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T&D News, Oct 11, 2014 -- A group of South Carolina landowners, including one from Bamberg County, are suing to overturn the portion of the state’s 2010 water withdrawal law that sets up different rules for agriculture and industry.

The landowners’ main concern is that agricultural users can take out the same amount of water at all times under the law without regard to water flows, said attorney Amy Armstrong of the South Carolina Environmental Law Project. “It creates a certain, special class of water withdrawal exemptions from the regular permitting process,” she said.

Guest editorial in The State, Oct 10, 2014 -- Stronger Protections needed for precious SC surface waters --

Columbia, SC — The registration that allowed a single farm to withdraw up to two-thirds of the South Fork Edisto River’s flow during low-flow conditions demonstrates the need for legislative action on state water policy.

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.

The flawed definition of "Safe Yield" within the State Surface Water Withdrawal Act is described by the South Carolina DNR in their comments to DHEC dated Sep 26, 2011.

Apr 24, 2014 -- Nice editorial in the Post & Courier from Norman Brunswig of Audubon South Carolina ...  "Save the endangered Edisto River while we still can"

Brunswig says, "The only thing small about these [water] issues is the amount of water in the beautiful, little Edisto, and how very little extra it has to donate to non-ecological functions, particularly at its lowest flows. In drought years, the very ones during which the irrigators will want it most, the Edisto all but dries up. Without water, there is no Edisto River."

Friends of the Edisto Newsletter of Apr 29, 2014 -- features:

- WHERE WE STAND: Protecting Our Edisto April 29, 2014 (text presented below)

- Stewardship Day - Edisto River Cleanup set for May 10, 2014 at Colleton State Park

- 2013 River Journey: Chapter 4 by Alan Mehrzad

Friends of the Edisto Newsletter

Below is the press release from American Rivers:

http://www.americanrivers.org/Edisto

Washington, D.C.- American Rivers named the South Fork Edisto River among America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2014 (on April 8, 2014), shining a national spotlight on excessive withdrawals that take too much water out of the river, threatening river health and downstream water users.

South Carolina State Representative James Smith, a strong environmental leader in the state House of Representatives and a FRED Board member, introduced two very important pieces of legislation in the House last week.

More legislative news, Rep. James Smith filed this bill yesterday that among other things, that a person seeking to withdraw surface water for agricultural uses after July 1, 2014 must apply for a permit to withdraw surface water pursuant to Section 49-4-70.
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/query.php?search=DOC&searchtext=H+4817&categ...

(Feb 28) This week, Representative Taylor of Aiken and Representative Smith of Columbia filed a Joint Resolution imposing a moratorium on new agricultural registrations. The Board of Directors of FRED will meet next week to formally endorse this Resolution. We will then have more to say about what you can do to help get this Resolution passed. Introduced in the House on February 26, 2014. Currently residing in the House Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs.