Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Decision Support System For Optimally Managing Water Resources To Meet Multiple Objectives In The Savannah River Basin, Edwin A. Roehl, Jr., Paul A. Conrads

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

Managers of large river basins face conflicting demands for water resources such as wildlife habitat, water supply, wastewater assimilative capacity, flood control, hydroelectricity, and recreation. The Savannah River Basin, for example, has experienced three major droughts since 2000 that resulted in record low water levels in its reservoirs, impacting dependent economies for years. The Savannah River estuary contains two municipal water intakes and the ecologically sensitive freshwater tidal marshes of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. The Port of Savannah is the fourth busiest in the United States, and modifications to the harbor to expand ship traffic since the 1970s have …

Use Of A Volunteer Monitoring Program To Assess Water Quality In A Tmdl Watershed Utilized For Recreational Use, Pickens County, South Carolina, Travis H. Nation, Leah A. Johnson

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

Municipalities, regulatory agencies, and resource advocacy organizations are often tasked with the enormous responsibility of monitoring water quality and implementing management strategies for vast areas within their jurisdictions. A potential means for addressing the resulting sampling shortfall is the use of volunteer monitoring programs. The project reported herein demonstrates the use of QA/QC protocols developed by Georgia Adopt-a-Stream (AAS) to monitor water quality issues for Twelve Mile Creek located in Pickens County, SC. The Twelve Mile watershed has a storied past as a U.S. EPA Superfund site due to industrial PCB contamination. Recent mitigation efforts involving the removal of two …

Journal Of South Carolina Water Resources Volume 2, Issue 1

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

In our day-to-day work, ‘managing messes’ seems like an apt description of how we react to what needs to be done. I started this note last July when South Carolina was in the midst of a mild yet potentially deepening drought. The early October storm turned things upside down, disrupting the state, leading to the deaths of a dozen people, and producing damage estimated to be in the billions of dollars. As of November 10, Charleston has recorded 71 inches of rain and should surpass the record yearly rainfall of 73 inches, set in 1964.

As we work on recovery …

Interstate Water Compacts: Partnerships For Transboundary Water Resource Management, Cindy G. Roper

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

While there are both successes and challenges related to the use of interstate water compacts, in their most effective forms they allow states to take a comprehensive, holistic approach to water management. Successful compacts tend to encompass the natural hydrologic boundaries of the water basin. They are more likely to utilize a commission type governance structure with sufficient authority to carry out the mission and goals of the compacting agreement. Successful compacts are flexible and allow for future developments (including climate change) while being cognizant of the need to protect and enhance the environment. They are also sensitive to the …

Model Results And Software Comparisons In Myrtle Beach, Sc Using Virtual Beach And R Regression Toolboxes, Matthew J. Neet, R. Heath Kelsey, Dwayne E. Porter, Dan W. Ramage, Adrian B. Jones

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

Utilizing R software and a variety of data sources, daily forecasts of bacteria levels were developed and automated for beach waters in Myrtle Beach, SC. Modeled results are then shown for beach locations via a website and mobile device app. While R provides a robust set of tools for use in forecast modeling, the software has an extensive learning curve and requires skilled statistical interpretation of results. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the “Virtual Beach” software package to address these concerns. To evaluate the utility of the more user-friendly Virtual Beach modeling toolbox, predictive models were developed and model …

Groundwater Recharge Rates In Isolated And Riverine Wetlands: Influencing Factors, Chenille Williams, Dan Tufford

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

Isolated wetlands and riverine wetlands have been shown to have similar groundwater hydrology despite their difference in topography and surface water hydrology. The current study aimed to address the impact of topography and surface water hydrology on groundwater hydrologic behavior by comparing the groundwater recharge rates of several isolated and riverine wetlands in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Study sites contained an isolated wetland, a riverine wetland, and an upland that bisected the two wetland types. Shallow water tables and sandy soils, allowed a rapid response to precipitation to be clearly visible. Soil characteristics, water table fluctuations, and precipitation …

South Carolina's Climate Report Card: The Influence Of The El Niño Southern Oscillation Cold Warm Event Cycles On South Carolina's Seasonal Precipitation, Hope Mizzell, Jennifer Simmons

