Dry days ahead as drought puts grip on Upstate

Jamie Chandler of J.R. Chandler Well Boring and Drilling looks over the dry creek bed behind his business in the Ware Place. Staff/Bart Boatwright e-mail this story More details You can save water, and money, by taking some simple steps around your home. - Repair dripping faucets One drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons per year. - Repair leaky toilets, which can waste 200 gallons a day. - Operate dishwashers and washing machines when they are fully loaded. - Use soap and water in a bucket and wash your car on the lawn. - Water your lawn every third day and early in the morning. - Collect the runoff from your roof in a barrel and use it on your plants and garden. - Buy a rain gauge to determine how much rain your yard has received. - Switch to ultra low-flow shower heads - Consider installing an automatic rain shutoff device on your sprinkler system. - Mulch reduces evaporation, promotes plant growth and reduces weeds. - Install aerators on every faucet. This could save as much as 1 gallon every minute. - Verify that your home is leak free. Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak. - Store drinking water in the refrigerator. Don't let the tap run while you are waiting for cool water to flow. - Insulate your water pipes. You'll avoid wasting water while it heats up and electricity to heat more water.

"It was put in back in the '30s, so for the past 70 years, it's been our rule of thumb on the water supply," he said.

The Upstate is more than 15 inches below normal rainfall since Labor Day, which marked the end of the wettest 12 months on record. That stretch followed a four-year drought, one of the longest in the state's history.

The National Weather Service declared Thursday that Anderson, Laurens and southern Greenville County are in a severe drought.

The rest of the Upstate is in a moderate drought, said meteorologist Wayne Jones.

If this drought drags on, it won't take four years for the region to get in dire straits like last time, said Venkat Lakshmi, professor of geology at the University of South Carolina.

"We have not fully recovered from the last drought," Lakshmi said. "It's very easy to go from adequate water to no water."

The Department of Natural Resources has not yet declared a drought in the state. State Climatologist Hope Mizzell could not be reached for comment.

It has reached the point where residents need to start conserving water again, Jones said. Saving some water now could prevent government demands, or even mandates, to reduce water later.

"If this continues through the summer, we will start seeing impact on water supplies," Jones said.

Part of that is because there are 53,000 more people living in the Upstate today than there were at the start of the last drought in 1998, which is equivalent of adding a new city of Greenville. That's 53,000 more people drinking from faucets, flushing toilets and taking showers.

And there are still plans on the table for thirsty Atlanta to tap Upstate water, though the city has not moved on plans publicized in 2002 to start piping water out of the Savannah River basin, which includes lakes Jocassee, Keowee and Hartwell.

Not everyone agrees increased demand will be enough to change the Upstate's water fortunes. Bud Batr, the state's chief hydrologist, said a rise in population, and similar rises in water consumption per person won't be enough. South Carolina has plenty of water, he said, we just don't always have the water where we need it.

"Because of more frequent extreme events, we need better planning on how to manage our water," he said.

The increased demand is not just from residents. Chandler said he worries about the demands of new businesses, particularly factories that use water as part of their production.

Apart from the spring, Chandler said there's one other way to tell we're in a drought again: He's getting a small, but increasing number of calls to replace dry wells.

Going to extremesThe area needs anywhere from five to eight inches of rain to return to normal, according to the weather service's recent drought statement. Stream levels are "well below normal" and the lakes and reservoirs are running up to three feet below full pool.

And the heat kicked in sooner than usual. Last year there were only nine days all summer that beat 90 degrees. This year, there have already been three and it's not even Memorial Day.

This hot, dry weather means more than an inch of water a week can evaporate from area lakes, which provide much of the drinking water for urban and suburban areas, Lakshmi said. In a normal year, we should get about an inch of rain a week. Last year, we averaged two inches of rain per week and this year, less than a half inch.

"When you put the math together, it's very simple," Lakshmi said.

There is disagreement among experts on whether the area has fully recovered from the last drought and whether that, not more consumption, is the reason why the Upstate may face water restrictions faster during this drought than last.

Rainfall for the Upstate is expected to be near normal for the next several months, but that has been the forecast for much of the spring.

Sprawl makes it worseAdding to the problem is when the Upstate is getting rain, less of it is sinking into the ground. More construction and paving on what were grasslands and wetlands makes it harder to recharge the groundwater, said Brad Wyche, executive director of Upstate Forever.

A 2002 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council showed Greenville loses between 12 billion and 25 billion gallons of water a year to runoff. That's enough to supply up to 777,000 people with water for a year, the report concluded.

"What this shows is that sprawl makes a drought even more painful because even when it does rain, a lot of the water runs rapidly off the asphalt and is not able to soak into the ground," he said.

Instead of sinking into the ground, the water moves quickly from Greenville, down the Reedy, Enoree and Saluda rivers, into Lake Greenwood and beyond. Decades ago, much of that water would have slowly seeped underground.

We're also not getting the right kind of rain, Batr said. We need slow, steady rains over a period of several days. The area's summer thunderstorms helps utilities and water companies, but does little for people with wells and farmers.