South Carolina has over 30,000 miles of rivers, streams and creeks. These resources provide plenty of places for us to canoe, kayak, fish or swim, but to ensure these special places are around for generations to come, we have to safeguard them. We are supportive of our Riverkeepers and work with different organizations collaboratively to protect our waters, from the coastline to the mountains.
Climate Change is impacting our sea levels and affecting our towns during hurricane season. The storms are stronger and are causing more flooding in our state. The South Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club is dedicated to educating and learning how to manage these changes.
Capacity Use Areas (CUA)
Midlands ExCom member Peter DeLorme has worked for many years to protect groundwater in South Carolina. The work of his Water for Aiken (W.A.T.E.R.) group initiated the creation of a Capacity Use Area for the western portion of the coastal plain. CUAs provide for the management and permitting of ground water withdrawals. Most recently the group’s supported the DHEC Board’s vote to expand management to the Santee-Lynches area. Now an additional six counties (Richland, Sumter, Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee and Chesterfield) will be required to get permits before withdrawing large amounts of groundwater. See details here:
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/environment/article252804193.html
This will not only protect the state’s precious water supply but will also have a significant environmental justice (EJ) impact in rural areas that depend on well water for their water supply.
In the Western area, agricultural irrigation has been the fastest growing and largest consumer of ground water. But big megafarms do not need to use excessive amounts of water to grow food. Regenerative agriculture techniques can be used to limit the amount of water needed to produce the same amount of food with greater nutritional content and without harming the environment. For more information look here: (https://www.oneearth.org/regenerative-agriculture-and-food-systems/).
Congratulations Pete!
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program
The EPA's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model helps demonstrate "potential health-related impacts of toxic chemical releases from industrial and federal facilities that report to the Toxics Release Inventory."
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Thank you Ron and Kathleen from the Bartram group for sharing this information!