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Thread: Fresh water

  1. #1
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    Default Fresh water

    Water-gulping farms face tighter controls as groundwater levels drop in central SC

    BY SAMMY FRETWELL
    JULY 16, 2021 06:50 AM

    South Carolina’s environmental protection board voted Thursday to place controls on huge farms and industries east of Columbia that withdraw large amounts of groundwater, a measure taken in response to dwindling water levels in parts of the state.

    The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control board’s unanimous vote will require major groundwater users in six counties, including Richland and Sumter, to tell the public about their plans to siphon water and to get permits from the agency before making withdrawals. The rules apply to anyone withdrawing 3 million gallons or more per month.

    “Sounds like a done deal,’’ agency board chairman Mark Elam said after the vote.

    Thursday’s action makes the six-county area the last region in South Carolina’s coastal plain to come under state oversight. Previously, anyone in Richland, Sumter, Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee and Chesterfield counties could take as much groundwater as desired without state oversight.

    Seventeen years ago, state water planners urged groundwater controls for the entire coastal plain, which runs from central South Carolina to the ocean, to oversee large groundwater withdrawals. But DHEC didn’t establish controls in some counties for years.

    About three years ago, DHEC imposed restrictions in the Aiken-Orangeburg area after The State reported that mega vegetable farms were taking large amounts of groundwater in the Edisto River basin. Now, DHEC has added the Sumter-Richland-Clarendon area.

    At least nine organizations and local governments recently urged DHEC to impose the rules to protect groundwater needed by smaller farms, industries and public water systems in the six-county area, in addition to large farms.

    The DHEC board, which held a hearing on the matter last month, didn’t quibble Thursday with arguments in favor of regulation, agreeing swiftly to impose the rules.

    Dwindling groundwater supplies and increased demand have been an issue in recent years across central South Carolina, a region dotted with industrial-scale farms that suck up billions of gallons of water every year to irrigate crops.

    That has contributed to groundwater levels dropping in parts of the region. In two aquifers in Sumter and Clarendon counties, groundwater levels fell 60 to 80 feet because of drought and agricultural use, state officials say.

    But as farms have withdrawn groundwater, cities that need the water for drinking have suffered problems.

    The cities of Sumter and Manning have said they support regulations to protect the water they need for drinking. Manning has had to spend more than $150,000 to lower pumps deeper into the ground to reach groundwater as the levels have dropped.

    “We are aware that improper and poor planning may lead to diminished groundwater resources and significant decreases in water production,’’ according to a June 14 letter from Sumter utilities director Walt Beard to DHEC. “We understand that excessive groundwater withdrawals may present adverse effects, which may lead to a long-term threat to public health and economic welfare.’’

    The rules likely would have the most significant impact in counties with major farms, including Sumter and Clarendon, that also depend on groundwater for drinking water. The rules would likely have less effect in Richland, one of the state’s largest counties. The county, home to Columbia, has relatively few mega farms and draws most of its drinking water from Lake Murray and area rivers.

    The S.C. Farm Bureau has expressed reservations about the oversight, saying the state needs to be careful about regulation because farms need the water to produce food. The bureau recently wrote DHEC to say farms aren’t like factories that make “widgets,’’ but instead are agribusinesses that need water often during times when rain is least abundant.

    Public interest groups say the state needs some oversight.

    Among those are the S.C. Conservation Coalition, an organization representing 40 of the state’s environmental groups, including some of the largest; and WATER, a group that includes Aiken-area residents who have fought to protect groundwater in that part of the state from mega farm withdrawals.

    In a June 23 letter, the WATER group cited DHEC statistics showing that groundwater use had risen from about 14 billion gallons annually in 2014 to 19.5 billion gallons in 2019, an increase of 40 percent, in the six-county area.

    Establishing regulations in the area “ensures that critical water resources of our state — and this region — are used efficiently and that citizens and industry can continue to have safe and reliable water supplies that enhance the quality of life,’’ the Conservation Coalition said in a June 21 letter.

    The rules, which likely won’t take effect for months, would require those withdrawing more than 3 million gallons of groundwater per month to get a permit from DHEC. The rules would apply to farms, industries or others that want the water. The agency would weigh whether the request is reasonable before making a decision.

    In addition to concerns about unchecked water use east of Columbia, DHEC’s proposal also is significant for another reason: Central South Carolina aquifers replenish groundwater supplies throughout much of the coastal zone.

    Rain trickles into aquifers in the state’s mid-section more easily because they are closer to the surface. The water then runs into other aquifers. Groundwater also helps keep rivers flowing by seeping into them.

    https://www.thestate.com/news/local/...igest_politics

  2. #2
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    Nov 2007
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    Are we producing more crops or has technological advances allowed for better measuring/monitoring/speculating?

  3. #3
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    Dec 2010
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    Can I still water my Bradford pear trees?

  4. #4
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    Nov 2017
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    Duck season would be closed if they cant flood their crops…rich man said so.

  5. #5
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    Jan 2016
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coot_Commander View Post
    Duck season would be closed if they cant flood their crops…rich man said so.
    They will still have enough water for there released birds.
    “Duck hunting gives a man a chance to see the loneliest places …blinds washed by a rolling surf, blue and gold autumn marshes, …a rice field in the rain, flooded pin-oak forests or any remote river delta. In duck hunting the scene is as important as the shooting.” ~ Erwin Bauer, The Duck Hunter’s Bible, 1965

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