Strategic priority

Protect water from current and future threats

At SCELP, our goal is to prevent the degradation of South Carolina's water resources by halting pollution and stewarding their availability. We advocate for sustainable surface water and groundwater uses; strive towards conservation and restoration of water quality and aquatic life; and work to advance legal protections for state-of-the art stormwater and floodplain practices.

Support Our Work

Water Cases & Issues

RV Park Septic

Active

2023

On behalf of multiple homeowner associations, we are challenging the South Carolina Administrative Law Court’s decision to reinstate a septic system permit for a proposed RV park in northern Spartanburg County. Per DHEC standard calculations, more than two million gallons per year of septic effluent - including human waste – would be discharged into the ground on the site, which is adjacent to a creek and thousands of acres of conservation land.

Coastal Septic Management

Active

2022

South Carolina’s coastal areas are experiencing increased development pressures, particularly in rural areas, where dense clusters of conventional septic tank systems are often chosen by developers because of lack of access to sewer and low cost. Currently, DHEC does not review septic tank permits for consistency with the Coastal Management Program when they are placed in the coastal zone – despite applying these policies to almost every other type of state environmental permit.

Water Quality Protection

Active

2021

At SCELP, we are working to prevent the degradation of the state’s water resources by halting uses that pollute them and by improving statewide water standards and regulations.

River Preserve

Active

2022

River Preserve is a proposed development, bordering the Reedy River and located in southern Greenville County. We are challenging the Greenville County Planning Commission’s decision to approve the preliminary subdivision proposal on behalf of Citizens for Quality Rural Living.

Rural Drinking Water

Active

2021

Access to safe, affordable and reliable drinking water is a basic human right, indispensable to sustaining healthy livelihoods and maintaining people’s dignity. It is also an increasingly urgent environmental protection and justice issue in South Carolina.

Arabella Farm

Active

2020

Special places require special consideration, and Arabella Farm—a Pickens County wedding venue located along Highway 11—is right in the middle of one of the Upstate's most special natural areas. The area's specialness is not conceptual or abstract. Rather, this area is special because it is utilized extensively by fishermen, hikers, birders and lovers of the outdoors. People in this rural part of the Upstate take land stewardship very seriously, and that is why the ongoing pollution from the event venue must be addressed.