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Drought level upgraded to incipient in 15 counties

Staff Report //May 16, 2019//

Drought level upgraded to incipient in 15 counties

Staff Report //May 16, 2019//

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The drought level in 15 S.C. counties has been upgraded from normal to incipient, according to a news release from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

The S.C. Drought Response Committee took the action this past Tuesday based on information from indicators including the 60-day percent of normal rainfall, the U.S. Drought Monitor and the crop moisture index. Incipient levels are followed by moderate, severe and extreme.

The counties are: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Edgefield, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper, Orangeburg and Williamsburg.

State climatologist Hope Mizzell said rainfall during the last 60 days has ranged from 3.5 inches in Mount Pleasant in Charleston County to more than 17 inches in Sunset in Pickens County. While most Upstate locations have received excessive rainfall since Jan. 1, including 39.53 inches in Slater-Marietta in Greenville County, some areas in the Lowcountry have received less than 10 inches, according to the release.

Columbia has received 17.36 inches of rainfall since Jan. 1.

Clay Duffie, general manager for Mount Pleasant Waterworks, told the committee via conference call that the organization has moved into the first level of its drought response plan.

“The lack of rainfall is causing irrigation demands to increase, so we are encouraging businesses and residents to make sure their irrigation systems are working properly and to not over irrigate,” Duffie said. “This time of year, we often find residents are putting two to four times as much water as needed on their landscape.”

Scott Harder, S.C. Department of Natural Resources senior hydrologist, said below-normal rainfall levels during the past 60 days have resulted in below-normal streamflow levels for much of the southern part of the state. Heavy rainfall, however, in portions of the Pee Dee and the Upstate has led to record-high groundwater levels at monitoring sites including Chesterfield and Oconee.

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