(A) Introduction. To ensure that the county adequately manages its water system during drought- related conditions, an organized plan is necessary for system operation and reliability, proper communications, effective coordination and ultimate allocation of water use. Prior planning will compliment the county's ability to respond to drought conditions and to enforcement of plan regulations and restrictions.
(B) Designation of Water System Drought Response Representative. Administration of a Drought Management and Response Plan requires the skills needed to undertake a comprehensive public information program and the judgement required to deal with equity issues arising from enforcement of a mandatory program. A drought response representative is therefore necessary to manage the county's water system program and serve as the principal contact for the news media as the water system's drought response representative. The drought response representative for the county is the County Manager, Post Office Box 66, York, South Carolina, 29745. This representative can be contacted by calling the County Manager's office at (803) 684-8511.
(C) Description of water system layout, water sources, capacities and yields:
(1) The county's water system is located in the Central or Santee Drought Response Management Area of South Carolina. The system serves customers in unincorporated areas in the northeast quadrant of the county. As of the year 2008, the following statistics apply to the county Water and Sewer Department:
(a) Serves approximately 9,000 customers;
(b) Consists of 70 miles of water mains;
(c) Purchases water from Rock Hill as a primary supplier. Rock Hill has a SCDHEC permitted water treatment plant capacity of 30 million gallons per day. Purchases water from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities Department as an alternate supply;
(d) Has pumping capacity of up to 4 million gallons per day; and
(e) Consists of 3.6 million gallons of storage.
(2) The county water and sewer system consists of two systems that function independently. Both systems pump finished water from supply points master metered at service area boundaries. The county west system water is pumped from a booster station on Mt. Gallant Road near Rock Hill. The station has three booster pumps with 125 HP motors capable of pumping in excess of 2,000 GPM. The system consists of 20 miles of distribution piping and four water storage tanks of 1.5 million gallon capacity total. The county east system water is pumped from a booster station on the east side of 1-77 at SC Hwy. 160. The station operates with two booster pumps with 50 HP motors capable of pumping in excess of 1,000 GPM. The system consists of 50 miles of distribution piping and five water storage tanks of 2.1 million gallon capacity total.
(D) Identification of water system specific drought or water shortage indicators. Operators of every water system must develop historical trends that are valuable indicators of a system's ability to meet demand when demand begins to outpace supply. The county's wholesale suppliers have developed system-specific indicators for use during demand water shortages. These indicators describe when the various phases of the county's drought response are to be implemented and meet the requirements of the Drought Response Act of 2000 and the low inflow protocol for Duke Energy’s Catawba-Wateree project. The identified system-specific drought phases and wholesale supplier's system indicators are as follows:
(1) Stage 0 - drought watch.
(2) Stage 1 - drought/voluntary conservation.
(3) Stage 2 - drought/mandatory conservation.
(4) Stage 3 - drought/increased mandatory conservation.
(5) Stage 4 - drought/emergency conservation.
(E) Cooperative agreements and alternative water supply sources. Successful drought management requires a comprehensive program by the water utility. In many situations administrative agreements are required with other agencies to fully implement the plan. Agreements with other water purveyors may be necessary for alternative water supply sources. Other agreements that strengthen conservation efforts by large users may be necessary. The county identifies the following agreements that are in place to facilitate the implementation of this plan:
(1) Water service agreement between the City of Rock Hill and the county, dated 6-20-2005.
(2) Water service agreement between the Town of Fort Mill and the county, dated 9-21-2001.
(F) Description of pre-drought planning efforts. Before the occurrence of a water supply shortage and the need to implement the emergency provisions of the plan, it is important that certain pre-response measures be taken with the aim of conserving the system's source water, as well as the water distributed to the customer. In regards to the conservation measures listed below, the county has taken the following actions:
(1) On an annual basis, the county will identify the top 10% of the system's major water users, including industrial and wholesale customers. As major water consumers, the county will strongly encourage these customers to enter into conservation agreements and/or voluntarily reduce water consumption by specified percentages as deemed necessary based on the declared drought status.
(2) A vigorous public education program is critical for achieving substantial water use reductions. An effective public outreach program will keep the public informed about the water supply situation, what actions will mitigate drought emergency problems, and how well the public is doing in terms of meeting the program goals. Keeping the public involved, informed, and participating in the decision-making process is key to implementing an effective drought management plan. Water conservation and drought management information will be conveyed to the county's customers through utility bills, public notices, County Council or other public meetings.
(G) Description of capital planning and investment for system reliability and demand forecasting. The county's water distribution system is regulated by South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control standards. SCDHEC requires that the water utility plan include and implement a capital improvement program to address current customer demand and anticipated system growth. In response to present and anticipated demand over the next five years the county has implemented incremental capital improvements to enhance system ability.
(Ord. 104, passed 1-20-04; Am. Ord. 7208, passed 11-3-08)