South Carolina Drought News Release
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Land, Water and Conservation Division
South Carolina Drought Response Program
Department of Natural Resources News (803) 734-4133
SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE #00 - 28 July 26, 2000
MODERATE DROUGHT DECLARATION REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF S.C.
A "moderate" drought declaration remains in effect for much of South Carolina. The S.C. Drought Response Committee met Wednesday, July 26 in Columbia to discuss drought conditions for the state. As a result, the S.C. Drought Response Committee has downgraded the drought status of two coastal South Carolina counties to "incipient," the first drought level. The remaining counties in the state are still listed as "moderate,"the second level of drought.
Based on the amount of precipitation received over the past few weeks, the drought status of Beaufort and Charleston counties were downgraded from moderate to incipient, joining nine Pee Dee counties - Chesterfield, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg. A moderate drought declaration remains in effect for Abbeville,
Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Berkeley, Calhoun, Cherokee, Chester, Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Jasper, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lee, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Sumter, Union and York counties. A moderate drought
declaration, as specified in the Drought Response Act, means that drought conditions have continued to deteriorate and are expected to persist.
Water suppliers should continue to implement their drought plans and ordinances as necessary.
Freddy Vang, deputy director of the Land, Water and Conservation Division with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said "Our responsibility in this program is to ensure that we provide information to assist water users as best we can and be vigilant in monitoring the drought."
The DNR will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as needed. For more information, contact State Drought Program Coordinator Hope Mizzell in the DNR State Climatology Office at (803) 737-0800 in Columbia.
- Written by Dawn Mills Campbell -
Find out more about the State Climatology Office at http://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/ or by calling (803) 734-9100.
