Lower Pee Dee River Subbasin

Santee Cooper Pee Dee Energy Campus

Update...SC DHEC's board members have taken notice of the conservationists' concerns about the air emissions, including mercury, from the proposed Santee Cooper Pee Dee Energy Campus and have agreed to hold an appeal hearing in February regarding the December 16, 2008 decision by DHEC staffers to approve Santee Coooper's air permit for the proposed plant.

In December, the Waccamaw Riverkeeper received notice that the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control has approved the construction air permit for Santee Cooper's proposed coal-fired power plant to be located on the Pee Dee River. Click here for the e-mail sent to all stakeholders who have participated in the comment process.

State Scenic River

A 70-mile segment of the Great Pee Dee River was designated a State Scenic River in 2002. The designation extends from US Highway 378 Bridge of Florence and Marion Counties, southeast along Williamsburg and Horry Counties, to the US Highway 17 Bridge in Georgetown County. The Great Pee Dee is a large, wild river that transitions through a variety of habitats of bottomland hardwood forests to tidal swamp forests and marshlands, which were once cultivated as part of antebellum rice plantations.

Youth Water Quality Monitoring

In partnership with the SEWEE Association, we are working with Georgetown County's Service Over Self youth volunteer organization to monitor water quality on the Pee Dee River at Yauhannah Bluff (Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge property), Samworth Wildlife Management Area (SC Department of Natural Resources property) and on the Sampit River at the Carroll Ashmore Campbell Marine Complex.