Lawsuit seeks to change water rules for farms
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.
The ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to have agricultural exemptions struck from the law and for agricultural users to go through a permitting process with defined time limits on withdrawals, she said. “We would be happy if an agreement could be reached that would amend the law and fix some of what we see are fundamental flaws.”
