Submitted by Congaree Riverkeeper on Fri, 05/24/2019 - 12:51
The South Carolina Legislature has wrapped up the 2019 session (well, almost), and it was a pretty great year for conservation. Here's how Congaree Riverkeeper's top issues played out, as well as a few other conservation highlights.
FRED President Tim Rogers reacted to this news on Tuesday, saying "This is really important. We need to let Friends of the Edisto know that our voices have been heard on this important issue."
First of all, I want to shout out a special thank-you to the many folks who responded to our “action alert” about the SC House Ag Subcommittee hearing yesterday, May 6, on H-3564. These marked our first two FRED action alerts and we really appreciate all the great response.
Here are the comments of Doug Busbee presented at the South Carolina State House rotunda during a Feb 11, 2015 press conference introducing legislation of Rep James Smith dealing with the SC surface water law.
Jan 21, 2015 -- Our friend, Doug Busbee did a great job today presenting to State Senators our concerns about SC's weak water withdrawal laws. The State newspaper provides a summary at this link ... Aiken residents ask SC Senate to limit river withdrawals by megafarms | Politics | The State
Individuals representing the South Carolina Farm Bureau and the agricultural business community are saying that "sound science" is the basis of both the 2010 South Carolina Surface Water Withdrawal Act and a recent water-withdrawal registration granted to an Aiken potato farm. Some agricultural leaders are saying there is no problem with the new surface water law and it needs to be given time to work.
In 2013, Friends of the Edisto (FRED) had to challenge the State's issuance of a water-withdrawal registration on the South Fork Edisto River which in times of drought would allow as much as two-thirds of available flow in the river to be removed by one farm for crop irrigation. The large withdrawal of water was granted to Walther Farms (potato farm) in Aiken County.
