Gov. Mark Sanford signed a bill Tuesday in Rock Hill that is designed to ensure better future collaboration between South and North Carolina the next time an extreme drought strikes.
The bill authorizes the establishment of two river basins advisory commissions, one of which would oversee the Yadkin and Great Pee Dee.
Their creation is a direct evolution from suggestions generated by Sanford’s Water Law Review Committee that was formed in June 2003 to review the state’s water laws and recommend needed changes to enhance those regulations.
The new commissions’ authority would be strictly advisory, said Sanford spokesman Will Folks, adding that the primary objective is to help coordinate interested parties in both states and help them address interrelated issues regarding water quantity and quality.
“This is the second big step on this front,” he said. “The first was the water law review committee. Both of these commissions will be made up of government and private sector representatives.”
Folks said the commissions would provide an important solution toward helping to avoid the problems experienced between 1998 and 2002 when one of the worst droughts in recent memory struck the Carolinas and much of the Southeast. During the latter part of that period water levels in many of the Palmetto State’s major waterways had dropped dangerously low and the Great Pee Dee River appeared in danger of drying up altogether.
“Look at 2002 when we had to broker an agreement with North Carolina to get more water released,” he said. “We averted a crisis, but what we need are coordinated approaches to managing these resources.”
Florence Mayor Frank Willis, who headed up the Pee Dee River Coalition and was a member of the governor’s committee, said Sanford’s signature of the bill was definitely a proactive move in the right direction.
“We think this is a necessary step to manage the water basins in a way that’s conducive to everyone,” he said. “The problem in the past is that there was no coordinated effort or communication among the parties involved. We were working in the dark. This gives us a mechanism to interact so decisions aren’t made unilaterally.”
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