by Hailey Murphy, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.
A newly installed water level sensor, with battery housing and solar panel, from its position over the May River, in Bluffton, S.C. Photo credit: Beth Lewis, Town of Bluffton.
A water level sensor was recently installed at Calhoun Street Public Dock on the May River in Bluffton, South Carolina. These sensors are installed above the water body and emit ultrasonic waves, which are reflected to the sensor by the water surface, and the intervening time serves as a measurement for the current water level.
Bluffton’s emergency managers may access the resulting water level data to better identify a flooding threshold—a specific water level indicating the beginning of a flood event—to allow them to move quickly in response to flood hazards: clearing storm drains, closing roads or bridges, or issuing evacuation procedures should that threshold be reached.
To coordinate this installation and others, the Consortium partnered with the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA) and other organizations across the region as part of the Southeast Water Level Network. The project team aims to deploy affordable ultrasonic sensors throughout the Southeast, focused on observational gaps where flood risk is high, and to assist communities in better understanding local water levels and flooding hazards.
Ke’Ziyah Williamson, Water Level Monitoring Specialist for the Consortium, noted that local water level sensor installations involve a great deal of coordination, and delays are common as the team navigates cooperation between funders, property owners, and federal, state, and local partners.
“Open communication with the community is important so we can address concerns with the timeline throughout the process,” said Williamson, who expressed gratitude to the Town of Bluffton and their representatives, who “were patient, understanding, and communicative as we navigated this process.”
This installation is one of many steps the Town of Bluffton has taken to build resilience against flooding and other hazards, including instituting a new wetlands ordinance, requiring a 50-foot buffer surrounding wetlands, which is double the requirement set in May 2024. These measures are backed by the findings of the Resilience Planning Analysis: Town of Bluffton, S.C. report produced by the Consortium and its partners in 2025 at the request of the Town to address its growing population and flood concerns, and in response to a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision removing federal protections for wetlands under the Clean Water Act.
Installation location and date, as well as the initials of the installers, are inscribed inside the battery housing of the water level sensor. Photo credit: Beth Lewis, Town of Bluffton.
As of January 2026, five water level sensor locations have been identified and coordinated by the Consortium as a part of this effort, and sensors have been installed by SECOORA partners in the following locations in S.C.: Crooked Creek in Bennettsville; Jeremy Creek in McClellanville; Little Pee Dee River in Marion; Black River in Kingstree; and the May River in Bluffton. Data from these sensors may be viewed and used by the public, as well as emergency managers and city or state officials. Find out how to access the water level data in your area at the Consortium’s South Carolina Water Monitoring Initiative webpage.
Contact the Consortium’s Water Level Monitoring Specialist Ke’Ziyah Williamson to learn more about water level monitoring, and read more about how these sensors help prepare South Carolina for future flooding.