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McMaster encourages solution to water crisis |
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Thursday, 16 October 2008 |
By Molly Parker
SCBIZ Daily Staff
NORTH CHARLESTON -- When it comes to solving the state’s water woes, S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster said James Brown might have had the best advice: “Get up off that thang!”
Protecting South Carolina’s natural resources will require a concerted effort on behalf of citizens, developers, industry, government agencies, lawyers and scientists, McMaster said Tuesday at the 2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference in North Charleston.
The two-day event, sponsored by the Clemson University Restoration Institute, was a sellout, with 350 people attending sessions on such topics as water quality, water conservation, economic development, conservation, demand and future needs.
McMaster delivered the keynote luncheon address.
“We are on the edge of a brand-new opportunity in this state, I believe, because we have not messed up the grand resources that we have,” McMaster said.
He noted the importance of the state’s case against North Carolina, which will be heard by the Supreme Court. In 2007, McMaster filed suit against the Tar Heel State, claiming it unfairly granted permits to towns surrounding the Catawba River basin, allowing them to siphon more than their fair share of the river that runs downstream into South Carolina.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in its original jurisdiction, something the high court has done only 134 times in its history.
McMaster said lawyers in his office are learning a lot more water debates exist aside from the one involving the Catawba, and “more people are wanting in” on the case.
A Supreme Court decision in South Carolina’s favor could also help with negotiations with Georgia involving the shared Savannah River, he said.
“It won’t be long, I believe, before the city of Atlanta runs a pipeline to the Savannah River,” McMaster said.
South Carolina supports creating bistate commissions that would have to sign off on any uses of shared water sources.
“We’ve got to find ways to do these things better,” McMaster said.
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