Frequent rain this winter and spring has left Williamsburg County in a soggy situation. Residents have called The News to complain about standing water on roads and property, so we did some investigation to find out what is behind the problem, and if steps are being taken to find a solution.
One Salters resident says rain causes such a flooding issue in his neighborhood off Hwy. 52 that people have problems getting out of their driveways. The individual stated that he called his county representative, and the county public works before he was told the flooding issue was a state problem affecting the local bridge. “They are all aware of what’s going on but act like they don’t care about it,” he says.
The News followed up with a call to SC Department of Transportation. SCDOT revealed that they went out to the site several times and finished their portion of the work, but could not complete the project because the railroad is responsible for part of the area that is impacting flooding.
This underscores one of the biggest problems in the county when it comes to flooding, who is responsible? Residents do not know who to call when their road, ditch or property is flooded. Whose responsibility is it to fix the issue?
Vaughn Spearman lives in Williamsburg County. He is a forester and wildlife biologist by trade. He attributes deforestation to part of the flooding problem in Williamsburg County. Spearman says the presence of trees lowers the water table by one foot. “If you deforest an area, you can cause the area to hold water,” he says. According to Global Forest Watch, a non-profit that researches deforestation, Williamsburg County has had a 45% decrease in tree cover since 2000.
Spearman explains how historically, Long leaf pine used to be the dominant tree in South Carolina. There were pine land savannahs, large grasslands with trees broadly spaced around. Seasonally, the grasslands would become part of the river system and flood.
“Old aerial surveillance photos taken in the last 75 years, and some older ones, you can see flow patterns on the landscape,” he says. It’s like the reverse of a river delta.
Ditches were created to speedup drainage and to make land more viable for farms, roads, homes and businesses. Over time, if drain ditches are not maintained, flooding becomes a problem again.
“It takes a lot of manpower and machinery to maintain ditches,” says Spearman. Williamsburg County has received a grant that Supervisor Kelvin Washington says will help with some of the flooding issues, but the county’s staff is stretched thin.
Thomas Williams works in the Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department at Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science in South Carolina. He says there are several reasons we are seeing flooding. One of which is timber removal. If you cut down trees and remove vegetation, the water table will rise. The water table is the space between the ground surface and the water-saturated ground below the surface. A higher water table means an area is more prone to flooding. Trees and vegetation help with water uptake and evaporation. When they are removed, the water table balance is off.
Williams says last December alone, Williamsburg County received almost 12 inches of rain. “In the 1970s, 12 inches of rain meant a hurricane,” he says. “The amount of rainfall we get during a weather event has increased.”
Proper drainage is the other side of the coin. “Ditches must be designed correctly and maintained,” he says. With almost 40% of Williamsburg County categorized as wetlands, according to the Williamsburg Hazard Mitigation Plan, keeping water at bay can be problematic, especially with heavier than usual rainfall.
South Carolina has adopted its first climate resilience plan. Governor Henry McMaster’s plan released on June 29, 2023 focused on data collection efforts and “conserving natural defenses against rising seas and stronger storms.”
The 746-page report had more than 50 recommendations including better data collection, conservation of the natural environment like swamps and forests, and encouraging local governments to introduce regulations to reduce risky development in flood prone areas.
The Office of Resilience was created in 2021. The department encouraged conservation of underdeveloped natural resources. $200 million was designated in 2023 for resilience efforts. Plans included an increase in the number of water stations and river and ground water monitors around the state to improve and understand water patterns, Alex Butler told Post and Courier reporters.
The plan also laid out more stringent building regulations including “pre-disaster buy out“ to offer cash to homeowners in flood-prone regions to move out before catastrophes strike. Currently there are only buy-outs after storms.
“What we are seeing is amplified climate changes with extreme weather and increased rain coupling with rapid development and an increase in impervious surfaces. Development has exacerbated climate change issues,” says Tom Mullikin former chairman of the SC Floodwater Commission.
There is no argument about the flooding issues. And if growth continues at its current rate for Williamsburg County, the issues may get worse before they get better. Standing water is not ideal for land owners, but it also can cause a rise in mosquito populations.
What can citizens do to help?
“Understand weather patterns in land use planning, and maintain drainage ditches. Money for maintenance is hard to come by, but just like a car, if you don’t maintain it, it will start to fail,” says Alex Butler, Resilience Planning Director for the SC Office of Resilience.
Plant trees and vegetation. One tree soaks up 10,000 gallons of water a year. Plants and other vegetation help absorb water and contribute to water evaporation.
Clean up the natural water ways from the mountain to the sea. Remove barriers to water flow including dead vegetation and garbage.
Williamsburg County has several ongoing projects related to flooding issues. They have a mitigation program funded through US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and an ongoing study of Williamsburg County and Georgetown County to help understand flooding. They are also currently seeking a resource that will help answer questions of the driver to flooding issues and help make recommendations for a solution as a part of the county’s comprehensive plan. “It comes down to local counties and land management to making sure it is resolved,” says Mullikin.
One thing is certain. It is not an easy fix and it will take time.
