Midlands officials urge residents to stay out of rivers; Columbia riverwalk reopens

River levels are down in the Columbia area a week after Hurricane Helene, but local officials are urging residents to stay out of the water.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins issued a reminder Thursday night that river access remains closed in the county.

“It is not safe for residents to be in the rivers; Dominion and Santee Cooper have structures in the river which makes it extremely dangerous,” the release said. “Please adhere to the advisory and stay off the river and do not cross or move any barricades.”

The Congaree Riverkeeper reported Tuesday that a Santee Cooper transmission tower had collapsed into the Congaree River downstream of Interstate 77.

“People should avoid this area as the lines and structure may cause a navigation hazard,” the Riverkeeper posted to Facebook. “Santee Cooper will be working to remove the tower and lines and replace them over the coming weeks.”

With clean-up efforts continuing, the riverwalks and included river access in Cayce and West Columbia remain closed. The connected riverwalks that run through the cities on the Lexington County side of the Congaree River were both underwater earlier this week as the river crested at 30.5 feet Monday , just shy of the mark it hit in the “1,000-year flood” of 2015.

The Congaree Riverkeeper noted earlier this week that Cayce and West Columbia riverwalks “are all a mess and will take a while to get cleaned up.”

Columbia’s Riverfront Park and its riverwalk trail along the Columbia Canal, which sits much higher than the trails on the other side of the Congaree, reopened Thursday .

Water levels in Columbia’s rivers continue to fall after swelling from the storm. The Congaree was down to a little over nine feet Friday morning, while the Saluda River at Riverbanks Zoo, which saw its level push above seven feet as Dominion Energy opened a spill gate at Lake Murray, was down to a little over six feet.

The Broad River, which crested higher Monday than it did in 2015, had dropped by more than 10 feet as of Friday morning.