The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will convene the South Carolina Drought Response Committee on Tuesday, August 5, 2008, at 10:00 AM. The meeting will be held at the S.C. Forestry Commission's Harbison Environmental Education Center, located at Harbison State Forest at 5600 Broad River Road in Columbia.
The purpose of the drought meeting is to evaluate the drought status statewide. The committee will review climatic data, streamflow and lake level data, and drought impacts. Local response to the on-going drought will also be reviewed to determine if additional actions are needed to insure sustainable water supplies. During the June 30, 2008 meeting, the S.C. Drought Response Committee upgraded the drought status to "extreme" for Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg counties; upgraded or maintained 14 counties at "severe"; upgraded or maintained 21 counties at "moderate" and maintained six counties at "incipient" along the coast.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 803-734-9568 or email me at mizzellh@dnr.sc.gov.
For previously issued drought statements see the archived status reports.
Table of all counties and drought status.The counties moved into the extreme category are: Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, and Spartanburg.
The committee did not impose any mandatory water-use and withdrawal restrictions, but did encourage water systems in the extreme drought areas to reduce water use as much as possible. The committee will continue to evaluate information and plans to meet again in about a month to review conditions and determine if additional actions to conserve water are needed.
South Carolina did not receive normal winter and spring rainfall, resulting in insufficient recharge of groundwater to sustain streamflows. Thirteen out of 17 streams monitored are in extreme drought conditions according to Masaaki Kiuchi, SC Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Hydrology Section. The drought continues to affect many lakes. The Santee lakes are over one foot lower than this time last year. The Savannah lakes are more than 10 feet below target level for this time of year and continue to decline.
The dry conditions have taken a toll on agriculture. David Tompkins with the S.C. Department of Agriculture added the entire state needs relief, but especially in the Upstate. "We need to get that topsoil saturated. One or two inches isn't getting it done," Tompkins said.
David Baize, with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, reported that most water systems report adequate storage at this time.
Darryl Jones, with the SC Forestry Commission, said, "Dry fuels have increased the intensity of fires, resulting in a higher number of acres burned. So far in June, the Forestry Commission responded to 488 wildfires across the state that have burned more than 3,428 acres, much higher than the average number of wildfires during this time of year. Normally, approximately 4% of the wildfires we respond to are caused by lightning, but this June that number rose to 21%. This increase can be attributed to the dry fuels resulting from the drought."
Mike Caston, with SJWD Water District in Spartanburg, represents the Central Drought Management Area and said, "Water supplies as far as reservoirs are adequate, but that could change very quickly. We have to start thinking long-term about sustainability."
Contact State Climatologist Hope Mizzell in Columbia at (803) 734-9568 or email for more information.
DNR protects and manages South Carolina's natural resources by making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state's natural resources and its people. Find out more about DNR.
Current Drought Status by County | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Normal | Incipient | Moderate | Severe | Extreme |
County Status |
County Status |
County Status |
County Status |
County Status |
ABBEVILLE Severe |
AIKEN Moderate |
ALLENDALE Moderate |
ANDERSON Severe |
BAMBERG Moderate |
BARNWELL Moderate |
BEAUFORT Moderate |
BERKELEY Incipient |
CALHOUN Moderate |
CHARLESTON Incipient |
CHEROKEE Extreme |
CHESTER Severe |
CHESTERFIELD Moderate |
CLARENDON Moderate |
COLLETON Moderate |
DARLINGTON Moderate |
DILLON Moderate |
DORCHESTER Incipient |
EDGEFIELD Severe |
FAIRFIELD Severe |
FLORENCE Moderate |
GEORGETOWN Incipient |
GREENVILLE Extreme |
GREENWOOD Severe |
HAMPTON Moderate |
HORRY Incipient |
JASPER Moderate |
KERSHAW Severe |
LANCASTER Severe |
LAURENS Severe |
LEE Moderate |
LEXINGTON Moderate |
MARION Moderate |
MARLBORO Moderate |
MCCORMICK Severe |
NEWBERRY Severe |
OCONEE Extreme |
ORANGEBURG Moderate |
PICKENS Extreme |
RICHLAND Moderate |
SALUDA Severe |
SPARTANBURG Extreme |
SUMTER Moderate |
UNION Severe |
WILLIAMSBURG Incipient |
YORK Severe |
SC Drought Response Committee Meeting, July 17, 2008 Sign-In sheet | |
---|---|
Name & Agency | Name & Agency |
Oscar P. Black - Dorchester Water Authority Marion Rizer - CS&WCD Bill Taylor - Town of Cheraw Chris Bickley - Lowcountry COG Bill Stroud - Fort Mill, SC Warren Harris - Town of Salem Darryl Jones - Forestry Commission Masaaki Kiuchi - SCDNR Mike Caston - SJWD Water District Mitch Turner - SJWD Water District Dean Moss - Beaufort Jasper WSA Elbert Warren - DCW&SA Bobby Brock - Marlboro Water Company Brad Powers - Blue Ridge Rural Water Scott Holland - Duke Energy Kate Johnson - Duke Energy George Galleher - Duke Energy Dennis Chastain - West Drought Management Area Gregory Lamberty - NWS Columbia SC David Glenn - NWS Columbia SC John Westcott - Spartanburg Water |
Cindy Collium - Pickens County Sara Yorty - USC, Columbia Kirstin Dow - USC, Columbia Athena Strickland - Domtar Paper - Pee Dee River Coalition Jim Witkowski - International Paper Tom Couch - City of Camden Joe Johnson - Dillon, SC Steve Hammond - Duke Energy, Keowee Toxaway Area Howard T. Hill - USDA - NASS, SCFO Susan Featherstone - City of Rock Hill Barbara Robinson - City of Rock Hill David Tompkins - SC Department of Ag Brian DeRoy - WIJ-TV Katrina A. Goggins - Associate Press Chuck Gorman - SCDHEC Jim Trone - SCEMD Evelyn Johnson - SCDNR Ziwase Banda - SCDNR Brett Witt - SCDNR Hope Mizzell - SCDNR Steven J. de Kozlowski - SCDNR |
Find out more about the State Climatology Office at https://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/ or by calling (803) 734-9100.