Two states, One river: Create the Savannah River Basin Initiative
Introduction
As a historical colonial coastal city, Savannah has long been living with the water. Starting from the 19th century as the largest seaport of Georgia, it remains prosperous and ranks as the fastest-growing and busiest port in the nation. Savannah’s climate is categorized as humid subtropical. Historically, the most constant wet season is from June to September, and the winter is a dry season.
Geographically, Savannah lies within two watersheds: the Savannah River Watershed and the Ogeechee River Watershed (Figure 1), and it belongs to the coastal Georgia water planning region. Approximately 70% of the water supply of Savannah comes from the Floridan Aquifer, and the rest 30% comes from surface water resources1.
Figure 1: Regional watershed map around the city of Savannah
Currently, there is only one drinking water treatment plant, called the Industrial & Domestic surface water filtration plant located in the city. This plant serves not just the city itself, but also the large swaths of unincorporated Chatham County. There is also one sewage treatment plant, called the Water Reclamation Plant. After the sewage is treated, it flows into the Savannah River (Figure 2)2.
While these water resources and facilities are currently ample, there are still challenges in the long run as an unexpected drought season, saltwater intrusion, industrial pollution, flooding, and population growth all cast pressure in providing stable and qualified water3.
Figure 2: Water Facilities Map of Savannah
Water Challenges
Overuse of the Groundwater, the Floridan Aquifer
Savannah is the first city to withdraw water from the Floridan aquifer (Figure 3) as a supplement drinking water resource since the late 1800s. Nowadays, the Floridan aquifer has become one of the world’s most productive aquifers, serving as not only the major drinking water resource of Savannah, but also the primary source of drinking water for many cities in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama4. In fact, the aquifer benefits nearly 10 million people in the southeastern mega-region. Because of the fact that the aquifer has been heavily used for so long, by so many, the aquifer level is declining. The recent drought years also caused the replenish of the groundwater slower than its consumption.
Figure 3: Map of the Floridan Aquifer System (Source: USGS)
The depletion of the groundwater brings further side-effects. As the groundwater level decreases, the seawater will travel into the underground reservoir. In the Savannah area, the heavily pumped principal artesian aquifer contains salty water within about 15 miles of the area of large withdrawals5. In the lower reaches of the Savannah River and its estuaries, the aquifer is overlain by salty surface water. The saltwater contamination at these locations has constrained further withdrawal of the aquifer and created competing demands for the limited supply of freshwater.
Therefore, in the future, the city will turn to Abercorn Creek, a tributary of the Savannah River, to supply the drinking water of the city6.
Water Concern of the Savannah River
While the city is shifting its primary water resource to the Savannah River, which is thought to be an ideal alternative to the Floridan aquifer, however, the river itself also has many potential risks due to the heavy industrial usage and the capacity is not promising in the long term.
Savannah River Pollution
Currently, industrial use is the dominant demand sector of surface water. In Savannah, the International Paper Companies Savannah Complex dumped more than 30,000 lbs. of toxic chemical waste into the Savannah River per year, ranking the second-largest reported polluter of toxic chemicals in Georgia in 20077. But the river may already be polluted before arriving at Savannah: the middle Savannah River supports chemical plants and other facilities that discharge waste, boasting the third-highest number of toxic releases from its 48 municipal and industrial outfalls. Recent data from The Savannah Riverkeeper shows 72% of the river is likely contaminated.
An even bigger issue associated with the water pollution is the inconsistency in the evaluation of both Georgia and South Carolina on the river: Georgia highlights the entire river streams as green and safe, but along the green line are red dots labeled by South Carolina indicating the water is contaminated (Figure 4)8.
Figure 4: Inconsistent Water Quality Standard9
Gaps in the Long-term Surface Water Availability
As mentioned before, the Savannah Industrial & Domestic Water Treatment Plant is the only one drinking water treatment plant in the city, producing about 35 million gallons of drinking water per day with a capacity to produce up to 62 million gallons daily. The plant serves not only the city itself but also the large swaths of unincorporated Chatham County10.
The Coastal Regional Water Plan reports that the projected population growth in Chatham county will result in a water supply “gap” of approximately 4 million gallons daily by 2050, comparing to the fact that the withdrawal from the underground water is required to reduce by 25% by 2025 due to saltwater intrusion. The gap in meeting future water demands has become a reality.
Our Focus
As the diagram illustrates (Figure 5), the water concerns are closely interrelated. We decide to focus on industrial pollution, as it is the most urgent concern and responds to other challenges as well (Figure 6). Since it is not just an internal issue of the Savannah city, to solve this issue, an integrated water management approach throughout the watershed is a must. In addition, by solving this issue, we can rely on the long-term supply from the river, and thus less pressure is put on the aquifer, which in turn can also respond to the over pumping issue.
Figure 5: Diagram of the Issues
Figure 6: Diagram of Our Focus
Our Solution
Create the Savannah River Basin Initiative
We propose to create a program-based Savannah River Basin Initiative (SRBI), which will unite 35 counties that are adjacent to the Savannah River Basin in both South Carolina and Georgia. The SRBI will primarily develop and implement plans, programs, and regulations that could effectively respond to the bi-state challenges identified in the previous sections, including unmatched water management institutions, lacking regional control on water pollution, inconsistent water quality standards between South Carolina and Georgia, and also coping with potential drought due to the Sea Level Rise.
