(A) Each permittee must prepare and maintain on site, available for inspection, an operational and contingency plan to promote an adequate water supply from the surface water during times when the actual flow of the surface water is less than the minimum instream flow for that particular surface water segment. The plan must identify actions to be taken, as applicable, to address low flow conditions, including water conservation, supplemental water supplies, off-stream water storage, seasonal water flow fluctuation withdrawals, and hydroelectric operations in controlled surface waters. For applicable new surface water withdrawers with an operational and contingency plan that identifies one or more supplemental sources of water to be used for continued facility operations during minimum instream flow conditions, the amount of supplemental water should be calculated on a reasonable and responsible basis taking into account a review of historical flow records for the stream at or near the proposed withdrawal point in order to identify the years of historical record where flows at that stream point dropped below minimum instream flow, and the consumptive amount of water that is projected to be needed by the new surface water withdrawer in order to continue to operate during a period of time identified as that stream segment’s historical average minimum instream flow conditions. The existence of a plan is deemed to be an enforceable part of the permit under which the permittee is withdrawing surface water and shall be deemed to control a permitted surface water withdrawal in situations where the actual flow of the surface water is less than the minimum instream flow for that particular stream segment.

(B) Nothing in this section limits or precludes any action authorized by the South Carolina Drought Response Act. In the event that an action authorized by the South Carolina Drought Response Act conflicts with this subsection or a permitted use, the action taken pursuant to the South Carolina Drought Response Act supersedes any actions taken pursuant to this subsection or the permit.

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Terms Used In South Carolina Code 49-4-160

  • 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
  • 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
  • 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 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
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