U.S. Water News Online
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina's four-year drought hasn't featured the barren cropland and the rolling dust storms that normally come to mind when the weather turns dry.
The worst effects of this drought are harder to see.
Underground, wells in the northern part of the state are drying up as not enough rain makes it through the soil to recharge the water table. Streams have slowed to a trickle, and lake levels are well below normal, exposing stumps and debris that haven't been seen since before the rivers were dammed.
Columbia has recorded its third driest year ever in 2001 with rainfall 20 inches below normal. The capital city, which averages nearly 50 inches of rain a year, is more than 59 inches below normal since the start of 1998. Greenville, Charleston, and Florence are all 10 inches below normal rainfall this year, reflecting what's been seen across most of the state.
With crops harvested and water demand low in the winter, drought talk has eased, state climatologist Milt Brown said. But South Carolina soon will face another critical time in the spring when farmers begin to plant crops and water needs begin to rise.
``It doesn't look too bad on the surface, but it can return to a bad situation quickly if the rain doesn't come this spring,'' Brown said.
The drought started in the summer of 1998 with no end in sight. Greenville's rainfall is nearly 42 inches below normal in the past four years, while Florence is running 25.3 inches below normal. Charleston was more than 16 inches above normal in rain in 1998, but has fallen 22 inches behind in the past three years.
``To a certain extent, drought can bring more drought,'' said Rich Tinker, a meteorologist with the national climate prediction center in Camp Springs, Md.
That's because drier soil doesn't have as much moisture to evaporate back into the atmosphere, so a storm might be left with less water to dump as rain. Tinker said, though, four years of drought doesn't mean the state is becoming drier overall.
``It's premature to say that the dry weather indicates some kind of change in the climate in South Carolina, particularly because we can tie some of it to the La Nina effect,'' he said.
La Nina occurs when a large amount of cool water pools around the equator in the Pacific Ocean. The weather pattern, which often causes drier-than-normal conditions in the Southeast, is waning, Tinker said.
Most of the East Coast is suffering from some form of drought, ``but South Carolina certainly seems to be getting the worst of it,'' Tinker said.
Officially, the state calls the current situation a moderate drought. Maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put most of the state except for the area from Anderson to Rock Hill and the northern and southern coasts in an extreme drought.
Either way, the earth is parched. And officials are weary of any forecast offering certain relief in the future.
While federal forecasters predict the drought condition to improve through March, Brown said, ``they don't really have a lot of confidence in their outlook.''
Despite the lack of moisture, farms fared well this year because rain came just when they needed it, Brown said. Peppers, corn, tomatoes, berries, apples, and most other commercial crops did well. Late-season soybeans were one of the few crops to show poor yields.
The problems show up in places such as Lake Hartwell, which is 6 feet to 7 feet below normal, leaving docks high and dry and workers thinking that the only thing that can save them is a rare, slow-melting heavy snow.
``We're as low as we were last year, and we're not even to the bad part of winter,'' marina manager Russell McGuffion said.
``It will take several years to get back to normal,'' he said. ``We're going to need twice as much rain as we've been having.''
Return to the U.S. Water News Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields