Upstate paper wants new water board

The Spartenburg Herald-Journal has called for the creation of a state water board “in order to study the state’s water resources, their current use and future needs.“

I’m pretty sure that’s what the hydrology department in the Department of Natural Resources already does for us. Yes, when I read the departments mission statement that is pretty much what I get. Lest there be some doubt, here is the first sentence of their mission statement: “The mission of the Hydrology Section is to provide guidance, counsel, and data to the State government and the general public for the beneficial use, conservation, and management of South Carolina’s water resources.”

Does the Spartenburg Herald-Journal have no concept of what it takes to control the size of our state government? The creation of such a board would unnecessarily increase the size of the state bureaucracy and would no doubt be used as another state sponsored political vehicle, as if we don’t already have enough of those crashing around the corridors in Columbia.

Let the Department of Hydrology do their job and report to the legislature and the Governor, our elected officials, who in turn will develop and implement our statewide water policy.

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