2007-08 Image from http://scdrought.com/impacts.html
It’s not a disaster, yet; but it’s worth keeping our eyes on.
It’s South Carolina’s drought.
The Laurens County Water and Sewer Commission board received an update on the situation Tuesday morning, as the agency’s engineering manager, K.C. Price, said the state’s drought condition rose an unprecedented 3 levels in a dry June.
So far, it seems that afternoon thundershowers have given Laurens County enough rain to stave off the drought. It’s much worse in the eastern part of South Carolina.
Droughts are important to the water supply because as lakes and rivers get lower the levels of dirt and sediment get higher. That affects treatment costs and water quality.
Fish kills are more prevalent during droughts.
Farmers see their cost rise because hay and corn crops start failing and they have to use store-bought feed for their livestock.
Wildfire threats are much higher during droughts.
The LCWSC board at every meeting sees a chart that shows precipitation.
“We went from no drought to severe drought in 15 counties. That is unprecedented,” Price told the board.
“The rain stopped, and the thermometer soared.”
The State updated its drought response in August of last year, and starting July 1, “it did what it was supposed to do,” Price said, “then it got dry.”
He quipped that one way to ensure that there would be rain is to start talking about a drought or, better yet, convene a meeting about drought.
But small showers here and there are not enough to fight off the effects of prolonged heat on agriculture and wildfires. South Carolina has experienced 200 wildfire burning 1,200 acres in just 1 month - that’s a 77% increase over normal conditions.
The burn area is 214% more acreage than normal.
There are 19 counties in a moderate drought condition, including Laurens County.
The first “trigger” for a drought response plan has been reached - the State declaring some counties in severe drought; however, no other signs for Laurens County have emerged, yet. Price said those include a dramatic drop in levels at Lake Greenwood and the implementation by cities of drought response measures (asking people to stop watering their lawns etc.).
The State Drought Committee was to meet today (July 24) to determine the drought status. In some areas, that could trigger drought response measures.
“We have some relief with afternoon storms,” Price said. “We are looking at what our plan says we do (in a drought emergency).”
The website https://www.drought.gov/states/south-carolina has a map of the current drought affected counties of South Carolina. It says 3.4 Million SC residents are in areas of drought, according to the Drought Monitor, a .6% increase since last week.
Extra info:
From drought.gov
Drought in South Carolina
While drought is usually not the first natural hazard associated with South Carolina, it is a natural part of South Carolina's climate. Shorter-term droughts are more common, like the recent flash drought in the Fall of 2019, which affected agricultural production and increased wildfire potential. However, longer-term droughts can occur, with impacts on water resources and water-related business and tourism, as well as on agricultural production and increased wildfire potential. Some of the most notable long-term droughts recorded in the state's history occurred in 1925–27, 1950–57, 1998–2002, 2007–09, and 2010–13.
The South Carolina State Climatology Office (SC SCO) is the lead entity for drought monitoring for South Carolina through the South Carolina Drought Response Committee and the U.S. Drought Monitor. The Drought Response Committee is a group of five state agencies and 48 local stakeholders that convenes when conditions warrant. The Drought Response Committee determines drought status at the county level (normal, incipient, moderate, severe, or extreme) and recommends curtailment of non-essential water use. Public water suppliers use these recommendations when enacting drought management plans and response ordinances. The SC SCO also participates in the U.S. Drought Monitor process each week, taking the lead on analyzing data, communicating with partners (including state and federal agencies and neighboring states), and sending recommendations to the Drought Monitor author.
NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) launched the Southeast Drought Early Warning System (DEWS) in 2020, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The Southeast DEWS is a network of regional and national partners that share information and coordinate actions to help communities in the region cope with drought.
