Erosional Process and Its Potential Control at Thurmond Lake

Proceedings of the 1999 Georgia Water Resources Conference, March 30 and 31, Athens, Georgia.Thurmond Lake is a Corps of Engineers reservoir that, like many other reservoirs, suffers from eroding shorelines. A study of Thurmond found that the complex shoreline configuration controls the occurrence of fetch and concentration of wave energy, and thus of erosional process. Bluff recession, which is the visible and damaging feature of shore erosion, is a consequence of downcutting of the bench. Halting bluff recession requires combating undercut at the bluffs base. Alternative structural and. bioengineering stabilization measures are described and evaluated. General guidelines for shoreline installations are given, including the most reliable months for access, the elevation required to protect from wave "runup", the requirement of wings and toes to prevent flanking and undercutting, and selection and installation of plants for bioengineering.Sponsored and Organized by: U.S. Geological Survey, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of TechnologyThis book was published by the Institute of Ecology, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-2202 with partial funding provided by the U.S. Department of Interior, geological Survey, through the Georgia Water Research Insttitute as authorized by the Water Research Institutes Authorization Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-397). The views and statements advanced in this publication are solely those of the authors and do not represent official views or policies of the University of Georgia or the U.S. Geological Survey or the conference sponsors