On Sept. 24, 2024, Governor Henry McMaster issued Executive Order 2024-22, establishing the WaterSC Water Resources Working Group (WaterSC). Myra Reece, Interim Director of SCDES, will serve as the Chair of WaterSC, as SCDES is the lead coordinating agency. WaterSC is to be comprised of the following five additional ex officio participants: 1. Director of the Office of Resilience, ex officio, or designee; 2. Commissioner of Agriculture, ex officio, or designee; 3. Director of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, ex officio, or designee; 4. Director of the Department of Natural Resources, ex officio, or designee; and 5. Secretary of Commerce, ex officio, or designee.  

SCDES was directed to identify and designate up to 25 additional participants from among the following sectors and categories: academia; public water suppliers; conservation, water and land; agriculture; forestry; industry; energy; tourism and hospitality; historic preservation; and individuals with relevant professional expertise.  

The 31 WaterSC participants [chair (1), ex officios (5) and stakeholder participants (25)] are listed below. 

Chair

Myra Reece, Interim Director, S.C. Department of Environmental Services

Academia

1. Josh Eagle, J.D., Joseph F. Rice School of Law, University of South Carolina

2. Dr. Raghupathy (Karthi) Karthikeyan, Chair of Natural Resources Engineering, Clemson University

Public Water Suppliers

3. Christy Holder, CEO, Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority

4. Jill Miller, Executive Director, SC Rural Water Association

5. Craig Sorensen, President, SC Water Utilities

6. Scott Willett, Anderson Regional Joint Water System

Conservation, Water and Land & Historic Preservation

7. Aldon Knight, Executive Director Upstate Forever

8. Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation

9. Bill Stangler, Congaree Riverkeeper

10. Dale Threatt-Taylor, Executive Director, The Nature Conservancy

Agriculture

11. Neal Baxley, Baxley Farms, LLC  

12. Melanie Shull, Shull Ag

13. Charles Wingard, Vice President, Field Operations, Walter P. Rawl & Sons

14. Landrum Weathers, Buck Branch Farms, LLC

Forestry

15. Cam Crawford, President & CEO, Forestry Association of South Carolina

Industry

16. Carey Bullard, Environmental Manager, Nucor Steel

17. Tommy Lavender, Senior Counsel, Maynard Nexsen

18. Ralph (Nick) Odom, Jr., Senior Advisor Environmental Policy & Technology, Springs Creative Products

19. Jeff Uphues, CEO, DC BLOX

Energy

20. Tim Pearson, State President, Duke Energy South Carolina

21. Keller Kissam, President, Dominion Energy of SC

22. Jimmy Staton, President & CEO, Santee-Cooper

Tourism and Hospitality

23. Steve Hamilton, Dunes Golf & Beach

24. David “Rock” Lucas, Charwood Golf Club        

Professional Experience & Recommended Designees

25. David Baize, Executive Director, SC Water Associations

ex officio:

• Ben Duncan, Director, SC Office of Resilience
• Hugh Weathers, Commissioner, SC Department of Agriculture  
• Duane Parrish, Director, SC Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism
• Robert Boyles, Jr., Director, SC Department of Natural Resources
• Harry Lightsey, Secretary, SC Department of Commerce