Jack Mason stands on a patch of his tree and turf farm in Beech Island Wednesday afternoon. He has had to use pumps that process 3,000 gallons of water a minute to irrigate his farm, something he usually doesn't have to do in December. TODD BENNETT/STAFF

Drought causing worries

Web posted December 10, 1998

By Margaret Weston
Staff Writer

This is the first December in 40 years Jack Mason has had to water his grass.

With 921 acres of land, that's not an easy task. On Wednesday, Mr. Mason restarted pumps at his tree and turf farm in Beech Island, after winterizing them in October.

He watered plots of St. Augustine, Bermuda, Zoysia and Centipede grass because damp sod holds together better.

Tuesday night's meager .03 inch of rain didn't make a dent in the drought affecting the area. Normally, by the first week in December almost an inch of rain has fallen.

The 46.30 inches of rainfall measured as of November 1998 is 5 inches below normal for the year. The last soaking rain was in late September.

The area should receive some rain in the coming weeks but not enough to change the dry situation, said Milton Brown, climatologist with the National Weather Center in Columbia.

``As of this past Saturday, it would've taken more than 6 inches to end drought,'' he said.

Click on graphic to view larger image.STAFF

Again, the blame can be placed on La Nina, little sister to El Nino, which is caused by cold sea-surface temperatures in the Tropical Pacific.

Mr. Brown said moderate drought conditions exist throughout the southern two-thirds of South Carolina and northeast Georgia. Middle Georgia and the southwest corner aren't in as bad of shape.

While not as hot as summer, the dry, warm weather is a danger to trees, shrubs and lawns.

Although Mr. Mason hasn't lost any of his sod crop, he did ``push up'' 200-300 Leyland cypress trees he had planned to sell as Christmas trees. The trees were in an area where he couldn't water them.

Driving across his fields, Mr. Mason pointed out a plot of bright green Bermuda grass -- usually brown and dormant this time of year.

Homeowners should still take special care with watering lawns, trees and shrubs.

``It is really dry -- people don't need to get the notion that because it's December they don't need to water,'' said Derek Vandover of the Augusta-Richmond County Trees and Parks Commission.

Both Mr. Vandover and Sid Mullis of the extension service said people should soak trees and shrubs, particularly those planted in the past year.

The dry weather also dictates extra safety precautions when burning leaves and debris. The combination of relatively low humidity and wind can be ``almost explosive,'' according to Mr. Brown.

Margaret Weston can be reached at (706) 823-3217 or mweston@augustachronicle.com.