Most people in South Carolina will appreciate the new Black River State Park for its beauty and recreational offerings — a chance, as our recent news headline put it, to “make memories on this river” —  while some hope it also provides a welcome economic jolt to small towns along its winding 71-mile route that spans Williamsburg and Georgetown counties.

But for many, this park — and the related effort to conserve much of the land in the Black River’s watershed — will provide yet another important benefit they might not have considered: flood protection.

The total amount of watershed acreage here is vast, stretching over several counties and adding up to more than 440,000 acres. While only 79,882 acres have been protected as part of the Black River Initiative, that’s still a strong start. And while 22.3 miles of the river have no protection on either side, that means almost 70 percent of the Black’s shoreline is protected from development, at least on one side.

This achievement ranks up there with the park’s recreational and economic benefits. As conservation groups rallied to build support for the Black River Initiative years ago, they commissioned a geological study that detailed how protecting the watershed from development would protect residents and property owners from floods. One key takeaway: Failure to conserve the Black River’s floodplains — the current ability of this land to absorb and store water from a sudden, heavy rain — eventually would make a 5-year storm as damaging as a 200-year storm. The value of floodplains in protecting property and crops along the river was estimated at $70 million a year.

As South Carolina works to become more resilient to our changing climate, what happened with the creation of Black River State Park must be remembered as a practical, beneficial example. The park and related conservation effort were envisioned as bringing three public benefits: recreation, economic development and resiliency. State and local governments must continue to create places that not only help reduce the likelihood of flooding but also offer the public something else, such as recreation, improved water quality, species protection or economic opportunities.

Fortunately, projects that strive for these multiple goals also may be easier to rally support for. Another notable element about the Black River Initiative has been the broad participation of many local, state and federal government agencies, as well as nonprofits and businesses.

“The big pieces of trail for the park are complete, but the larger goal of protecting the watershed and viewsheds and using the tool of private conservation easements continues,” Maria Whitehead of the Open Space Institute tells us. We urge the conservation community, landowners and key players such as the S.C. Conservation Bank to work on those pieces of the river’s watershed that remain unprotected.

For those who associate conservation work with limiting growth, the Black River Initiative provides a strong rebuttal, as the new state park and its water trail have stirred excitement about an economic benefit from the expected visitors. Yes, conservation doesn’t always mean slowing growth; in certain areas, it can help spur growth.

The dream of the Black River State Park took root several years ago, around the same time as Charleston officials visited the Netherlands to learn about how that low-lying country helped protect against floods. And as it turned out, the state park wonderfully embodies a key principle from the city’s subsequent Dutch Dialogues plan: The best flooding infrastructure does more than just protect against flooding.

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