S.C. Sea Grant Consortium

S.C. Sea Grant Publications

Collaborative Research to Prioritize and Model the Runoff Volume Sensitivities of Tidal Headwaters

Nonpoint source pollution from stormwater runoff associated with large-scale land use changes threatens the integrity of ecologically and economically valuable estuarine ecosystems. Beaufort County, S.C. implemented volume-based stormwater regulations on the rationale that if volume discharge is controlled, contaminant loading will also be controlled. The County sought to identify which of their tidal creeks and what portions of the creeks are most sensitive to stormwater runoff.