DATE: October 15, 2008

CONTACT: Gene Eidson, 864-710-0882
geidson@clemson.edu

WRITER: Peter Hull, 843-554-7226, ext. 118
phull@clemson.edu

S.C. Water Resources Conference focuses on communities and collaboration

NORTH CHARLESTON — The 2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference concluded Wednesday with the message that the state’s water supply is at risk and it will take the combined efforts of communities across the region to protect the state's quality of life.

The two-day conference, organized by the Clemson University Restoration Institute and planned by a group of 19 universities, governmental agencies and industries, was told Wednesday — by an official from Georgia — that the issues experienced in western states are heading east.

Carol Couch, head of the Governor’s Savannah River Bi-State Task Force in Georgia, said that rapid growth and development could place similar strains on the South's water supply as those seen in the West.

With more than 1 million people expected to move to South Carolina during the coming decade, it is everyone’s responsibility to consider what the cultural and social expectations are of the state's natural resources, Couch said.

“Conservation and re-use are not just feel-good words,” she said. “Reduced per-capita demand on water has many, many benefits. These challenges are one of the most important factors of this country’s future.”

In addition to its partnership with Georgia, South Carolina has its own plan, called the State Water Plan.

Bud Badr, chief of hydrology for the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, said the plan was established to better manage the state’s water resources through drought and reservoir management, water quantity monitoring and interstate water use.

While South Carolina’s supply usually is plentiful, we don’t always have water when and where we need it, Badr said.

“Can we run out of water? Yes we can,” he said.

The conference at the Charleston Area Convention Center was attended by more than 350 people.

Thirty discussion topics ranging from water policy and planning to data management and community-based programs illustrated that we overlook these issues at our peril, said Gene Eidson, director of the Restoration Institute ecology focus area and the Clemson University Center for Watershed Excellence.

“This conference is about more than water,” Eidson said. “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,” he said.

END

Conference planning committee: Beaufort-Jasper Water Authority, BP Barber Engineers, Clemson University Center for Watershed Excellence, Coastal Carolina University, College of Charleston, Corps of Engineers-SAC, Medical University of South Carolina-Biomedicine & Environmental Sciences Center, NOAA-Hollings Marine Laboratory, Santee Cooper, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium, S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control-Water Bureau and Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, S.C. Department of Natural Resources-Hydrology and Marine Research, University of South Carolina-School of the Environment, USDA Forest Service, USGS-South Carolina.

Financial sponsors: BP Barber Engineers; Charleston Water System; Clemson University Center for Computing and Information Technology, Center for Watershed Excellence, Restoration Institute and Thurmond Institute-SC Water Resources Center; College of Charleston; Duke Energy; McAngus, Goudelock and Courie; PBS&J; Santee Cooper; S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control; S.C. Sea Grant Consortium; University of South Carolina-School of the Environment; USGS-South Carolina.