The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is partnering with Clemson University to expand a water monitoring program that has been successful in York County for years. This program will rely on the public’s help to monitor the quality of water in streams and lakes in South Carolina.
This program is called the Adopt-a-Stream program and South Carolina program leaders hope it will meet the same level of success as a similar program in Georgia. Volunteer groups would be provided with training classes and a database for water quality information, as well as any other necessary resources. These groups will meet each month to document stream conditions and alert the state of quality problems, illegal discharge, and other potential issues.
This program is a large expansion of an Adopt-a-Stream program in York County that has been in effect for 8 years. However, that program was just a campaign to clean up trash in the rivers. The new program will expand that to monitoring actual water quality and reporting it to the proper authorities.
With a major state agency backing it, leaders are hopeful that this program will be able to make real changes in the quality of South Carolina’s water. Leaders say that one of the main problems with water quality is that not enough samples are taken. They are hoping that this program will provide more reliable, complete data to improve South Carolina’s waterways.
To learn more about what the responsibilities are for volunteers and the positive impact this program could have, be sure to check out the full article at www.heraldonline.com
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