President Biden has signed into law a bill authorizing the repair of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam, reducing uncertainty about the historic structure’s future.
Saturday, Biden signed the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, which requires the downtown pool retained by the dam be maintained at 114.5 feet above sea level.
The bill corrects a plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to demolish the structure and replace it with a rock weir. The plan would have allowed endangered sturgeon to spawn upstream, but would lower water levels around homes and industries in downtown Augusta and North Augusta.
Congressmen on both sides of the Savannah River issued statements celebrating Biden signing the bill. The House passed a bipartisan-backed Senate version of the law last month.
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“We faced many obstacles, tenuous legal battles and what seemed to be insurmountable roadblocks,” said Rep. Rick W. Allen. “One thing was clear from the beginning. Any option that resulted in a significant drop in the water level was a non-starter for local businesses, homeowners and families. This was no small feat, but I could not be prouder that we persevered.”
“My colleagues and I have maintained for years that the Army Corps of Engineers misinterpreted the clear intent of the language in the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, requiring that the pool be maintained at 114.5 feet,” said South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson.
“To tear down the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam and replace it with a fixed rock weir would have been detrimental to the North Augusta community, irreversibly lowering the water levels in a manner that would negatively impact economic development, recreation and industry up and down the river,” Wilson said.
The lock and dam was built in 1937 to enable ships to transport goods inland on the Savannah River. The structures were relegated to “caretaker” status in the 1980s and are in declining condition.
While the act authorizes a “full repair,” it does not specify what the Corps should do with the lock and dam besides mitigate the impact to fish habitat and keep the pool at the required level.