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

This study was driven by the need to better understand variations in South Carolina’s seasonal precipitation. Numerous weather-sensitive sectors such as agriculture and water resource management are impacted by the seasonal variability and distribution of precipitation. Studies have shown that El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has varying effects on seasonal temperature and precipitation across the United States.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative influence of ENSO cold and warm event cycles on interannual variations of South Carolina’s seasonal precipitation (1950- 2015). The relationship between seasonal precipitation departures from normal and the average Multivariate ENSO Index was analyzed. …

Watershed-Based Planning For Murrells Inlet: Source Assessment Of Fecal Bacteria Using Volunteer And Shellfish Sanitation Program Data, Susan Libes, Heather Young, Daniel Newquist, Sue Sledz

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

A watershed-based plan was recently developed for Murrells Inlet, a moderately tidal, euhaline estuary located on the northern coast of South Carolina. One of the goals of this planning effort was to collate and analyze existing data to refine assessments of the sources of fecal coliform detected by SC DHEC’s shellfish monitoring program. Coastal Carolina University’s Waccamaw Watershed Academy (WWA) was engaged to lead this data analysis effort. The most important sources identified were urbanized wildlife and canines. Results from the data analyses were used to prioritize subwatersheds for remediation. This has led to proposed strategies that focus on interception …

Analysis Of Climate Change And 24-Hour Design Storm Depths For A Range Of Return Periods Across South Carolina, Derek Hutton, Nigel B. Kaye, William D. Martin Iii

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

A warming climate leads to a moister atmosphere and more rapid hydrologic cycle. As such, many parts of the country are predicted to experience more total rainfall per year and more frequent extreme rainfall events. Most regions of the country have stormwater systems designed to a standard that matches outflow rates to pre-development values for specified return period storms. Increases in these return period storm depths, as predicted by many global climate models, will stress existing stormwater infrastructure. This paper examines how rainfall patterns will change over the remainder of the century across the state of South Carolina.

Rainfall simulations …

Water Budget Of A Shallow Aquifer In The Lower Coastal Plain: Ace Basin, Sc, Rachael L.A. Kassabian, Timothy J. Callahan, Saundra Upchurch

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

The expansive tidal salt marshes of South Carolina support a unique and sensitive ecosystem providing environmental and economic value to the coastal community. These tidal ecosystems are often altered by sea level rise through various processes, including the lesser-known stress of saltwater intrusion in groundwater systems. The goal of this research was to measure the baseline groundwater dynamics of an undeveloped tidal saltmarsh. Groundwater wells were installed along transects from the upland into the marsh and a culminating water budget of the watershed was developed. Analysis of water table dynamics showed that in the upland zone, evapotranspiration and precipitation were …

Watershed Plan Implementation Challenges For Sms4s In Murrells Inlet, Dave Fuss, Dan Newquist, Sue Sledz, Tracy Jones, Daniel R. Hitchcock

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

This case study describes the plan development process, implementation strategies and initial and future challenges to implementation for the Murrells Inlet Watershed Plan (WRCOG, 2014). The Plan was crafted by a group of key stakeholders with community support and guidance to address fecal coliform bacteria loading in shellfish harvesting waters in the Murrells Inlet Estuary along the northeastern South Carolina coast. Stakeholders debated the interpretation of the data analysis and ultimately concluded that the primary pollutant sources were non-human, namely wildlife and domestic animals. Stakeholders also concluded that the loads from these sources were being delivered to the estuary via …

Hydraulic Geometry Curves In The Pee Dee Watershed, Z.T. Smoot, A.D. Jayakaran, D.R. Hitchcock

Journal of South Carolina Water Resources

Hydraulic bankfull geometry or regional curves are a useful metric for evaluating stream stability and planning stream restoration projects. Streams and tributaries within the Middle Pee Dee River Basin (MPDRB) in South Carolina drain an agrarian and forested landscape characterized by water conveyance structures, such as active and historical ditches which support forestry and agriculture. While streams in the region are generally stable, pockets of this landscape are beginning to face increasing pressure from development with signs of stream instability apparent in several locations as evidenced by streams in and around the urbanizing areas around Darlington and Florence, SC. In …