The SC drought is affecting the Rock Hill area. Do I need to conserve water?
South Carolina has been in a mild drought since early December, and despite recent rain, the state is getting drier.
“Worsening drought conditions” are causing low water levels in the Catawba-Wateree River Basin, according to a news release from Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group, which announced a “drought watch” for the river basin.
While there are no mandates at this time, the community is encouraged to be cognizant of the drought situation, Duke Energy reports.
“There are no required actions by the community at this stage, but water and energy conservation are strongly encouraged, especially with the expected dry months ahead,” said Ed Bruce, Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group coordinator, said in a statement.
The Catawba-Wateree River Basin supplies water and electricity to the Tri-County area. The basin is now in Stage 0 of drought protocol, meaning water levels are low enough to trigger close monitoring, the news release said.
York, Lancaster and Chester counties are all still classified as “incipient drought.”
“Incipient” is the first level of drought, followed by moderate, severe, and extreme. In June, SCDNR declared an incipient drought in nine counties. The number of counties now totals 34.
From October to November, Fort Mill in York County was named as one of the places most affected, said Hope Mizzell, S.C. State Climatologist.
The rain over the past week was not enough to remedy the situation, according to a news release from Duke Energy. The state will need much more rainfall to make up for dry conditions.
Duke Energy rain gauges show the region received less than half the expected rain fall from September through December, the release said.
Risk of wildfires
In December, the South Carolina Drought Response Committee called a meeting was called to discuss the drought and risk of wildfires.
In the first week of September, South Carolina had already seen more than 1.5 times the 10-year average of wildfires, a news release from SCDRC said at the time.
As of Dec. 9, the S.C. Forestry Commission reported 18 contained fires in the state, which means the spread of the fire had been stopped. There was also one active fire in the Pee Dee region that had not yet been contained.
As of Jan. 4, there was one wildfire, which is contained.
