Preparing South Carolina for Drought:Lessons Learned from the State’s First Drought and Water Shortage Tabletop Exercise

Ekaterina Altman and Kirsten LackstromCarolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CISA)University of South Carolina Carolinas Climate Resilience Conference October 30, 2018

Drought Planning in Southeast U.S.

How do SE states plan for and respond to drought events?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches?

Methods: analysis of formal documents and plans, interviews with drought coordinators

2000 201820042002 2006 20102008 2012 20162014

ALFL KY NC* SC*TNVA

Drought

Plans

Water

Plans SC GA ARKYVAGA

Water

Statues &

Regulations NC

FL

VA GAGA

KYVA LAVA VAGA

Hazard

Mitigation

Plans

20042002 2006 20102008 2012 20162014 2018

Drought

Statues &

Regulations

KY

SC ALNC GASC AL ALNC

Drought, Water and HMP Planning in Southeast U.S.

U.S. Drought Monitor Southeast: VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL. https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu.

Southeast States: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA. * Part of State’s Emergency Operations Plan

FL

How SC Compares to the “Ideal Drought Plan”

Plan ComponentDrought

Response Act 2000

Regulations2001

HazardMitigation Plan 2018

Emergency Operations Plan 2017

1. Roles & Responsibilities

2. Monitoring X

3. Indicators/Trigger Levels X X

4. Response Actions X X

5. Enforcement Actions/Mediation X X

6. Communication X

7. Coordination X

8. Impact & Risk Assessment X X X

9. Post-drought Assessment X X X X

10. Mitigation X X

South Carolina Documents

South Carolina Water Resource Summit: https://www.clemson.edu/public/sc_water_resources/summit_drought.html

U.S. Drought Monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Maps/MapArchive.aspx

2002 2007 2011 2016

Tabletop Motivation

SC Drought and Water Shortage Tabletop Exercise

September 2017, SC Emergency Operations Center

Drought Monitoring and Response in SC

Why: To carefully and closely monitor, conserve, and manage

the State’s water resources in the best interest of all South Carolinians.

Who: Drought Response Committee and

Department of Natural Resources – State Climatology Office

Statewide members• Forestry Commission• Department of Agriculture• Emergency Management Division• Department of Health and Environmental Control• Department of Natural Resources

Local members • Water Utilities• Local Governments• Power Generation Facilities• Soil and Water Conservation Districts

http://www.scdrought.com/gallery.html

When and Where:

The State Climatology Office routinely monitors conditions in the State.

The Drought Response Committee meets when needed to evaluate conditions and impacts within four Drought Management Areas.

Drought Monitoring and Response in SC

How: The State uses multiple indicators and indices to monitor drought

and determine drought severity levels.

Drought Monitoring and Response in SC

Scenario Time Points:

Co

nd

itio

ns

an

d R

esp

on

se

All Time Points and Drought Stages

• What, and how, is your organization communicating with the public?• What would help your organization more effectively respond to and

prepare for drought?

Time Point 1: Moderate Drought Statewide

• Does your organization have a plan for monitoring, responding to, and preparing for drought?

• Are drought response plans and ordinances up-to-date and current?

Time Point 2: Severe Drought Statewide and Time Point 3: Extreme Drought Statewide

• How do inconsistencies at different levels (state, local, basin) affect response and communications?

• Are local ordinances and plans consistent with other drought plans in neighboring areas?

Time Point 4: Extreme Drought Intensified

• What resources, information, or additional capacity does the DRC need to assess non-essential water use and curtail certain uses?

• How will appeals to the Administrative Law Judge affect the timeliness of conservation and response efforts?

• When exactly, and for how long, will the Emergency Operations Plan and State Emergency Response Team (SERT) be activated?

Time Point 5: Emergency Operations Plan is Activated

• Are the necessary resources, expertise, and capacity available?• What tasks or actions are not listed in the EOP, but should be included?• How will SC coordinate with other states?

Breaking Points“Ideal Drought Plan”

Component

1. Roles & Responsibilities

2. Monitoring

3. Indicators/Trigger Levels

4. Response Actions

5. Enforcement Actions/Mediation

6. Communication

7. Coordination

8. Post-drought Assessment

9. Impact & Risk Assessment

10. Mitigation

Plans and Procedures• DRC vacancies• EMD and Governor’s Office involved too late• Outdated local-level plans

Education and Awareness• Many agencies unaware of the drought response

process and their role in, and responsibilities for drought response

Communications• Lack of consistent messaging about drought

conditions and water conservation, particularly across the local level

Data and Information• Lack of information (water system

interconnections, economic effects) that would be helpful for planning and mitigation

• “Surprised to find out how few entities have a water use reduction plan.”

• “As a water utility, it was great to get a perspective from other agencies, such as agriculture, industry, and fire prevention.”

• “I had not considered the numerous sectors affected by the wide-reaching effects of an extreme drought.”

• “Regional communication by basin is not formalized....some neighbors do not know one another across the state. The Emergency Operations and the water utilities need a better working relationship.”

Participants’ Insights

Next Steps and Updates

• Address Drought Response Committee vacancies and restructuring needs

• Engagement with Governor’s Office

• Develop training and educational materials for emergency managers

• Continued collaboration with the SC Emergency Management Division

• Conduct future exercises at the regional or watershed level

• Improve connections between water systems, resource managers, and other agencies

New Drought Portal, scdrought.com

For more information: https://cisa.sc.edu/projects__drought-response.html

Ekaterina Altman, CISAkatyaa@email.sc.edu

Kirsten Lackstrom, CISALackstro@mailbox.sc.edu

Hope MizzellSC State Climatology OfficeMizzellH@dnr.sc.gov

Acknowledgements:

The NOAA RISA program supported CISA’s work on this project.

This work is also partially supported by an ASPIRE grant from the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of South Carolina.