Severe Water Shortages in the Southeast

The northwestern South Carolina town of Clemson, home of the famous ACC football team The Clemson Tigers, became the first municipality in South Carolina to enact a mandatory water restriction policy at its town council meeting last evening.

Clemson police will begin writing $50 fines for infringements such as watering the lawn, washing the car, hosing off sidewalks and driveways, and watering plants, flowers, and shrubs.

The mandatory restrictions were implemented as a result of the U.S. Weather Service's designation of 5 upstate South Carolina counties as under extreme drought conditions.

At the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, for example, rainfall totals for the year thus far are down by 10 inches.

Lakes, rivers, streams, and reservoirs in the area are not only feeling the brunt of the drought, but they are showing it. Clemson, for example, is a lake town, and each day residents can see with their own eyes how severe the drought has become by simply looking at lake levels.

The U.S. Weather Service reports that the only thing to provide longterm relief for the Southeast at this point is a mild tropical system stemming from a hurricane or tropical storm.

While the area has experienced rain on a daily basis since last Thursday from afternoon and evening thunderstorms, these storms have not provided sufficient rainfall to make a dint in the drought.