South Carolina Code 49-4-150. Amount of withdrawal dependent on definition of minimum instream flow; public water suppliers; determination of amount of water available
(b) Anytime the flow at the point of the permitted withdrawal is less than or equal to the minimum instream flow and taking into consideration natural and artificial replenishment of the surface water and existing or planned consumptive and nonconsumptive uses affected by the withdrawal downstream, the permitted surface water withdrawer must implement applicable portions of his water contingency plan and will discontinue consumptive use from the surface water source. If after all reasonable contingency plans have been implemented, and the surface water withdrawer is within fifteen days of exhausting the usable water supply from his supplemental water source, he may then give notice to the department that he is exhausting his supplemental water sources and that he intends to return to the withdrawal source in amounts up to his permitted amount. Upon receiving notice, the department must determine whether all or any portion of the withdrawal will result in a significant negative impact to an existing user or the environment if the permitted withdrawals are resumed. If the department does not make its determination within ten days of receipt of notice, the permittee may make withdrawals up to the permitted amount until the department notifies the permittee whether all or any portion of the withdrawal will result in a significant negative impact to an existing user or the environment during this low flow period.
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 49-4-150
- Consumptive use: means any use of water which is not a nonconsumptive use. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Department: means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Drought contingency pond: means a pond or lake designated solely as a supplemental water source in a surface water withdrawer's operational and contingency plan. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Existing surface water withdrawer: means a surface water withdrawer withdrawing surface water as of the effective date of this chapter or a proposed surface water withdrawer with its intakes under construction before the effective date of this chapter or with all necessary applications for its intake permits deemed administratively complete before January first of the year of the effective date of this act. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Impoundment: means a dam, dike, natural structure, or any combination thereof that is designed to hold an accumulation of surface water or impede the flow of surface water. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Minimum instream flow: means the flow that provides an adequate supply of water at the surface water withdrawal point to maintain the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of the stream taking into account the needs of downstream users, recreation, and navigation and that flow is set at forty percent of the mean annual daily flow for the months of January, February, March, and April; thirty percent of the mean annual daily flow for the months of May, June, and December; and twenty percent of the mean annual daily flow for the months of July through November for surface water withdrawers as described in § 49-4-150(A)(1). See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Minimum water level: means the water level in an impoundment necessary to maintain the biological, chemical, and physical integrity of the surface water in the impoundment taking into account downstream uses, withdrawals from the impoundment, and recreational and navigational needs as established by an existing federal regulatory process or established through consultation between the department and the operator of the impoundment. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Permitted surface water withdrawer: means a person withdrawing surface water pursuant to a surface water withdrawal permit. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Permittee: means a person authorized to make withdrawals of surface water pursuant to a surface water withdrawal permit issued by the department. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Supplemental water source: means a source of water different from the source of permitted withdrawal that will be used when an adequate amount of water is unavailable for withdrawal from the permitted source, including, but not limited to, ground water wells, aquifer storage and recovery projects, water storage facilities, drought contingency ponds, and connections to other water providers. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Surface water: means all water that is wholly or partially within the State, including the Savannah River, or within its jurisdiction, which is open to the atmosphere and subject to surface runoff, including, but not limited to, lakes, streams, ponds, rivers, creeks, runs, springs, and reservoirs, but not including water and wastewater treatment impoundments, off-stream supplemental operations related impoundments, or water storage structures constructed by the surface water withdrawer to provide adequate supplies of surface water during low flow conditions. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- surface water withdrawal permit: means a written authorization issued to a person by the department that allows the person to hold and exercise a water right to withdraw surface water pursuant to the terms of the permit and this chapter. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Surface water withdrawer: means a person withdrawing surface water in excess of three million gallons during any one month from a single intake or multiple intakes under common ownership within a one mile radius from any one existing or proposed intake. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
- Withdrawal: means to remove surface water from its natural course or location, or exercising physical control over surface water in its natural course or location, regardless of whether the water is returned to its waters of origin, consumed, transferred to another river basin, or discharged elsewhere. See South Carolina Code 49-4-20
(2)(a) The permitted surface water withdrawer may withdraw water from the permitted surface withdrawal point in order to refill his supplemental water source, or other drought contingency water supply vessels, anytime the river flow exceeds the minimum instream flow.
(b) The permitted surface water withdrawer utilizing a drought contingency pond as all or some of his supplemental water source may withdraw the entire volume of water from the pond during low flow periods requiring supplemental water source usage. Water withdrawn from drought contingency ponds are not subject to environmental and permitting restrictions.
(c) New surface water withdrawers are not required to engineer the supplemental water source identified in their contingency plan any larger than the quantity that allows for facility operations during twenty percent mean annual daily flow conditions, based upon a review of historical low flow data and projected facility consumptive water uses during low flow periods. A new surface water withdrawer may not return to the withdrawal source when his supplemental water source is exhausted unless he engineered his supplemental water source to meet the specifications of this subsection.
(3) For surface water withdrawal points located on a surface water segment downstream of and influenced by a licensed or otherwise flow controlled impoundment, the minimum instream flow shall be the flow specified in the license by the appropriate governmental agency. Surface water withdrawal points downstream of a licensed or otherwise flow controlled impoundment are considered to be influenced by the impoundment unless it can be demonstrated by the department through flow modeling and analysis of flow data that the withdrawal point is no longer materially influenced by the impoundment. The minimum instream flow set in this item does not apply to withdrawal points located downstream of an impoundment that are beyond the influence of the impoundment.
(4) When a surface water withdrawal point is located on a licensed or otherwise flow controlled impoundment, a withdrawal permit may not authorize the withdrawal of surface water in an amount that would cause a reservoir:
(a) water level to drop below its minimum water level; or
(b) to be unable to release the lowest minimum flow specified in the license for that impoundment as issued by the appropriate government agency.
(5) When a surface water withdrawal point is located on an impoundment that serves as a water supply for a federally licensed facility that is also an existing surface water withdrawer, a withdrawal permit may not authorize any new surface water withdrawer to withdraw surface water in an amount that would negatively impact the continued operations of the federally licensed facility. The requirements contained in this item do not apply to an expansion or addition of units at a federally licensed facility.
(6) The requirements of items (1) through (4) do not apply to public water suppliers. Public water suppliers are required to implement their contingency plan measures, applicable to their service territory, commensurate with the drought level declared by the State Drought Response Committee and in accordance with any drought response plan required by the owner of a licensed impoundment.
(B) When determining the amount of water available to be withdrawn for future surface water withdrawers in a particular stream segment, the department shall determine the inflow at the beginning of the stream segment, as well as the inflow from tributaries, based on historical flow. Also, the department shall account for returns of water to the stream segment from all sources, including, but not limited to, municipalities, utilities, and industries.