Previous stormwater pond inventories for the coastal zone of South Carolina have shown dramatic increases in both pond number and cumulative area. The most recent inventory is based on 2013 imagery. Coastal development has continued to increase substantially in the years since 2013 and ponds continue to be the most common means employed for meeting stormwater permit requirements for land disturbing activities. As such, the currently available inventory is likely substantially out of date. An updated pond inventory would greatly enhance the utility of the pond inventory, both in terms of understanding the environmental and socio-demographic context of pond use for stormwater management, as well as a means of scaling-up results of various on-going research studies of stormwater pond function and impacts.
It is anticipated that an updated pond inventory and classification will provide an improved foundation and context for understanding stormwater pond use and impacts in coastal SC as well as guide future pond management and research needs. Despite the age of the current inventory, it is still in use by multiple audiences and requests are still being made for the data. The proposed project will produce 1) a geospatial inventory of ponds that is as up to date as possible and will include detailed metadata documentation; 2) a binary classification of all artificial ponds to enable change detection in number and area of ponds specifically associated with increased coastal development; 3) a final report and mapping products that summarizes the results of the proposed work.