The Wetlands in My Area

Wetlands located in Socastee, South Carolina

Dendrology of the ICW in Socastee, SC

 On September 18th, I submitted a blog on the most popular trees that grow along the Intracoastal Waterway in Socastee, SC.  Please see below:

Dendrology of the wetlands of Socastee, South Carolina

 Live oaks (Quercus virginiana), 

 Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) 

 Southern red cedar (Juniperus silicicola), 

 Cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto), 

 American holly (Ilex opaca), 

 Redbay (Persea borbonia), 

 Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera)

 Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria)

 Southern red oak (Quercus falcata), 

 Water oak (Quercus nigra), 

 Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata)

 Pignut hickory (Carya glabra)

 Dogwood (Cornus florida) 

 American olive (Osmanthus americana)

 Carolina laurel cherry (Prunus caroliniana)

 Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) 

 Laurel oak (Quercus hemisphaerica)

I will select 10 of these trees to highlight in a presentation.  

Flood Plain Maps and Alluvial Soils

 Flood Plain Maps and Soil Maps for Socastee, SC

South Carolina Dept of Natural Resources created a 61-page document on flooding and safety.  You can find the document here: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/water/flood/documents/SCQG_FloodplainManagement.pdf

Here are some videos of me two years ago during our flood.  Water was up 5 ft on our property.

Outline for General Public

Questions the general public may ask when purchasing a new home near or on the wetlands of the Intracoastal Waterway in Socastee, South Carolina.  It is extremely important to know about the ecosystems in your future backyard when you find land along the Intracoastal Waterway.  Let’s look at the questions and create an outline that will help the general public understand the importance of maintaining wetlands and their ecosystems. 

Wetland Education

1.      What are wetlands?

a.       Wetlands are areas where the soil is covered by water the majority of the time.  Low tides can affect these areas as well as high tides and king tides.

                                                              i.      Categories of Wetlands

1.      Coastal/Tidal Wetlands (Socastee area)

2.      Inland/Non-tidal Wetlands

2.      How to monitor wetlands?

a.       Online software systems (please see blog post)

b.      Technical equipment

3.      Does it flood where I am located?

a.       GIS online mapping tools

4.      How are the ecosystems disrupted if living by them?

a.       Fires including wildfires

b.      Flooding

c.       Volcanic Eruptions

d.      Habitat destruction

e.       Invasive species including humans

f.        Overhunting

g.      Pollution and environmental change

h.      Global climate change

5.      Will I be able to use fertilizers on my yard if my property backs up to the wetlands?

a.       No, fertilizers disrupt the chemistry in the soil in the ecosystems.  Plus, it will cause excess pollutants in the waters causing harmful algal blooms.

6.      What are some great websites to look at for information on wetlands and control?

a.       www.epa.gov

b.      www.world.org

c.       www.fws.gov

d.      www.conservation.org

7.      What are three facts about wetlands?

a.       “Kidneys of the landscape”

b.      Mitigate climate change

c.       Habitat for biodiversity

8.      Are wetlands good to have for the earth?

a.       Great for flood control

b.      Water purification

c.       Shoreline stability

                  d.    Carbon sink

South Carolina Dept of Natural Resources

 

https://www.dnr.sc.gov/invasiveweeds/img/apmprogram10.pdf

Invasive Species of the Wetlands of Socastee, SC

Watershed Tools to Use

 Watershed management and monitoring tools are essential in today’s assessment of watersheds and wetland areas.  The tools used will help give us data to compile and look for trends.  The area that I have been researching is the Intracoastal Waterway in Socastee, SC.  My property backs up to the wetlands.  I own 65 feet of wetlands at the back of my property and 35 feet of wetlands to the right side of my property.  Some tools I would like to use in assessing the wetlands are as follows:

Ø  Google Earth

o   This online platform can be used to look at trending topography and flood plains.  Having this platform, it can show us water flow and the use of the land.  Being a free service, Google Earth is essential in understanding your area from an aerial view.

Ø  Dynatrace

o   This online monitoring system is a paid service to cover your monitoring needs for application performance, digital experience, business analytics, AIOps, and infrastructure monitoring.  This service would be able to help provide data.

Ø  USDA

o   This is a GIS-based tool for hydrologic modeling.  A great way to assess watershed runoff and erosion.  Water resource management is essential in any watershed assessment and study.