Apr 17 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Kristy Eppley Rupon The State, Columbia, S.C.

Lake Wateree homeowners could see more flooding over the next few decades under a Duke Power proposal, Kershaw County leaders say.

The utility's plan for managing the lakes along the Catawba River chain would increase water flow upriver for recreation and to stabilize lake levels.

Duke is seeking a new federal license to operate hydroelectric dams on the Catawba-Wateree river system. That license could be for as short as 30 years or as long as 50 years.

However, the utility is only promising to make some improvements -- including a key dam modification that would ease flooding at Lake Wateree -- if its license is renewed for 50 years.

That 50-year-or-nothing condition has Kershaw County officials unhappy.

"There is a flood-control problem, and I don't think that we should have to bargain to get adequate flood-control management," said Rep. Laurie Slade Funderburk, D-Kershaw, who sponsored a resolution passed by the House and Senate last month calling for Duke to broaden its flood-control efforts.

"That is something Duke ought to be doing anyway."

Kershaw County groups with an interest in how the lakes will be managed must decide by today whether to sign an agreement with Duke on its relicensing plan.

Without a "bladder dam" to help with rapid water release, "our flooding would be much worse," said assistant Kershaw County administrator Brenda Wilhite. Lake Wateree could expect 681 days of flooding in the next 50 years -- an average of almost 14 days a year, according to models.

Lake Wateree has had more than 260 days of flooding over the past 50 years, an average of more than five days a year. The flooding causes yards and septic tanks to overrun. Roads also can be cut off by the rising water.

Duke has been negotiating for three years with stakeholders -- including Kershaw County, the city of Camden, the Lugoff-Elgin Water Authority and the Lake Wateree Homeowners Association -- on key issues like flood relief, public recreation and shoreline management. All must be addressed in the license application, due by the end of August.

Wilhite and Gary Faulkenberry of the Lake Wateree Homeowners Association say their groups plan to sign the Duke agreement with major reservations. They also plan to write letters detailing their complaints to accompany the utility's application.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could make changes to the plan before issuing Duke a license.

Faulkenberry called flooding the one "do or die" item in the plan for Lake Wateree, which straddles Kershaw and Fairfield counties.

The current plan is "very disappointing and leaves us very uncomfortable," he said.

Stakeholders say they want a bladder dam regardless of the length of Duke's license. With the proposed increased water flows and the dam modification, models predict flood days over the next 50 years would be cut to 167.

Kershaw leaders also don't like a "gag order" that forbids the groups to ask for further flood relief for 20 years if the bladder dam is installed.

"We don't feel like we can sign away the rights of the people," Wilhite said. "We should be exempt."

Duke spokesman Rick Rhodes said his utility is not entirely satisfied with the plan, either, because of concessions it had to make.

But, he added, "We knew going in we wouldn't get everything we wanted. We knew it was a give-and-take process."

Reach Rupon at (803) 771-8622.