Richland County, SC Environmental Rules: Stormwater Management (2026)

Sec. 21-4 of the county code limits when public works forces may touch drainage on private property. The first path is a system already designed, approved and constructed under the county's Stormwater Management, Erosion and Sediment Control Regulations (Secs. 26-202 and 26-203) and formally accepted by the county. The second path requires a clear and substantial public interest and a granted drainage easement covering all affected property; work costing $5,000 or less in materials can be approved administratively by the county administrator, while anything over $5,000 needs county council approval.

The code defines public interest narrowly: correction of a serious health or environmental hazard affecting multiple residences as designated by county or state health officials, correction of a drainage malfunction within a publicly maintained right-of-way, correction of problems tied to county-built projects, protection of the structural integrity of existing county drainage infrastructure, or a community benefit standard requiring the fix eliminate flooding affecting at least four residences or businesses, or flooding that inundates a public road. The ordinance explicitly carves out an exception to the exception: correction of minor ditch erosion problems on private property is stated twice, in subsections (a)(2)e and (a)(2)f, as NOT a substantial public interest, so routine erosion complaints on a single lot get no county crew response under this path.

A third, emergency track lets the county perform emergency maintenance on private drainage facilities, including natural watercourses like streams, when a serious health or environmental hazard affects a single residence beyond that owner's ability to fix and the standard public-interest showing under (a)(2) cannot be met in time.