Nine Counties Get Drought Status Upgraded

Seven more South Carolina counties are now in an extreme drought. The state's Drought Response Committee met Tuesday in Columbia and upgraded Anderson, Abbeville, Greenwood, Newberry, Saluda, Edgefield, McCormick, Union and Laurens counties to extreme drought, the state's highest level.

Despite that, the committee is not recommending mandatory water restrictions. That's because seven water districts already have imposed mandatory restrictions on their own. Twenty others have put voluntary restrictions in place. The districts with mandatory restrictions are: the town of Central; the city of Pickens; the city of Clemson; the town of West Union; the Inman Mills Water District; the Startex, Jackson, Wellford, Duncan Water District (better known as SJWD); and the Startex Utility System.

The committee heard from the districts on the status of their water supplies and how well the restrictions already in place were working. State Climatologist Hope Mizzell says, "After evaluating and contacting all of the water systems in the Upstate, there's not an immediate crisis. But there's not an immediate crisis because of the efforts that everyone's been taking. Most everyone in the Upstate water systems reported that they have seen at least a 10 percent, in some cases as much as a 25 percent reduction," in water use.

Spartanburg Water System general manager Sue Schneider says, "We have been in voluntary restrictions, and our public in Spartanburg County has been very responsive. It's brought down our usage by about 10 to 15 percent. It's been a big help. But we do still have a concern with the drought on our North and South Pacolet streams. We're at historic low levels so we're going to continue to watch it over the next three to four weeks and see if we need to make a change."

The immediate forecast for the Upstate does not indicate there will be any relief from the drought. Other parts of the state are faring much better, though. Charleston and Georgetown counties have received enough rainfall, more than normal amounts, that the committee took them off drought status completely.

For the state's Drought Response web page, go here
For the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's drought information page, click here.