Overview

Richard B. Russell Lake (known to locals as simply "Lake Russell") is a reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 created by the construction of Richard B. Russell Dam

Richard B. Russell Dam

Richard B. Russell Dam is a concrete-gravity and embankment dam located on the Savannah River at the border of South Carolina and Georgia, creating Richard B. Russell Lake. The dam was built by the U.S...

 on the Savannah River

Savannah River

The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...

 bordering Elbert County, Georgia

Elbert County, Georgia

Elbert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was established on December 10, 1790 and was named for Samuel Elbert. As of 2000, the population was 20,511. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 20,525...

 and Abbeville

Abbeville County, South Carolina

Abbeville County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2010, its population was 25,147. Its county seat is Abbeville. It is the first county in the United States alphabetically.-History:...

 and Anderson

Anderson County, South Carolina

-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 187,126 people and 70,597 households residing in the county. The population density was 260.6 people per square mile . There were 84,092 housing units...

 counties in South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

. The lake impounds primarily the Savannah River but also includes Beaverdam Creek on the Georgia side and Rocky River on the South Carolina side. Filling of the lake began in October 1983, and was completed in December 1984 for a full pool elevation of 475 feet. Lake levels do not change much because the lake is designed to operate within 5 feet of full pool compared to Hartwell and Thurmond, whose 35 and 18 feet of conservation storage respectively causes their levels to change more dramatically. This causes the lake to always look full.

Named for U.S. Senator Richard Brevard Russell, Jr., the lake consists of 26650 acres (108 km²) of water and 540 miles (869 km) of shoreline. Unlike its neighbors Lake Hartwell

Lake Hartwell

Lake Hartwell is a reservoir bordering Georgia and South Carolina on the Savannah, Tugaloo, and Seneca Rivers. The lake is created by Hartwell Dam located on the Savannah River seven miles below the point at which the Tugaloo and Seneca Rivers join to form the Savannah...

 to the north and Lake Strom Thurmond

Lake Strom Thurmond

Lake Strom Thurmond, known in Georgia as Clarks Hill Lake, is a reservoir at the border between Georgia and South Carolina in the Savannah River Basin. It was created by the J. Strom Thurmond Dam during 1951 and 1952 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers near the confluence of the "Little River" and...

 to the south, federal regulations prohibit private use of the public lands surrounding Lake Russell.

Archaeology

The area flooded by the lake covered several areas of archaeological significance. There was a significant effort to explore and excavate these sites prior to filling the lake. Sites include Millwood Plantation, Fort Independence and a Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 village and mound.

The lake also covered the historic Georgia-Carolina Memorial Bridge which was not demolished but remains intact beneath the lake.

Recreation

Since it was constructed after 1974, the Corps of Engineers prohibits exclusive private use of the lake's shoreline. As a result, the shoreline of the lake is almost completely undeveloped with the exception of some state parks and day-use areas. The Corps owns a 300 foot buffer zone all the way around the 540 miles of shoreline to mitigate the loss of habitat due to the creation of the lake. The natural shoreline creates a strikingly different feel and look to the lake when compared to Thurmond and Hartwell which have highly developed shorelines.

External links

• http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/lakes/russell/
• http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=15876