Marion [1] ( Eng. Lake Marion ) - the largest body of water in South Carolina , which, as a reservoir , is located in the heart of the state and is located in its five districts. The coastline of the Marion Reservoir reaches 507 km and an area of 450 km² (110,000 acres; 173.7 sq. Miles). It is one of the fifty largest reservoirs in the United States, both natural and artificial, although its territory occupies only one third of the area of the fifteenth largest reservoir in the United States [2] .
| Marion | |
|---|---|
| English Lake marion | |
 | |
| Morphometry | |
| Area | 450 km² |
| Coastline | 507 km |
| Location | |
| A country |
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| State | South Carolina |
Marion is a reservoir of a hydroelectric power station , built in 1942 according to one of the rural electrification projects within the framework of an economic policy called the New Deal and conducted by the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration since 1933 with the goal of overcoming economic crisis ( Great Depression ) that swept the United States in 1929 - 1933 .
Content
Location
The Marion Reservoir is located in five South Carolina counties: Berkeley, Calhoun , Clarendon , Orangeburg, and Sumter.
Marion is shipping. There is a marked shipping lane that runs from the Wyboo Area Dam to the bypass canal and Santi Park. The shipping lane is clear of trees and is the most navigable.
Highway number 95 ( Interstate 95 ), part of the US Interstate Highway System and passing through this artificial pond, crosses it over a bridge near Santee .
Construction
Marion was built in the early 1940s as part of a hydroelectric and navigation project by Santee Cooper , which is owned by the state of South Carolina and operates the entire project. The Santee Cooper hydroelectric and navigation project, built in 1939, improved navigation on the Santi and Cooper rivers, and provided electricity to several South Carolina counties. The construction of artificial reservoirs, called Marion and Moultrie, was intended to improve the economic situation of the adjacent territories, and also aimed at improving the environment. At one time, the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project was the largest land clearing project in US history. It employed 12,500 workers who cleared more than 720 km² of wetlands and forest covered lands. 68 km of dams and dams were built, including a 42 km long and 24 m high dam. The Paynopolis Dam consists of a hydroelectric station and a navigation lock , which is the highest single-chamber (single-stage) lock in the world. To control flood waters, a dam with a height of 1,000 m was built with 62 gates to allow the passage of excess water. To implement this project, which was the most ambitious earth moving project in US history, 32,000,000 m³ of land was moved and more than 2,370,120 m³ of concrete was poured.
The total project cost was 48.2 mill. US dollars, of which 55% was a federal loan, and 45% was a federal grant. The project began to produce electricity on February 17, 1942, and after the construction of power lines, it supplies electricity to the Berkeley, Georgetown and Gorrie counties, and ultimately supplies electricity to electrical cooperatives serving consumers in 46 other counties.
Name Origin
The reservoir was named after General Francis Marion, a participant in the American Revolutionary War (circa 1732 - February 26, 1795), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, who was a tireless opponent of the British army , which occupied South Carolina from 1780 to 1781 , and continued to fight even after the Battle of Camden, which took place on August 16, 1780, when the British army won, until the time when the British troops were expelled from South Carolina. Being the organizer of the famous ranger squad, called the “Marion Partisans,” General Francis Marion is considered one of the creators of the modern strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare . The name of General Francis Marion is on the U.S. Army ranger list. General Francis Marion served as the prototype for creating the image of the protagonist of the film " Patriot " - Benjamin Martin , played by the popular actor Mel Gibson . The home of General Francis Marion, who was in Pond Bluff , was flooded after the construction of the reservoir.
Recreation Area
Many small rivers flow into Marion, including Wyboo Creek and the Santee River , as well as many streams, including Eutaw Springs . The depth of the reservoir varies from very shallow marshes to large open water spaces with a depth of up to 9.144 m. Flooded cypress groves, in which there are both growing trees and stumps, are located in separate places of the Marion reservoir. Marion does not freeze in the winter. All these conditions contribute to the fact that a large number of large fish is found in the reservoir. Marion (like Moultrie) is a world-class fishing pond [3] . Here a world and state record was set for the largest caught large-mouthed perch ( Micropterus salmoides ) (26.31 kg) [4] .
Reserves
The natural conditions of the Marion Reservoir are also favorable for wildlife living on the shores of Santee State Park and Santee National Wildlife Refuge . There are deer , foxes , squirrels , turtles , pigeons , alligators and various species of ducks , hawks , eagles , white herons and osprey .
Gallery
Largemouth Bass
Channel catfish
White heron in flight
American alligator
See also
- Moultry Reservoir
- List of US Waterways and Dams
Notes
- ↑ Southeast USA // Atlas of the World / comp. and preparation. to the ed. PKO "Cartography" in 1999; open Ed .: T.G. Novikova , T.M. Vorobyova . - 3rd ed., Eras., Fr. in 2002 with diaposes. 1999 - M .: Roskartografiya, 2002. - S. 230—231. - ISBN 5-85120-055-3 .
- ↑ Largest lakes in the US
- ↑ HISTORY OF THE SANTEE COOPER LAKES (link not available) . Date of treatment March 10, 2010. Archived October 26, 2010.
- ↑ Freshwater Fish Records for South Carolina