Lock and dam’s fate in question after new ruling from appeals court
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A federal appeals court has struck down a U.S. District Court ruling that blocked the demolition of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam in the Savannah River.
In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court said that if certain requirements are met, the Army Corps of Engineers can proceed with a plan to replace the lock and dam with a structure that allows fish to cross it.
Among the requirements: The height of the river must be maintained enough to meet water supply and recreational purposes, as required under federal law.
At the center of the lawsuit are the needs of CSRA residents vs. the needs of fish that are reportedly impacted by the corps’ deepening of Savannah Harbor 200 miles below Augusta.
“While popular with humans, the Dam has been less well received by the endangered Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon that populate the Savannah River,” the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals notes in its ruling. “Because the sturgeon can’t through or over the dam, they aren’t able to migrate upstream to their historic spawning grounds.”
To meet the needs of those fish, the corps wanted to build a rock dam known as a weir that would still pool water but also allow fish to over it.
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The corps conceded that the weir would lower the river level by about 3 feet. And that raised the concerns of local leaders and advocates of recreational uses for the river.
The corps concluded its plan wouldn’t adversely impact the water supply, fishing, large events, or the continued general use of boat docks.
“But a simulation the Corps ran in 2019 proved disastrous,” the ruling notes. “During the simulation, the Corps drew the water level in the pool down several feet, exposing mudflats for miles along the Savannah River. The drawdown test ran docks aground and threatened Augusta’s water intake. The Corps ultimately had to halt the test.”
The test lowered the level by 5 feet, according to Augusta officials.
The state of South Carolina, the city of Augusta, and other entities sued the corps, saying its plan would violate the law.
A U.S. District Court in 2020 ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, issuing a permanent injunction against the destruction of the lock and dam. On Wednesday, the appeals court reversed that injunction.
Much of the appeals court’s thought on the matter swirled around whether the water level required by law was a specific number or a malleable target. Arguments also centered on the definitions of certain words and the intention of a comma in the verbiage of the law.
Ultimately, the appeals court decided the law requires a pool “sufficient” to serve as a water supply and for recreational activities, regardless of the pool’s specific level.
While striking down the injunction, the appeals judges are leaving it up to the lower court to decide whether the corps’ specific plan would keep the pool at a sufficient level to meet the law.
“Construction of the fish age is for the greater benefit of the species, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is committed to the delivery of its mitigation within the requirements of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project,” the corps said.
Augusta Commission member Brandon Garrett said the decision gives Congress direction as to how to draft further legislation “to protect the Region’s water supply, recreation, and environment as they originally intended.”
Garrett added that in addition to impacting Augusta’s water supply and creating water-quality issues, the corps plan could endanger events like Head of the South Regatta, Ironman, the Augusta Southern Nationals, and Southeast Masters Rowing Regionals.
“To see this go back to a lower court is really disheartening,” he said. “Our river is affected once or twice a day by water that is let out at the lake above us and basically we have to make sure we have enough water flowing and the Army Corps has never really taken into all of those water releases each day.”
Mayor Garnett Johnson said: “We should have the ability to maintain the pool and also provide the ability for the sturgeon to migrate up the river. I think the locks, of course, the current systems in place, allow that. It’s disappointing that it was not ruled in our favor, however, the fight continues. It’s always been my contention that Augusta, North Augusta should be able to control the level in the Savannah River.”
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