South Carolina Current Drought Status

State Climate Office                 803-734-9100
SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE          DNR News 803-734-3815
June 10, 2009

DROUGHT OFFICIALLY OVER IN STATE

South Carolina Drought Map for June 10, 2009

For previously issued drought statements see the archived status reports.

Table of all counties and drought status.
Drought Response Committee Meeting Sign-In sheet.

Discussion:

The S.C. Drought Response Committee removes drought declaration for all South Carolina counties.

For the first time since August 2006 no area of the State is under a drought declaration. Increased rainfall frequency and coverage over the last six months have alleviated the drought conditions statewide. Today all 19 Upstate counties were removed from drought by the South Carolina Drought Response Committee. On April 15 the Committee lifted the drought declaration for the remaining 27 counties.

According to Hope Mizzell, SC State Climatologist, "The timing, amount and duration of the rainfall have brought all drought indicators back to normal levels. Many stations report above normal rainfall since January (see table below)."

According to DNR hydrologist Masaaki Kiuchi all regularly monitored streams show no drought and lake levels around South Carolina are normal except in the Savannah River Basin which is slightly below normal. Upstate wells show improvement and water levels are rising in most monitoring wells. However, groundwater levels in some areas of the Upstate may not be sufficient to adequately support streamflows if rainfall declines.

"Every region of the State has been impacted by this drought," says Ken Rentiers, Chairman of the SC Drought Response Committee. "The return to a normal rainfall pattern brings welcome relief."

The Committee recommends that the public continue to use water wisely.

"Even though we have overcome the rainfall deficit associated with the drought, we are still dealing with some of the long-term drought effects. Several of the upper Savannah reservoirs remain below full pool. We encourage residents of the northwestern areas of the Upstate to continue to voluntarily conserve our water resources. If we have learned anything over the past several years of dealing with drought, it is that no one should waste water," urged Dennis Chastain, a member of the West Drought Committee.

StationYear to Date
Rainfall Total
Percent
of Normal
Gaffney27.09"119%
Long Creek34.07"115
Anderson25.28"115%
Greenville-Spartanburg23.09"99%
Chester22.4"105%
Saluda23.46"107%
Sumter20.61" 100%
Orangeburg22.17"109%
Charleston19.29"100%

Contact South Carolina State Climatologist Dr.Hope Mizzell in Columbia at (803) 734-9568 or e-mail at mizzellh@dnr.sc.gov for more information.

DNR protects and manages South Carolina's natural resources by making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state's natural resources and its people. Find out more about DNR at the DNR Web site.

Drought Status Table

Current Drought Status by County
Normal Incipient Moderate Severe Extreme
County
Status
County
Status
County
Status
County
Status
County
Status
ABBEVILLE
Normal
AIKEN
Normal
ALLENDALE
Normal
ANDERSON
Normal
BAMBERG
Normal
BARNWELL
Normal
BEAUFORT
Normal
BERKELEY
Normal
CALHOUN
Normal
CHARLESTON
Normal
CHEROKEE
Normal
CHESTER
Normal
CHESTERFIELD
Normal
CLARENDON
Normal
COLLETON
Normal
DARLINGTON
Normal
DILLON
Normal
DORCHESTER
Normal
EDGEFIELD
Normal
FAIRFIELD
Normal
FLORENCE
Normal
GEORGETOWN
Normal
GREENVILLE
Normal
GREENWOOD
Normal
HAMPTON
Normal
HORRY
Normal
JASPER
Normal
KERSHAW
Normal
LANCASTER
Normal
LAURENS
Normal
LEE
Normal
LEXINGTON
Normal
MARION
Normal
MARLBORO
Normal
MCCORMICK
Normal
NEWBERRY
Normal
OCONEE
Normal
ORANGEBURG
Normal
PICKENS
Normal
RICHLAND
Normal
SALUDA
Normal
SPARTANBURG
Normal
SUMTER
Normal
UNION
Normal
WILLIAMSBURG
Normal
YORK
Normal


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Sign-In Sheet

SC Drought Response Committee Meeting, June 10, 2009
Sign-In sheet
Name & AgencyName & Agency
Reg Williams Farm Bureau
F Pickens Williams, Jr. Administrator Barnwell County
Dennis Chastain Domestic User Representative
Vernon Osteen Savannah River Nuclear Solutions LLC
Warren Harris Town of Salem
J. Scott Willett Anderson Joint Regional
Brenda H. Nettles Soil and Water Conservation District
Chris Bickley, Jr. Lowcountry Council of Gov.
Steve Hammond Duke Energy
John W. Westcott Spartanburg Water System
James Witkowski International Paper, Inc.
Brian Burgess Saluda Water & Sewer Authority
Mike Caston SJWD Water District
Norman Whitaker Regional Council of Gov.
Joseph Johnson Agriculture Representative
Keith Griffin Springs Industry, Inc.
William Taylor City of Cheraw
Stuart Ames Progress Energy
Elbert Warren Public Service District
Theron DeWitt Soil and Water Conservation District
Michael E. Hancock Lugoff-Elgin Water Authority
Fred H. Boatwright City of Orangeburg
Ronald E. Mitchum Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments
Ken Rentiers DNR
David Baize SCDHEC
David Tompkins SC Department of Agriculture
Darryl Jones SC Forestry Commission
Francis Tubolino SC Emergency Management Division
Steve de Kozlowski DNR
Greg Lamberty National Weather Service
Doug Young Upstate Citizen
David Merryman Catawba River Keepers



Find out more about the State Climatology Office at https://www.dnr.sc.gov/climate/sco/ or by calling (803) 734-9100.