More than half of Horry County is currently in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
And with the lack of rainfall and recent heat advisories it doesn’t appear that it will change soon.
That means that the county and cities along the Grand Strand could implement water-saving measures until the area receives the much-needed rain.
Victoria Oliva, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina, said that Horry County is “on the edge of a drought.”
“If we don’t get enough (rain) soon, we’ll quickly get into one,” Oliva said.
While 57% of the county, which includes the Conway area and the Bucksport community, is in a moderate drought, the rest of Horry County, including Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, is in an abnormally dry condition, which means those areas are heading into a drought.
Heat advisories are expected to continue Friday and possibly into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, North Carolina. The heat index on Sunday is expected to reach as high as 110 degrees in Conway and 102 degrees in Myrtle Beach. There is a low probability for rain each day this weekend.
Until then, Oliva said people can expect several more days of uncomfortable heat.
It’s not unusual for the Myrtle Beach area to receive heat advisories this time of year, Oliva said. However, the lack of rain is a concern.
The Myrtle Beach area has received a little more than an inch of rain in the last seven days, according to the NWS.
“We need rain!” said city of Myrtle Beach spokesperson Meredith Denari by email. Denari said the city is not planning “to limit people’s water usage if we get into a drought. We may put some drought-related information on our social media pages to inform people on ways to conserve water.”
However, that could change if the city gets into a severe drought, and Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority, which is the water provider for Myrtle Beach and other Grand Strand communities, puts a notice out that it has limited intake.
Surfside Beach also relies on notification from Grand Strand Water and Sewer when responding to possibly limiting water usage, according to Town Administrator Gerry Vincent.
Here’s how other cities along the Grand Strand would handle limiting water usage during a drought.
North Myrtle Beach
The city of North Myrtle Beach has a Drought Management Plan and Drought Response Ordinance, according to an email from city spokesperson Lauren Jessie.
“The purpose of this ordinance was to establish a plan and procedures for managing water demand and evaluating supply options before and during a drought-related water shortage,” Jessie said.
North Myrtle Beach developed “triggers” for use during a drought or demand water shortages that describe when specific phases of the ordinance is implemented, Jessie said.
During a moderate drought phase, North Myrtle Beach officials, after being notified by the drought response committee, will seek voluntary reductions from its customers in the use of water for all purposes and voluntary reductions on using water during certain peak water demand periods, according to the ordinance.
Such actions that would be taken include reducing residential water use to 55 gallons per person per day and a maximum of 200 gallons per household per day; eliminate the washing down of hard surfaced areas and buildings, domestic washing of cars, boats and motorbikes; minimize the use of water to maintain fountains and decorative water bodies; and reduce the watering of lawns, plants, trees and gardens, especially during peak use times.
In addition, the ordinance would limit normal water use by commercial and individual customers including restaurants stop serving water in restaurants.
The limit of water usage would increase if the city was in a severe drought.
Conway
Conway’s drought management plan and drought response is similar to North Myrtle Beach’s ordinance.
After notifying residents of a moderate drought, the city would reduce water use to 65 gallons per person per day with a maximum of 160 gallons per day; eliminate domestic washing of cars, boats and motorbikes and use of water to maintain fountains or decorative water bodies; reduce the watering of lawns, plants and gardens; and stop serving water in restaurants.
While Conway is currently in a moderate drought, the city would have to receive notification from the drought response committee before any such action is taken. So far, that has not happened.
Source Agencies
