Right now, if you wanted to withdraw water from a stream and river in SC, you don't need a permit. You can just pump water out to your heart's content. Above a threshold, SC only requires a person withdrawing water to measure the withdrawal. Right now, the courts are really only folks that can mediate between competing withdrawals.A bill, sponsored by state Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, would set up a system to regulate water withdrawals throughout the state and will be introduced this week in the S.C. legislature on Tuesday and be assigned to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Hayes was quoted as saying it may take two years or more to pass the bill.
While Georgia already has water permitting system in place, North Carolina is also trying to get a similar bill introduced.
