By Mike Gray
Publisher/Owner
jmgray@carol.net

Our drought situation. I can best
describe it this way: rural Anderson
County, no cell phone, no jacket, it’s
20 degrees, midnight, with no moon
or stars, and your car rolls to a stop.
Your gas tank is empty. Desperate
straights. Local ponds, including my
own, are nearly dry. Banks of red
mud and sand have sprouted like
mushrooms across Hartwell Lake.
For the fi rst time in many years,
Anderson County officials are im-
pressing on citizens the serious and
immediate need for water conservation.
Just as with the previous two
droughts, we are experiencing the
most serious drought to date for
Georgia and South Carolina. Hartwell
Lake is at a level of 14 feet below
full pool and will continue to drop
as 2.3 billion gallons of water are
released daily through Hartwell Dam.
We have had no signifi cant rain over
the past 12 months, which has left us
20 inches below normal for the year.

See Low Water, Page 4

71 homes listed on Hartwell Lake
by Hartwell Lake Properties. Prices
range from $59,000 to $1,900,000.

FEATURE HOME

Welcome toyour dream home! A
very unique find on Hartwell Lake.
6Br/4.5Ba, 3 car attached garage all
on over 3 acres! See page 13 for more
details.

Hartwell Lake Properties has 102
lake lots available. Find the perfect
lot to build your dream lake home!

Page 25: Ron Hancock shares fishing
tips for low lake levels.

Page 26: Clemson came up short in
over time at the Chick-Fil-A Bowl!

See details from the big game along
with the Tigers’ Basketball schedules
and results.