Locals recently heard about a plan that is being developed to sustain water levels in the Saluda River basin.

The state Department of Natural Resources held a meeting Nov. 1 at Saluda Shoals Park to offer information on the process of creating a new planning framework for surface water management, along with the importance of water planning, in the basin and to recruit potential stakeholders for the River Basin Committee.

The committee, which will consist of 25 members, will be tasked with shaping the plan for the basin, with seven other basins that touch the state — Upper Savannah, Lower Savannah-Salkehatchie, Edisto, Broad, Santee, Catawba and Pee Dee – set to receive the same treatment. 

The Saluda basin, which spans 2,523 square feet, is located entirely within the state. Three basin plans are already in process, with Saluda set to be the fourth. The basin’s plan is slated to be finished in 2025.

“Local input is key to what we're trying to do,” said Ken Rentiers, DNR's deputy director for land, water and conservation. “I often say water planning is a team sport.”

The central focus for the Saluda basin will be surface water resources since more than 99% percent of withdrawals are from the basin’s surface water.

Based on data collected in 2021, the withdrawals for surface water are broken into five general categories: thermoelectric, water supply, industry, agricultural irrigation, and golf courses. Thermoelectric and water supply account for 89% of the Saluda basin’s withdrawals.

“In March 2018, SCDNR established the State Water Planning Process Advisory Committee to help draft a ‘framework’ document that will guide the development of individual river basin plans for each of the state’s eight major river basins,” the agency states in a press release. 

“The Planning Process Advisory Committee includes representatives from a wide range of organizations, including the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, Clemson University’s S.C. Water Resources Center, municipal and rural water systems, conservation groups, power companies and agricultural interests. In 2019, the group completed a report, the ‘South Carolina State Water Planning Framework,’ which describes the river basin planning process and the intended contents of a river basin plan.”

With each River Basin Committee, DNR is looking to represent eight different areas of interest – environment and conservation; agriculture, forestry, and irrigation; water-based recreation; water and sewer utilities; electric power utilities and reservoir operators; local governments; industry and economic development; and the public.

When finished, the plans these committees produce will provide strategies designed to ensure surface and groundwater resources will be available for all uses for years to come, even under drought conditions.

“Planning should strive for an equitable use of water resources with the goal of ensuring water is available for all uses whenever needed throughout the planning horizon,” said Scott Harder, hydrology section chief for DNR.

The first step in the planning process is assessing surface water, then groundwater. The process then turns to projecting water demands before the river basin plan is written. When all the plans are finished, they will be compiled into the water plan for the state.

Each basin plan is created by its respective committee.

Planning for the Edisto basin began in June 2020 and is expected to be complete in early 2023. Work on the Broad basin plan started in March and is anticipated to be complete in February. 2024. And the process for the Pee Dee basin began in June and is scheduled to finish in May 2024.