~This speaks volumes of what
"I cried earlier today/1 she said. "It
meant so much to him. He knew about
die Sylvan L. Rosen bridge in Georgetown.
Waccamaw River water impacted
by more salt water creeping in
BY KELLY MARSHALL FULLER
[email protected]
The continuing drought has caused
some problems with salt water seeping into fresh water sources on the
Waccamaw Neck.
This is according to officials with
Georgetown County Water & Sewer
District, who said they are not drawing water from the Waccamaw River
during certain times, due to the salt
•water creeping closer to the water
treatment system.
While drinking water is not being
rationed, water and sewer officials
said the water treatment plant on the
Waccamaw Neck is being turned off at
high tide, to avoid salt water seeping
into the storage tanks, said Larry
Dickerson, assistant director of
Georgetown County Water & Sewer.
"We are starting to experience some
higher salt concentrations coming up
the river, particularly during high
tide," Dickerson said. "We have plenty
of water, but we have had to modify
our operating methods."
According to Internet sources, salt
water intrusion happens when fresh
water is taken out faster than it's
replenished.
"When fresh water is withdrawn at
a faster rate than it can be replenished,
the water table is drawn down as a
result," according to a Wikipedia Web
page on salt water intrusion. "This
draw-down also reduces the hydrostatic pressure. When this happens
near an ocean coastal area, salt water
from the ocean is pulled into the fresh
water aquifer. 'The result is that the
aquifer becomes'«contaminated with
IIOZ 'IZ Atrip '
salt water. This is happening to many
coastal communities."
The problem of salt water intrusion
impacting the drinking water for the
Waccamaw Neck was first noticed
during the summer drought of 2002,
Dickerson said.
This past weekend was the first
time this summer that salt water has
impacted the fresh water supply on
the Neck.
The water treatment plant is now
staffed 24 hours a day, Dickerson said.
The water treatment operators do
not draw water from the river during
high tide.
The storage tanks are full and this
does not cause a problem with the
water supply for customers, Dickerson said.
"We can't take it out of the river
anytime we want to," he said. "You're
able to store water and fill up storage
tanks! We've also got wells and we can
get water from Grand Strand Water &
Sewer."
Dickerson said some wells on the
Waccamaw Neck are being converted
to aquifer storage and recovery systems.
A new water treatment plant is also
being built on S.C. Highway 51 northwest of Georgetown, which will connect smaller water systems through-.
out the county.
The problem with the water supply
is not only impacting Georgetown
County.
"Stream flows and lake levels across
the state are starting to drop in what
can be some of the biggest harbingers
of a major drought," according to
menders of the S.C. Drought Com-
mittee.
"About one-third of the roughly
three dozen U.S. Geological Survey
sites in the state that monitor how fast
streams and rivers are flowing reported well-below-normal levels in the
past few days."
Heavy rains that hit parts of the area
recently came down too fast and were
too isolated to cause a change in
Georgetown County's drought status.
The South Carolina Drought
Response Committee decided recently to keep Georgetown County in a
"moderate' state of drought.
Horry and Marion counties, which
were also in a moderate drought, are
now considered to be in a severe
drought.
Horry County is now in severe
drought because that is where the
biggest forest fires have happened in
recent weeks, which can put .a big
dent in the water supplies if other
fires pop up.
The City of Georgetown recently
saw four to six inches — the larger
amounts were in and around the Historic District.
The parched areas of Georgetown
County — unfortunately where most
of the farming takes place — have
received much less rainfall.
That, coupled with the oppressive
heat that recently baked the area
resulted in the rain making little
impact on the precipitation deficit.
State Climatologist Hope Mizzell
said the three-month weather outlook
shows hope between now and the end
of September.
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