2020 Edisto River Basin Council Meets June 17

The Edisto River Basin is shaded in light blue

The first Edisto River Basin council meeting will be held on June 17 and is open to the public, but due to Covid-19 restrictions on large gatherings, the meeting will be held at 3 p.m. online. The stated goal is to guide surface and groundwater management in the Palmetto State over the next 50 years.

Two meetings in the fall of 2019, at Blackville and St. George, introduced the public to the new South Carolina State Water Planning Framework as it pertains to the Edisto River Basin. Applications for Edisto River Basin council members were being accepted until January 2020, and then twenty-three appointments were made from a diverse group in several counties. The public can access the agenda and presentation from both meetings in the fall of 2019, headed by Ken Rentiers the SCDNR Deputy Director of the Land, Water and Conservation Division. 

The increasing demand on water in the state of South Carolina is coming from an array of needs including energy production, agriculture irrigation, manufacturing industries, and public water supplies. All of these have to be balanced with the water needs for fish and wildlife, and the heritage of outdoor recreation that provides quality of life for those enjoying the Edisto River Basin.

Two major factors driving this need for future water planning are increased population and fickle weather patterns. The hydrology website states that from 1990 – 2018 the population in South Carolina increased from 3.5-million to 5.1-million. Forecasts for a population of 5.7-million by 2030 are likely way too conservative, but any increase will translate into more competition for water supplies and our natural resources in general. 

In the past 20 years, local residents have come to know what drought conditions look like, and since long-term weather patterns are cyclical it is likely that more periods of drought are on the way. While El Nino patterns and tropical rains can replenish groundwater, each drought adds a stress to the fragile Edisto River Basin ecosystem that is hard to measure.

Throughout the state there are eight planning basins designed around the eight major river basins. Once completed the collection of River Basin Plans will form the new State Water Plan. Surface water assessments were completed in 2017 and groundwater assessments from 2019 are being finalized in 2020. Water demand projections are also being calculated, but it will be hard to assess how much water is needed in the future with populations and development booming along the coastal plain. The current focus on water quality is refreshing, but the bottom line in the future may be water quantities.

To view the entire feature article in the newspaper click on Colletonian.

To view past blog entries about the Edisto River Basin click on 2019 Meeting - Edisto River Book - ACE Basin 25th Anniversary - Kayak Trip - Gator Hunt