The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has stocked trout in the Lower Saluda River since the 1960s, but this year, some of the trout are part of a study being conducted by SCE&G to evaluate the impacts of dissolved oxygen on growth of trout in the river.

        Anglers are encouraged to release any tagged rainbow trout caught in the Lower Saluda until June 1, when the study will be completed. Anglers catching a tagged trout are asked to record the tag number and color (red, chartreuse, orange or green), along with the location that the fish was caught, and send the information to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) or SCE&G. This information can help DNR biologists determine how far stocked trout travel from the stocking location.

 The DNR and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) have combined forces with local utility SCE&G to improve water quality in the lower Saluda River. According to DHEC's Gina Kirkland, "The goal of this effort is to use the best available science to establish a new dissolved oxygen standard for the river." The current site-specific standard was implemented in 1990. Since that time, the classification of the river has been changed from "fresh water" to "trout, put, grow and take." It has been proposed that the dissolved oxygen standard be raised from a daily average of 5 parts per million with no minimum to a daily minimum of 6 parts per million.

        Dissolved oxygen in the river is greatly influenced by the discharge from the Lake Murray Dam. The discharge of water can be very low in dissolved oxygen at certain times in the year, according to Steve Summer of SCE&G. And while SCE&G has installed equipment to increase oxygen and is evaluating methods of increasing oxygen further, it will need to identify a target level that will both support the use classification for the trout and be achievable by the utility.

        That is where the trout come in. The growth of trout in the Lower Saluda will be evaluated during the next few months to determine the relationship between food, temperature and dissolved oxygen. This information will help to determine what the new standard should be.

        According to Hal Beard, a DNR district fisheries biologist based in Columbia, over the last four months the DNR, in cooperation with SCE&G and Clemson University, has stocked about 12,000 tagged rainbow trout in the Saluda River downstream of Lake Murray. The trout were tagged with small colored tags (less than one-fourth inch long), which were inserted behind the eye of each fish.  The tags will allow biologists to measure the growth of each individual trout recaptured.

 Trout will be collected from the river by biologists and weighed, measured and released.
For more information on the tagging project, call Hal Beard with DNR in Columbia at (803) 955-0462, or Steve Summer with SCE&G in Columbia at (803) 217-7357.