Posted on November 2, 2021
CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — The past five years have showcased a new chapter in the lives of neighbors who call the South Carolina coast home. Weather events from hurricanes, extreme seasonal rainfall, to the ebbs and flows of the ocean have impacted lives more frequently than what was once the norm.
That’s evident in data and findings from Coastal Carolina experts. Friday, one professional in geology and marine science shared his thoughts on why the sea level is rising along the South Carolina coast.
“We are turning into a situation where Charleston was ten years ago. So it’s starting right now,” said Till Hanebuth Ph.D. “We live at this interface of what’s coming from land, what’s coming from the ocean, and what do we do with our coastal lowlands.”
Hanebuth said his work stems roughly 20 years, with five of it focused on the waterways of Horry and Georgetown counties.
“The global sea level is rising, but in the end all of the solutions they can only be local,” Hanebuth said.
In his eyes, that begins when everyone comes to an agreement that the impacts of sea-level rise are only made worse by how we use the land connected to water.
“If we want to solve it, we have to start here, we can’t start anywhere else,” Hanebuth said. The loss of wetlands for instance. The transformation from groundwater formation to surface runoff and just get rid of the water as quickly as we can, that creates a lot of issues.”
Hanebuth said development and taking away the ability for the water table to process properly also expedite the rise in waters.
“Clear cut, removing the soils and putting neighborhoods on it is anything but sustainable,” he said.
He said the effect will eventually lead to saltwater intrusion disrupting freshwater ecosystems. The rising waters also take away land, pushing homes on the coast closer into the ocean, and placing low-lying communities underwater more often.
“Flooding will be more persistent. So extended and probably more frequent. What we also know is we don’t need to reinvent the wheel, we need to have people listen to what we know,” Hanebuth said.
The data showed rivers like the Waccamaw are higher near its coastal output than in years past. Hanebuth’s findings compared the river gauge at Hagley Landing with what observed global sea-level rise should be. From 1998 to now, the trend in river level rise at the Waccamaw’s base is going upward showing a roughly 15-inch height difference. Global rise is closer to 3 inches according to Hanebuth’s data.
“We cannot hide from the information, it is out there and we know what’s going on,” Hanebuth said. “We should, we should all work together.”
His blunt suggestion is to change the process and the approach. There is a need to prepare the area for the rush of new residents, but there is a sustainable way to go about it in his eyes.
“I understand that there always has to be some kind of balance, but the assumption that sustainability is costly and doesn’t bring anything, that is very misleading,” Hanebuth said. “If you think twice and do it [build] in a more sustainable way with better planning and better integrating all of the different factors and also considering the long term consequences not only for a little neighborhood or piece of a marsh but for the society as a whole.”
Hanebuth’s conversation Friday was a part of a broader series discussing science and sustainability with the United Nations Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development, better known as Georgetown Rise. The center will host a documentary viewing next week on Nov. 3 at 7:30 pm in Conway at the Theatre of the Republic. It will spotlight climate impacts in our state and include conversations with Floodwater Commissioner Tom Mullikin.
