Leaders to address water issues at S.C. Water Resources Conference

Published: September 23, 2010

COLUMBIA — The 2010 S.C. Water Resources Conference, Oct. 13-14 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, will provide a forum for state leaders to discuss how they would address major water issues facing the state.

Participants will include gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen and members of the South Carolina Legislature. Gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley declined an invitation to speak.

Topics include elected and appointed leaders’ views on contested water rights with adjoining states, competition for water among current and future users as South Carolina’s economy recovers, and challenges to both water quality and quantity in the state.

Oct. 13 highlights:
A panel discussion from 8:30 to 10 a.m. will address planning and response roles to protect state water resources in the event of a major spill. Speakers will be Capt. Michael F. White Jr., commander of the Charleston Sector of the Coast Guard, to address the federal role; David Baize from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Bureau of Water to address the state role; and Geoffrey Scott from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research to address the role of science.

Sheheen, a member of the State Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, is the luncheon speaker from noon to 12:30 p.m.  

Oct. 14 highlights:
State Sen. Paul Campbell is the moderator for a panel discussion by House and Senate members presenting “Legislative Viewpoints on Water Resource Issues Facing South Carolina” from 8:30 to 10 a.m.

“This conference is about more than water,” said Gene Eidson, conference co-chairman and director of the Clemson University Center for Watershed Excellence. “The issues discussed here affect our quality of life and the economic vitality of South Carolina. The presentations of these two days show we must take great care with our state’s valuable natural resources.”

The theme of this year’s conference is “Science and Policy Challenges for a Sustainable Future.” There are 30 breakout sessions in six tracks with more than 100 speakers from the state’s universities, federal and state agencies, environmental engineering consultants and municipalities. Tracks include water policy and planning, river basin and stream systems, stormwater management, water use management and permitting, and water quality and monitoring.

For more information or to register for the conference, go to www.scwaterconference.org.

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S.C. Water Resources Conference
The conference is held every two years. The inaugural conference in 2008 brought together 350 participants from municipal water authorities, environmental engineering and consulting firms, colleges and universities, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, economic development organizations, utility companies, land trusts, environmental attorneys and governmental entities.
 
The goals of the biennial conference are to:

• Communicate new research methods and scientific knowledge;
• educate scientists, engineers and water professionals; and
• disseminate useful information to policy-makers, water managers, industry stakeholders, citizen groups and the public.

Conference planning committee:
Beaufort Jasper Sewer and Water Authority, BP Barber, Clemson University Center for Watershed Excellence, Clemson University Restoration Institute, Clemson Computing and Information Technology, Strom Thurmond Institute, Coastal Carolina University, College of Charleston, NOAA Coastal Services Center, Santee Cooper, Savannah River National Laboratory, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Water Bureau and Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, S.C. Department of Natural Resources Hydrology and Marine Research, University of South Carolina School of the Environment, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Geological Survey.

Financial sponsors:
Clemson University Restoration Institute, Santee Cooper, Charleston Water System, Duke Energy Foundation, Strom Thurmond Institute, College of Charleston, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, Savannah River National Laboratory, U.S. Geological Survey.