In The News

Originally published in the Augusta Chronicle.

Federal legislation that would spare the decaying New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam has passed the House of Representatives.

If passed into law, the bill would signal a victory for Augusta-area advocates urging the preservation of the lock and dam to help preserve the 114.5-foot river pool in and near Augusta that supplements local municipalities' water supplies and encourages recreational activities.

House Resolution 8812, the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, officially reached the Senate on Tuesday.

A key difference in this new version of the act is a provision, successfully inserted by Republican U.S. Reps. Rick Allen and Mike Collins of Georgia, intended to protect the river locks constructed in 1937.

Allen, who represents the 12th U.S. House District that includes the Augusta area, provided much of the language used in crafting the bill's amendment.

Allen called the bill a "big win" for the Augusta area in brief comments delivered on gthe House floor July 24, to "stop the Corps’ disastrous rock weir plan and clarify congressional intent to maintain our pool level at the 114.5 feet."

Congress passes the WRDA every two years to update and direct water management priorities for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

When commercial navigation on the Savannah River stopped in the 1970s, the lock and dam dropped to "caretaker" status in 1985, rendering it less competitive for federal funds that could have paid for its upkeep.

A 1999 Corps study concluded that the lock and dam no longer fulfilled its navigational purpose and should be scrapped. Congress authorized a repair project in 2000 but it was never fully funded.

The Corps contended that the lock and dam disrupted the traditional Savannah River spawning path for endangered Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon. The Corps recommended building a fixed rock weir that could help guide the fish upstream.