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The 7Q10 in South Carolina water-quality regulation: Nearly fifty years later

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Abstract

The annual minimum 7-day average streamflow with a 10-year recurrence interval, often referred to as the 7Q10, has a long history of being an important low-flow statistic used in water-quality management in South Carolina as evidenced by its adoption into South Carolina law in 1967. State agencies, such as the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, use such lowflow statistics to determine Wasteload Allocations for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System discharges, develop Total Maximum Daily Loads for streams, prepare the State Water Plan, and restrict the quantity of water that can be transferred out of basin. The U.S. Geological Survey, working cooperatively with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, is updating low-flow statistics at continuous-record streamflow gages in South Carolina on a basin-by-basin approach. Such statistics are influenced by length of record and hydrologic conditions under which the record was collected. Statewide low-flow statistics in South Carolina were last updated in 1987. Since that time several droughts have occurred with the most severe occurring from 1998-2002 and the most recent occurring from 2006-2009. The low-flow statistics for the Pee Dee River basin were the first to be completed in this ongoing investigation.

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Publication type Conference Paper
Publication Subtype Conference Paper
Title The 7Q10 in South Carolina water-quality regulation: Nearly fifty years later
Year Published 2010
Language English
Contributing office(s) South Atlantic Water Science Center
Description 5 p.
Conference Title Proceedings of the 2010 South Carolina Water Resources Conference
Conference Location Columbia, SC
Conference Date October 13-14, 2010
Country United States
State South Carolina
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
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