but will continue to check weather forecasts.”

All four floodgates were opened for the first time since 1969 during the “thousand year flood” that hit the Midlands in 2015.

“We’ve opened it several times since then,” said Matthew Long. “It’s the same reason as this one is, which is one of our units is down right now.”

Downstream from the dam at the entrance to the Saluda Riverwalk in Columbia, water was visibly up — covering typically visible rocks and intensifying rapids, creeping up onto the stairs at the access point for tubers and kayakers and strewing the bank with trash and debris.

“High water is on the way!” the Saluda Riverwalk posted to Facebook. “Expect to find portions of the trail (upstream and downstream) to be flooded this afternoon and into the week.”

The Saluda Riverwalk has given no indication that it might close.

The threat of rising water levels closed the interconnected riverwalks of neighboring cities Cayce and West Columbia, where all city parks were closed as of Tuesday morning. Cayce noted that its riverwalk will remain closed through the rest of the week (“Once water levels recede, our Cayce Parks Department will work to reopen as soon as possible”). West Columbia said it will notify the public when its parks are ready to reopen.

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