Brack: Better water planning would help state

Back in 1929, the man who became South Carolina’s longest-serving state superintendent of education (1922-1947) included a quote in a state report about the need to be prepared.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail,” said the report by James H. Hope.

It’s still true today. With recent news around the state about two challenges related to the state’s waters, maybe it’s time for South Carolina to get a little more serious about water planning.

Last week, Statehouse Report outlined how millions of tiny plastic pellets called nurdles are finding their way into state waters due to carelessness, accidents or something else. The United States produces about 60 billion pounds of these granular plastics that make the plastic products we use everyday like toothbrushes, water bottles and lawn chairs.

The big problem with nurdles is they get into the food chain because they look tasty to small fish, who eat them. Then big fish eat the small ones. And then we eat the bigger fish and end up with more pieces of microplastics floating around our bodies – not healthy.

Also last week, the Charleston City Paper reported how state waters may be at increasing risk from development. New research shows rainwater that hits temporary waterways called “ephemeral streams” to feed reservoirs and creeks may no longer have federal protections following a 2023 judicial decision. While some state protections remain, the rules are now a little more unsettled.

Squishier rules make for more conservation volatility. This brings us back to planning. More than 30 years ago, the state passed a zoning measure to encourage local governments to do comprehensive land planning. Having more certainty where housing and industrial sites can develop, as well as knowing the areas where conservation is a priority, makes for better, more responsible long-term use of land. It also brings more certainty to economic development – and to conservation – if everyone knows the rules.

These days with all of the hullabaloo over data centers, which use huge amounts of fresh water to cool electronics that keep information flowing, and over continuing environmental threats to water supplies, maybe it’s time to bring more certainty to how we manage water, just as we did with managing land.

If each county had a comprehensive water management plan, for example, it might not have to spend so much time on a moratorium here or a reaction there when a crisis pops up. Why? Because the plan would help mitigate future crises.

“I think it’s government’s responsibility to include the assurance that every citizen has the ability to depend on whatever public water supply is being provided and for it to not be affected by any contaminant,” said Johns Island conservationist Michael McShane, a Ducks Unlimited board member who recently won South Carolina’s highest civilian award for his decades of conservation commitment.

McShane

Economic development and conservation can co-exist – and flourish – when rules are clear, said McShane, a former chair of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources board of directors and the S.C. Conservation Bank.

McShane said offering more certainty in water planning would benefit everyone. It’s a logical step forward from the state’s 1994 land planning, too.

And to ensure it wouldn’t be an unfunded mandate, the state should provide some financial assistance to local governments to assist water conservation planning efforts.

“Do a water wetlands plan,” McShane said. “It ought to be part of what they’re doing with comprehensive planning anyway.”

As General and later President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

With increasing threats to South Carolina’s much-heralded abundant waters from nurdles, pollution, development and storm-related flooding, the General Assembly in 2027 should help local governments get on top of water conservation planning with guidelines and funding to make it happen.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of the Charleston City Paper and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.