“Water is Charleston’s ubiquitous element, our secret sauce and not-so secret threat.” This eloquent statement by editor at large Stephanie Hunt sums up the conundrum that all Lowcountry residents face: We’re besotted with the beauty of this historic city by the sea—with its rivers, marshes, and myriad tidal creeks—while being inundated with the hazards and costs of increased flooding, pollution, and overdevelopment.
As the City of Charleston plans to reveal its “Comprehensive, Integrated Water Plan” detailing strategies and infrastructure to address flooding and sea-level rise later this summer, we decided to look at our water challenges from a different, “marsh grassroots” perspective. In the feature, “The Water Front” (page 98), Stephanie interviews a variety of conservationists and creatives, advocates and engineers—all working to protect our waterways and our way of life. From Charleston Waterkeeper’s watchdog efforts safeguarding against pollution to the SC Aquarium’s tech-savvy citizen science tools to a fun-loving group restoring their neighborhood marsh ecosystem, all are engaging the public to become educated and be part of the solution. And, in true Charleston fashion, they’re mutually supportive, often overlapping efforts to achieve common goals.
They are an inspiring lot—so much so that I am thinking about gathering my neighbors for our own marsh cleanup. Every little bit helps, right?
Darcy Shankland
Editor in chief
dshankland@charlestonmag.com