Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) testified on Jan. 11 to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in his continued efforts to save the historic New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam.
The Lock and Dam has been in legal limbo for many years with the issue bogged down in the courts.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have long favored removing the dam and replacing the structure with a rock weir to allow endangered sturgeon fish to swim upstream to ancestral spawning areas.
According to Allen, due to environmental mitigation from the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, or SHEP, the Corps must integrate the fish passage, but legislation prevents any action that would lower the downtown “pool” below 114.5 feet.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 gave the go-ahead for the Corps to repair the dam at federal expense, but then Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2001. The 2001 CAA added fish passes as a requirement and simultaneously yanked the funding.
Allen told the committee that the Corps plans were in violation of the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvement for the Nation (WIIN) Act that allows the Corp to either repair or replace the dam as long as the downtown pool is maintained at current levels.
Allen said that on several occasions the Corps have drawn down the river to simulate a rock weir, which caused property damage and created public outrage over the plans.
“We saw firsthand the dreadful impacts of the lower water level that would result from the installation of a rock weir. We saw marooned boats and docks on the ground, excess debris, mudflats, the river banks caving in, and these businesses not able to draw the water they need and the cities not able to draw the water they need to manufacture their products and to provide for their citizens,” Allen said.
The Corps have long claimed that it will cost north of $100 million to repair the dam and that the WIIN Act did not allocate any funding specific to the Lock and Dam.
The latest in the almost decade-long court fight was a ruling by the Fourth District Court of Appeals in April that struck down an earlier ruling that blocked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from demolishing the dam.
The litigants, which include the city of Augusta, the city of North Augusta and the state of South Carolina, have filed an appeal, but a hearing has yet to be scheduled.
Allen told the committee that it was long past time for Congress to get involved and bring closure to the matter.
“I urge the committee to work with me to include language that will repair and maintain the Lock and Dam and keep the pool level that our community desperately needs, while still accommodating the fish passage required by SHEP,” Allen said.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson says that he applauds Allen for taking a stand and joining with local leaders attempting to save the Lock and Dam.
“I’m very glad to hear that Congressman Allen is lending us support and my office is currently working to hold a meeting with all of the stakeholders so that we can propose a pathway to move forward. It is time to ramp up the effort to save our downtown pool for the benefit of the community and future generations,” Johnson said.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
