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Article published Sep 9, 2003
State strives to ensure water flow
Kevin Wiatrowski
Knight Ridder Newspapers
MYRTLE BEACH
-- Gov. Mark Sanford has asked a statewide panel to review S.C. water laws and
consider whether the state needs to strike long-term deals with its neighbors
over how to divide the water resources they share."It's something that's
critical to getting a hand on, not just from an economic standpoint, but from an
environmental and quality-of-life standpoint as well," said Sanford spokesman
Will Folks.The 18-member committee includes Fred Richard, executive director of
Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority, and Florence Mayor Frank Willis, among
public officials. The group is a response to the five-year drought that
shriveled the state's rivers and forced state officials to plead with N.C. dam
operators for enough water to keep S.C. communities functioning.When the
committee meets for the first time Friday at a Department of Natural Resources
facility outside Columbia, all options will be considered viable ones, said
committee chairman Steven Spitz, a professor at the University of South Carolina
Law School. Spitz focuses on property and environmental law and helped draft the
state's drought response plan 20 years ago."I'm sure we're going to reach
consensus, not on what to do, but what to look at," Spitz said. "There are no
truly preconceived idea on this."South Carolina shares its major rivers -- the
Great Pee Dee, Savannah and Catawba among them -- with North Carolina and
Georgia.Duke Power Co., Alcoa Power Generating Inc. and Progress Energy all
operate dams on rivers supplying water to South Carolina. Those companies
struggled last year to maintain enough water to generate power while ensuring
downstream communities didn't go dry.Resolving the question of who owns the
water in those rivers remains the biggest obstacle to managing the state's water
resources, said Willis."You've got to find a way to resolve that issue," he
said, "because if you don't, the folks in North Carolina can just dam up the
river and decide what they're going to give us or not give us."As the Great Pee
Dee River shrank last year, Grand Strand water suppliers worried about salt
moving up from Winyah Bay contaminating their stocks of fresh water.The reserves
held behind the N.C. dams -- though they were released slower than some wanted
-- actually keep the region stocked with fresh water longer than it might have
been without them, said committee member Richardson.Still, the state needs to
plan better."We never know how bad a drought can get," he said. "No matter what
stage you're in, you can always imagine it getting worse."