By Brandon Garrett Guest Columnist
Posted Oct 5, 2019 at 6:31 PM
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced recently they’ve pushed back their decision on what to do with our New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam.
Why? Because they and the other decision-makers are finally being made to understand that our area cannot tolerate their rock weir plan.
When Congress passed the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act - calling for the construction of a fish passage - our area fought hard to make sure the law also protected our local interests. That’s why the law requires “maintaining the pool” of the Savannah River “as in existence.”
For about three years, the Corps worked to come up with a plan to make these two requirements a reality. Then in February, the Corps gave us a report to tell us about its plan, then initiated a drawdown of the river level to show it to us. If you recall, obviously neither of these things went well.
The expert panel hired by the Corps to review its report basically gave it a failing grade. The panel pointed out two important things we’ve been saying for years: The rock weir plan is no good for sturgeon, and it doesn’t comply with the law because it lowers the pool. So a law that was designed to take care of both the fish and the people has ended up taking care of neither.
This is no good.
Others are responsible for looking out for the fish, so I’ll leave that to them. But as an Augusta commissioner, my only concern is in seeing to the health, safety and welfare of this community.
Flooding should not be increased in our area. Our water withdrawals and discharges now and in the future cannot be affected by this project. The hundreds of millions of dollars worth of recent investment around our pool cannot be risked. Our area’s property values, lifestyle, quality of life and recreational opportunities cannot be sacrificed. The new safety hazards the Corps is planning for our pool simply cannot happen. None of the dozens of other ill effects from a rock weir can happen either.
The only way to ensure all this is to keep our pool level where it has always been and where the 2016 law requires it to stay: at 114.5 feet above sea level. A lot of people are hard at work making sure this is exactly what happens.
Augusta and North Augusta continue to walk in lockstep in our demand to keep our pool at 114.5 feet.
In Washington, D.C., U.S. Reps. Rick Allen of Georgia and Joe Wilson of South Carolina are leading the charge to get the law changed and hold feet to the fire in general.
In South Carolina, a bill proviso drafted by State Rep. Bill Hixon and State Sen. Tom Young prohibits the Corps from lowering the pool. They have also secured funding from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster for the lawsuits the state will file if the Corps actually decides to recommend a plan that lowers the pool.
Local stakeholders are in this fight as well. A letter was recently sent to the Corps reminding them their plan can’t even be executed unless South Carolina and a judge from a 2013 Savannah Riverkeeper lawsuit OKs it.
Another local group has come forward with an exciting new plan that would save the Lock and Dam and our pool, and provide safe passage for sturgeon, according to the expert panel hired by the Corps.
This plan should be designed immediately to protect our pool and our communities. It would also avoid any issues for Savannah Harbor Expansion Project that could come from lawsuits, digging up old court cases and other ugly possibilities that are being set up right now.
This plan protects both the fish and the people.
But the most important thing right now is to not listen when you hear the voices saying that nothing can be done about this issue. Things can be done - and they’re getting done all the time.
The tide is turning, and I’ve never been so confident that we’re going to beat this. So come on in. The water’s fine. Get in this fight with us.
If our area’s next 250 years are going to be even better than the past 250, we have to fight every single time for the river that gave life to it and supports it. Our grandkids deserve the same river and the same opportunities our grandparents had.
The writer represents District 8 on the Augusta Commission.