Long drought plagues South

STARR, S.C. (AP) — A decaying highway, plunged deep underwater after Lake Hartwell was dammed in the 1950s, sits exposed once again across what remains of the bay outside Big Water Marina.

It’s a depressing reminder of the toll from a stubborn Southern drought that only recently began to abate with replenishing rains this fall. Much of the region has recovered, but a ring stretching from northeast Georgia to the western Carolinas remains stuck in “extreme” drought.

And Hartwell, a massive 56,000-acre lake straddling the Georgia-South Carolina state line, is near the epicenter. Even after a spate of recent downpours, its waterline is nearly 18 feet below normal levels.

Forecasters say there’s no telling when it will end.

Hartwell has for decades been a source of water, recreation and electricity for scores of towns and thousands of residents on both sides of its ever-growing banks.

Some residents blame the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which sends millions of gallons of water from the lake each week downstream to the Savannah River to help supply Savannah, Augusta and other cities.