Santee River
Encyclopedia
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
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...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, 143 miles (230 km) long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage and navigation for the central coastal plain
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...
of South Carolina, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
approximately 440 miles (708 km) from its farthest headwater on the Catawba River
Catawba River
The Catawba River is a tributary of the Wateree River in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. The river is approximately 220 miles long...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Much of upper river is impounded as the expansive horn-shaped Lake Marion
Lake Marion (South Carolina)
Lake Marion is the largest lake in South Carolina, centrally located and with territory within five counties. The lake is referred to as South Carolina's inland sea. It has a shoreline and covers nearly 110,000 acres of rolling farmlands, former marshes, and river valley landscape...
reservoir, formed by the 8 miles (13 km) long Santee Dam, built during the 1930s as a WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
project to provide a major source of hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
for the state.
Description
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
by the confluence of the Wateree
Wateree River
The Wateree River, about 75 mi long, is a tributary of the Santee River in central South Carolina in the United States, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean...
and Congaree
Congaree River
The Congaree River is a short but wide river in South Carolina in the United States; It flows for only 47 miles . The river serves an important role as the final outlet channel for the entire Lower Saluda and Lower Broad watersheds, before merging with the Wateree River just north of Lake Marion to...
rivers. It flows southeast for 5 miles (8 km) before entering the northwest corner of Lake Marion, which stretches in a long wide arc to the southeast for approximately 30 miles (48 km) to Santee Dam. A navigable diversion canal first built in the 1970's at the southern tip of the lake connects to Lake Moultrie
Lake Moultrie
Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina covering over .-Location:Lake Moultrie is located in Berkeley County, South Carolina, is fed by Lake Marion through a diversion canal. Nearby towns include Moncks Corner, Bonneau and St. Stephen....
, a reservoir on the nearby Cooper River
Cooper River (South Carolina)
The Cooper River is a mainly tidal river in the U.S. state of South Carolina. These cities are located along the river, Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek and Hanahan. Short and wide, it is joined first by the blackwater East Branch, then farther downstream, the tidal Wando River...
. The modern canal is operated by Santee Cooper
Santee Cooper
Santee Cooper, also known officially from the 1930s as the South Carolina Public Service Authority, is South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility that came into being during the New Deal as both a rural electrification and public works project that created two lakes and cleared large...
as part of the larger hydroelectric project on both rivers.the dam was finished in 1941.
Downstream from the reservoir it flows east, then southeast, forming the northeast boundary of Francis Marion National Forest
Francis Marion National Forest
The Francis Marion National Forest is located north of Charleston, South Carolina. It is named for revolutionary war hero Francis Marion, who was known to the British as the Swamp Fox. It lies entirely within the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ecoregion....
. Approximately 10 miles (16 km) from its mouth it bifurcates
Distributary
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary...
into two channels, called the North Santee and South Santee, that flow parallel and separated by approximately 2 miles (3 km), creating Cedar Island
Cedar Island, North Carolina
Cedar Island is an island and a small coastal unincorporated community in eastern North Carolina and some folks believe that the area has a connection to the Roanoke Lost Colony of the late 16th century. Cedar Island is located in Carteret County and was populated with local Native Americans prior...
. The two channels reach the ocean at Santee Point, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of Georgetown
Georgetown, South Carolina
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Low Country. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina,...
, and not far from the mouth of the Pee Dee River
Pee Dee River
The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in North Carolina and South Carolina. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course above the mouth of the Uwharrie River is known as the Yadkin River. It is extensively dammed for flood...
.
History
Santee tribe
The Santee Indian Organization, a remnant tribe, was officially recognized by the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, January 27, 2006. Historically it was a small tribe , speaking a Siouan language and centered in the area of the present town of Santee, South Carolina...
, which inhabited areas on the middle part of the river. The first European contact was by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, who sailed up the river in the 1660s. After suffering a defeat during the Yamasee War
Yamasee War
The Yamasee War was a conflict between British settlers of colonial South Carolina and various Native American Indian tribes, including the Yamasee, Muscogee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Catawba, Apalachee, Apalachicola, Yuchi, Savannah River Shawnee, Congaree, Waxhaw, Pee Dee, Cape Fear, Cheraw, and...
in 1715–1716, the Santee were relocated, many to the West Indies as slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, opening up the river for British settlement as part of the Carolina Colony
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
.
In the late 18th century the upper river was the site of the homestead of Francis Marion
Francis Marion
Francis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven...
, a patriot of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. The original site of his homestead is now located under Lake Marion, which is named in his honor.
Construction of the 22 miles (35 km) long Santee Canal
Santee Canal
The Santee Canal was one of the earliest canals built in the United States. It was built to provide a direct water route between Charleston and Columbia, the new South Carolina state capital.- History :...
linking the river to the Cooper was begun in 1793 and finished in 1800. It allowed direct water transportation between the Upcountry of central South Carolina to Charleston, on the mouth of the Cooper. The canal operated for 50 years before becoming obsolete by the introduction of railroads.
During the Great Depression, the state of South Carolina created the Santee Cooper
Santee Cooper
Santee Cooper, also known officially from the 1930s as the South Carolina Public Service Authority, is South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility that came into being during the New Deal as both a rural electrification and public works project that created two lakes and cleared large...
power utility. The main source of electric power for the utility came through the construction of a hydroelectric project inland from Charleston. Starting in 1939, the Santee River was dammed, forming Lakes Marion and Moultrie, and diverting the river's flow into the Cooper River
Cooper River (South Carolina)
The Cooper River is a mainly tidal river in the U.S. state of South Carolina. These cities are located along the river, Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek and Hanahan. Short and wide, it is joined first by the blackwater East Branch, then farther downstream, the tidal Wando River...
through a hydroelectric plant at Pinopolis. The project was completed in 1941.
Though the project succeeded in its intent to bring cheap electricity to rural 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...
, one unintended consequence
Unintended consequence
In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the outcomes intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton...
was the change in character of both the Cooper and Santee Rivers below the project. The Santee River, deprived of most its river flow, became much more saline - resulting in an a changed ecosystem below the project. The Cooper River now received much more freshwater and sediment loads that used to flow into the Santee, resulting in huge increases in dredging costs in Charleston Harbor. In the 1980s, the Army Corps of Engineers built a diversion canal to send some water back into the Santee, partially mitigating this problem.
Crossings
This is a partial list of crossings of the Santee River- Lake Marion
- Railroad Bridge between Lone StarLone Star, South CarolinaLone Star is an unincorporated community in Calhoun County, South Carolina, United States. The community has the ZIP Code of 29030 and lies at approximately 33.63 latitude and -80.59 longitude, with an elevation of 171 feet. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical...
and Rimini. (note: this location is the site of a controversial road bridge proposed by representative James Clyburn.) - US 15 and US 301 bridge at SanteeSantee, South CarolinaSantee is a town in Orangeburg County along the Santee River Valley in central South Carolina of the United States. It has become a resort town of note located centrally north-south along the Atlantic Seaboard of South Carolina...
- Interstate 95Interstate 95Interstate 95 is the main highway on the East Coast of the United States, running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida and serving some of the most populated urban areas in the country, including Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore,...
- Railroad Bridge between Lone Star
- Lower Santee
- Highway 52 bridge
- Railroad bridge near St. StephenSt. Stephen, South CarolinaSt. Stephen is a town in Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,776 at the 2000 census.As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, St. Stephen is included within the Charleston-North...
- ALT US 17 bridge and adjacent railroad bridge
- US 17 bridge (S Fraser Street) over North Santee River and South Santee River