Projections of future water use are critical to the planning process. In order to develop State and regional plans that effectively balance the economic, environmental and social needs of South Carolina for generations to come, estimates of future water demand are needed. 

In 2018, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR), in cooperation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and Clemson University’s South Carolina Water Resource Center, began developing water demand projection methodologies to apply statewide. The cooperators organized a Technical Advisory Committee to inform the development of the projection methodologies. A final water demand methodology report, Projection Methods for Off-stream Water Demand in South Carolina, was published by SCDNR in October 2019, and the methodologies were applied in the development of demand projections for the major planning basins in the State. Each River Basin Plan documents water demand projection methodologies and resulting demand projection estimates. For more information about the process for developing water demand projection methodologies and their application to the water planning process, please contact Scott Harder (scott.harder@des.sc.gov).  

Water demand projections were completed for a 50-year planning horizon for major water use categories including thermo-electric power, public water supply, manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation and for several other minor water use categories including golf courses, domestic water supply, and aquaculture. Water users and stakeholders in each of the eight river planning basins had the opportunity to review and comment on draft water demand projections. The water demand projections were used with surface water models and the Coastal Plain groundwater models to evaluate current and future water availability and supported the development of River Basin Plans.”