SCE&G monitoring Lake Murray dam floodgates
SCE&G officials on Thursday considered opening the Lake Murray dam floodgates to hold down the water level behind the dam, then told state Emergency Management Division officials that they would not be opening the gates.
Derrec Becker, a SCEMD spokesman, said SCE&G officials will continue to monitor the lake levels throughout the day. SCE&G officials are expected to make announcement about the water levels sometime Thursday.
SCE&G operates the Lake Murray dam. The utility told the Associated Press it will give three hours warning before opening the gates, if they do decide to open the gates.
When the floodgates were opened in October, the rush of water contributed to the heavy damage experienced in the Coldstream and Pine Glen neighborhoods in Irmo and the Riverland Park neighborhood in Cayce.
Shortly before SCE&G officials announced the potential decision to open the floodgates, Columbia city officials issued a sanitary sewer system overflow notification for the water customers near the Crane Creek waterway. This notification affects customers in the 5000 block of Brickyard Road and the 1400 block of Peeples Street.
Extended wet weather conditions have led to overflows in the gravity sewer system in these area, officials said.
Precipitation readings at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport measured an estimated 1.45 inches of rain, while 1.14 inches of rain fell at the Hamilton-Owens Airport Wednesday. So far this month, nearly 5 inches of rain has fallen in the Midlands, according to the weather service.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
This story was originally published December 24, 2015 at 11:10 AM.