| Sharing of rivers is cause for worry Leaders want water regulations enhanced AIKEN - There are no deserts in South Carolina, and lakefront property is never an arid proposition. That doesn't mean the Palmetto State doesn't have water woes, particularly with its neighbors to the north and west, Georgia and North Carolina. As all three states continue to boom in population and economic growth, a resource that was once a given in this rain-rich climate is now a far dearer and more jealously guarded commodity. Worried about hydro-piracy from growth-mad Atlanta, politicians and public officials around Augusta and Aiken are fiercely guarding the Savannah River. Elsewhere, in the drought that squeezed South Carolina for four years, major rivers such as the Pee Dee, the Broad, the Catawba and the Santee had flows so sluggish that salt water invaded the water systems of coastal communities, including Myrtle Beach and Georgetown. That long, dry stretch was an alarm bell for a state whose major river systems originate in other states, which gives those states first cut at the water that fuels growth in major border towns such as Charlotte. There also is a growing consensus among politicians, policy makers, bureaucrats and environmentalists that South Carolina needs stiffer regulations to govern water use inside its borders. "We're realizing with the huge increases in population - not only within our state but in cities in other states that border us - we have to regulate this finite resource," said Kim Connolly, an assistant law professor at the University of South Carolina. "This is something a lot of states are talking about. South Carolina and Georgia are not alone in this discussion." In January, a committee formed by Gov. Mark Sanford to review the state's water laws and examine the need for agreements with Georgia and North Carolina will file a preliminary report, said committee member Bob Becker, the executive director of the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University. This is the first comprehensive review of Palmetto State water law since the mid-1980s. At issue are three major topics: the need for pacts with neighboring states to address water use from shared river systems; the need to bolster state laws that don't grant the authority to regulate and monitor surface water use from lakes and rivers inside South Carolina; and the overhanging debate about just how much regulatory authority the state needs. Some say South Carolina should also pass legislation that allows the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to monitor and grant permits for surface water use; Georgia already does this. South Carolina has permitting authority only for wells that tap groundwater and regulates only the discharge of pollutants into streams and lakes. The question is: Can a cash-strapped state already facing up to $500 million in budget deficits next year afford the cost of this additional regulation? "This is going to cost a little," Ms. Connolly said. "A state getting into some form of regulation of surface water - that's an investment of personnel resources to monitor that use. States have to look closely at that during tight budgetary times." Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395 or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
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