SC’s nature-based tourism industry needs common sense water withdrawal laws

As a kayak tour guide and instructor for Nature Adventures, a little mom-and-pop outfitter based out of Shem Creek near Charleston, my personal livelihood depends on clean water in our state. Nature-based tourism produces billions of dollars nationally each year. Yet in South Carolina, the clean water that our businesses depend on is threatened by a lax state water withdrawal law.

With five full-time staff and about 25 part-time seasonal team members, our company provided unique experiences to over 10,000 people last year kayaking and paddleboarding through a historic shrimping village alongside pelicans, dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles. We are a proud member of the South Carolina Nature-Based Tourism Association, a statewide collection of companies like ours that want to share their love of nature with visitors and locals alike. These businesses and staff members make up a fraction of millions of South Carolinians who depend on healthy, flowing waterways.

South Carolina’s rivers and streams provide an escape from the day to day — an adventure perhaps, or a relaxing retreat. Whether it’s a trip to a mountain cabin with a stream nearby to cast a fly and enjoy a local beer on the porch; a kayak or canoe camping trip down a beautiful river, through forests filled with trees hundreds of years old and birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors; exploration of an uninhabited barrier island; or even boat rides and lounging on sandy beaches listening to waves crash, it’s easy to see why so many come to South Carolina to get outside and enjoy our waterways.

In addition to providing an invaluable reprieve from the demands of daily life, clean water is a significant economic driver that supports a robust tourism industry for our state.

In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported $2.74 billion was spent on wildlife recreation in South Carolina, only a part of all nature-based tourism in the state. Fishing alone brought in $686 million to our state economy and supported some 6,900 jobs. In 2015, our vibrant seafood industry tacked on $40.5 million, and breweries add another $660 million annually while employing nearly 5,000 people.

People come from all over to spend their hard-earned money to enjoy the natural resources we have to offer. It’s difficult, however, to enjoy those experiences when big industry — including major agricultural operations — gets in the way of nature.

Our current state law is flawed with rules and calculations that give mega-farms and other industries a blank check to de-water and deplete our rivers through excessive water withdrawals. This leaves fishers, paddlers, swimmers, wildlife, and even municipal drinking water sources at the whims of these industrial users, who under our law can drain rivers dry without regard for folks downstream.

This practice doesn’t leave much water for downstream communities, businesses, or the natural environment and wildlife our state is known and beloved for. I’ve kayaked with clients down the scenic Edisto River where, during parts of the trip downstream of water withdrawers, we had to scoot ourselves across the sandy bottom because there wasn’t enough water to float a kayak — not the ideal experience.

For all users — municipal, industrial, agricultural, or recreational — we need clean, flowing water and should work together to protect it.

We now have a chance to do better by adopting strong water protection laws based on logic and good science. It’s up to us as South Carolinians who rely on clean, abundant water to speak up to encourage the Department of Health and Environmental Control and the legislature to get it right and take the necessary steps that guarantee a sustainable approach to our water usage and withdrawal.

Matt Gamble is a marine educator and kayak instructor at Nature Adventures in Mt. Pleasant, SC.