PRESS RELEASE. The S.C. Drought Response Committee has added Darlington, Marlboro and Dillon counties to the ‘incipient’ drought declaration already in place for some counties. The drought declaration was removed from Berkeley County but the near-drought conditions remain intact for 10 counties, including Colleton County.
As designated by the South Carolina Drought Response Act, “Incipient” is the first level of drought followed by Moderate, Severe, and Extreme. Below normal topsoil and subsoil moisture were the primary driving factors leading to the drought declaration.
The Committee also based its decision on recommendations from several farmers, Farm Service Agency and the S.C. Department of Agriculture.
The 13 counties now included in the Incipient drought status are: Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion, Marlboro and Williamsburg.
Producers in Darlington County stated that it is unseasonably dry. According to Amy Blum, county executive director of Darlington County Farm Service Agency, very few rain showers have only brought tenths of inches of rain over the previous weeks.
Marlboro County farmers are currently facing dry conditions with about five inches of rainfall since the beginning of March and are preparing for a dry year. The dry weather will also affect corn, tobacco and other crops that have been planted in recent weeks and are in active growth.
Wildfire fuel conditions have improved with the recent rainfall and the “green-up” when new growth develops should decrease wildfire occurrence in late April and early May.
The Committee decided April’s rainfall was not enough to overturn the incipient drought declaration that was in place for Beaufort, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Florence, Jasper, Marion and Williamsburg counties.
The South Carolina Drought Response Committee will continue to monitor conditions moving through the spring and will reconvene as needed.
