Watch Alex Pellett's presentation from Spirit of the River

The "Spirit of the River" event returned to Givhan's Ferry State Park on Saturday, August 13th. FRED was happy to work with the South Carolina Paddlesports Industry Association to bring back this opportunity to share the beautiful Edisto with paddlers, tubers, swimmers, and river lovers of all descriptions. In addition to music, food, and paddling demonstrations, the highlight of the event was having Alex Pellett of the SC Department of Natural Resources on hand to talk about the ongoing effort to develop accurate flow models for the Edisto, and to discuss how that effort might be useful in planning and stewardship for the Edisto and other SC rivers.

You can watch Alex's presentation in its entirety here: https://vimeo.com/178940063

     Note: a question asked during Alex's presentation: "Are there any native fish species that are in trouble because of low flows in the Edisto River? The answer given by DNR staff is that it's not known if the existing low flows are having a negative effect on fishes of the Edisto; however, fish obviously need a healthy flowing river for their populations to be sustained.  To that answer, DNR staff would add: Agency policies, as described in the South Carolina Water Plan, recommend minimum-flow standards for the protection of fish and wildlife habitats of streams, and specific science-based flow standards are recommended by DNR. If stream flows are falling below the flow standards then we would expect the low-flow conditions, if prolonged, to have negative effects on fish and other aquatic resources. - Bill Marshall, SCDNR