IMPACTS OF DROUGHT ON WATER QUALITY: A CASE STUDY ON THE EDISTO RIVER AT GIVHANS FERRY STATE PARK IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
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Irey, Nolan Wagner
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Abstract
Drought has increased worldwide in severity, frequency, and intensity due to a changing climate. This along with an increased demand for water supply has resulted in more cumulative stress on water resources. There are many studies evaluating how drought affects the volume of water, but few studies have been conducted to understand the impacts of drought on water quality. This study utilized multiple drought identification methods to measure how four water quality parameters (total organic carbon, color, turbidity, and Escherichia coli) were impacted during periods of drought and following identified drought events in the Edisto River watershed at Givhans Ferry State Park near Ridgeville, SC over a 23-year study period from January 2001 to April 2023. In periods of drought compared to normal flow conditions, total organic carbon, color, and Escherichia coli all decreased. However, these three parameters spiked following significant drought events, supporting a hypothesized post-drought flushing effect. This research showed precipitation, total surface runoff volume, water temperature, and flow velocity of the Edisto River were likely environmental factors that played a role in these changes. Turbidity only showed seasonal drought differences with fall droughts leading to lower turbidity levels and spring droughts having higher levels. Winter and summer results were inconclusive. Implications of this research may lead to a better understanding of the impact of drought in this and other similar climatic regions. Better understanding of drought could assist overall management of water resources as they become more stressed moving in the future.