Moderate drought declared for Oconee County

Drought_Areas8JUL2016The S.C. Drought Response Committee upgraded the drought status late last week for 32 South Carolina counties.  Twenty eight counties were upgraded to the first level of drought, “incipient,” and four counties, among them Oconee, were upgraded to “moderate,” the second level of drought. Beaufort and Jasper, and counties in the Pee Dee Region remain in “normal,” or non-drought condition. The U-S  Army Corps of Engineers is worried that the basin could enter drought level 1 before the end of the month.  According to State Climatologist Hope Mizzell, most counties in South Carolina have seen above average temperatures and below average rainfall during the past month, with few exceptions. “I’ve been on the drought committee a long time, and I’ve never seen a drought cycle develop and deteriorate so quickly,” said Dennis Chastain, a well-known naturalist and West Area Drought Committee member from Pickens.  “In my opinion three things account for this; the rainfall deficit, the abnormally high temperatures and the wind, which has significantly increased evaporation.  All three factors have worked together to quickly exasperate the drought.”  In Upstate areas hit hard in recent weeks by higher temperatures and lack of rainfall, some crops are withering, and the first cutting of hay has been poor, reported committee member Brad Boozer, who represents the S.C. Department of Agriculture. Boozer described hearing from row crop farmers in some areas of the state that late-planted fields of corn and soybeans have, in some cases, failed to germinate due to lack of rainfall, and from some Upstate farmers who reported purchasing hay for livestock due to the lack of available grass. Such agriculture-related concerns prompted committee members to take the somewhat unusual step of moving Pickens, Oconee, Anderson and Abbeville counties directly into moderate status, skipping the typical lower-level stage of “incipient.” According to Blake Badger, with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency, pasture conditions are deteriorating further, resulting in some producers reducing cattle inventory.  Several meeting participants expressed concern over the long-term availability of hay for livestock feeding.  There was discussion and recognition by the committee following the water system status report provided by S.C. Dept. of Health and Environmental Control Bureau of Water Chief David Baize that thankfully, at this point, there have been no reports of drought-related water supply problems. The primary impacts at this point are to agriculture, with an increasing concern for wildfires.  The committee will continue to monitor the situation closely, and if conditions deteriorate the DNR’s Office of State Climatology will reconvene the committee as needed.