Record SC drought is taking a toll across Rock Hill region farms and lakes
Neighbors and visitors often pick York County farms for their fresh strawberries, peaches and apples. But it’s been a challenging year for the farmers who grow them.
Those farmers haven’t gotten much relief from above, but they’re getting it on paper.
York County farmers are now eligible for emergency funds as persistent drought continues to grip the region. Farmers can get low-interest emergency loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture due to losses suffered from drought that began in January, said York County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Anita Jones.
Other options are available, too, including federal crop insurance and noninsured crop disaster assistance programs.
In addition to typical local farmers, York County has significant agritourism and larger scale farming operations.
Bush-N-Vine or Black’s Peaches in York, Cherry Place Farm in Rock Hill and Springs Farm in Fort Mill are among more than a dozen established farms that draw large crowds each year for their produce. York County farms grow everything from peaches, apples and strawberries to Christmas trees and the world’s spiciest peppers.
Pre-festival activities are already underway for the May 1-2 South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill, which brings truckloads of berries in for sale or festival use each year.
Yet as summer approaches, farmers statewide are feeling the heat from a drought that hasn’t let up for months.
South Carolina drought conditions
South Carolina drought listings operate on a five-part scale, from normal conditions to extreme drought. All 46 counties in the state moved from normal into the first drought stage, incipient, in January. In March, 11 counties west of the Rock Hill region moved into moderate drought, and the remaining counties statewide joined them on April 9.
The South Carolina Drought Response Committee, the group that sets drought levels, reported record-low stream flows, increased wildfire risk and growing concern among farmers.
Rainfall from September to March was the driest on record, which spans 131 years. The state typically gets 25 inches of rain in that span, but got just 10 inches, according to the South Carolina State Climatology Office.
The U.S. Drought Monitor has a separate five-part drought scale. Most of the Rock Hill region is in the severe drought stage, the third of five listings in order of severity. Small areas in western York and Chester counties are in the next stage, extreme drought.
Duke Energy and public utilities across the Catawba River basin have yet another drought monitoring system. A low inflow protocol is used by Duke Energy, the company that manages the lakes on the Catawba chain, to conserve water during dry seasons.
Last week, the Catawba-Wateree Drought Management Advisory Group announced the region is in Stage 1 of the low inflow protocol. Utilities are asking for voluntary water use cutbacks across the basin. More severe stages would require water conservation, like limits on lawn watering.
“By cooperating as a community and starting conservation efforts early, we can help protect our collective water resources,” Rock Hill Deputy City Manager and Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group Chairman Jimmy Bagley said at last week’s announcement.
The state drought response committee is set to meet again April 30 to review conditions, and could potentially change drought designations across the state.
Lake level impact from drought
Along with farming, lake levels are impacted when little or no rain falls. Lake Wylie and others along the Catawba chain are used for everything frrom power production to public recreation. They’re also public drinking water sources.
Duke Energy typically aims to keep lakes 3 feet below full pond, or the point where they’d flood if they rose any higher. Anywhere from 5 to 8 fee below full pond is a critical level for lakes, where water intakes or industry would be impacted. On Lake Wylie, that minimum level is seven feet below full pond.
On Tuesday morning, Lake Wylie sat more than 4 feet below full pond. Lake Norman, the largest of 11 reservoirs on the Catawba chain and a buffer Duke Energy uses to even out levels across the basin, sat more than 5 feet below its full pond.
Duke Energy asks residents who use water from one of its lakes for landscape irrigation to limit water to Tuesdays and Saturdays, using only what is necessary. Some boat ramps could close temporarily as lake levels drop, according to the company.