Our solution is in light of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) because the problems that used to happen in the Susquehannah river basin are similar to the challenges that the Savannah river basin is facing today11. In addition, the proposed idea of the SRBC works effectively on the water pollution and water withdrawal in the Susquehannah river basin and their mission and responsibilities align with the SRBI’s as well. Our solution is also on account of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to work on the water pollution in the Delaware water basin and tend to avoid any tragedy that is similar to the Delaware river lawsuit case that one state sued the other state due to the upstream water pollution12.
Given the reasons that list above, it is feasible for the City of Savannah, as a downstream city along the Savannah River, to be the initiator to promote the establishment of the Savannah River Basin Initiative (SRBI) to guide and coordinate water resource management on the Savannah River. This will directly benefit the water quality and resilience of the city and its residents. Spontaneously, the SRBI solution will contribute to other cities and counties that rely on the Savannah river basin.
Operation Structure
To run the initiative efficiently and effectively, the Savannah River Basin Initiative (SRBI) is composed of diverse people including the field specialists, and representatives from local agencies and related stakeholders. Figure 7 shows the proposed operation structure of the Savannah River Basin Initiative. It comprises 4 major departments which oversee 7 groups.
Figure 7: Operation Structure of Savannah River Basin Initiative (SRBI)
In this section, we will further elaborate on the functionality of these groups.
Science and Data Division Department
The Monitoring and Protection Group aims to build up in-stream real-time monitoring networks on water withdrawal and disposal; to collect and analyze in-site data on water quality across different locations throughout the Basin including water salinity at the estuary of the Savannah river. Based on the data, the SRBI could generate a comprehensive water demand portfolio for the river. This group works as the foundation of the Projection and Mitigation Group. Some suggested programs contain monitoring nutrient and sediment loadings, establishing total maximum daily load criteria, and assessing risks to drinking water resources, etc.
As the initiative runs, it will gradually build and complete its own database, which will be utilized by the Projection and Mitigation Group (Figure 8). Data, including wastewater disposal, water withdrawal, water quality, and rainfall collected from the Monitoring and Protection Group, will be combined and analyzed to predict the future trends. This group will provide the guide for the Planning Department to cope with foreseeable trends such as population and economic growth, and Sea Level Rise.
Figure 8: Database Diagram
Planning Department
With the help of the Regulation and Enforcement Group, the initiative will focus on making regulation on the three aspects: water withdrawals, sewage disposal, and water utility, in order to balance the water withdrawal quantity in different areas such that the downstream supply is ensured even during drought season, to make consistent standards on the quality and quantity of wastewater discharged to the river to ensure the water quality, and to evaluate the capacity, safety, and availability of water infrastructures in the watershed to ensure the equality of water right, respectively.
The Climate Adaptation Group cooperates with the Science and Data Department on flooding and saltwater intrusion data collection and analysis in order to prepare for the challenges related to Sea Level Rise. This group will advise on the Climate Adaptation Plan to keep counties and cities, especially the City of Savannah, as a port city, resilient.
External Affairs and Communication Department
To ensure the equity of each plan and policy it suggests, the groups within the External Affairs and Communication Department will collaborate together. They will hold public hearing events before plans and policies adopted with all stakeholders at present. The initiative will also organize events and programs aiming at educating the public (Figure 9). For example, the local industries can learn about how to fulfill the new water quality standard and upgrade their water treatment facilities from those programs; while the residents will gain valuable experience of the linkage between the river and their daily life through the field visiting and raise their sense of water conservation.
Figure 9: Public Hearing and Events
Partnership
The SRBI should build strategic partnerships with diverse stakeholders, from local agencies to academia and industrial partners. Some suggested partners are shown in Figure 10. Within the local agencies, The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) & the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), are two must-have partners, in the fact that they are existing bi-state cooperation, focusing on issues on the Savannah water withdrawals. As the initiator, the City of Savannah, and its Chatham county should also be strong alliances. Research labs and centers are good resources for the SRBI to get the most innovative solutions. Partnership with Savannah river nuclear solutions and the Savannah River Site enable SRBI to regulate water pollution and water disposal on the industrial side in a more approachable way.
Figure 10: Strategic Partners of the Savannah River Basin Initiative
How would the SRBI attract our strategic partners? First, a thorough and free database will be provided to our academic partners. Second, economic reform and incentives will be offered to our industrial stakeholders as well. For example, if the amount of the water disposals of an industrial partner is significantly lower than its peers, the SRBI will work with related governments to provide a discount to their water rate.
One cooperation showcase between the SRBI and its partner: the SRBI will work closely with the Savannah River Site, which used to be a nuclear plant producing the basic materials of nuclear weapons (Figure 11). It was heavy both in water consumption and contamination production. After the cold war ended, the site began to decline in size. Several cleanup and recovery programs began shortly after. Nowadays it is safely functioned as a national nuclear laboratory while over 90% of its area became national environmental research parks. By collaborating with the site, the initiative could not only take reference of their transforming approach but also learn from their liquid waste management program on the standard of industrial wastewater quality. As they also run the Savannah River National Laboratory’s (SRNL) which provides high quality natural environmental monitoring data and analysis, based on which we could further build up our own database and analysis. Meanwhile, the SRBL will also get free access to our thorough SRBI database for their academic study.
Figure 11: Cooperation Showcase
Timeline & Funding
The progress of the initiative will be in a long-term and sustainable manner, to stabilize the initiative, and to put efforts into solving the major challenges. The continuous iteration of the new projection and adjustment on water management plan and regulations should keep updated in a momentum.
Figure 12: Strategic Partners of the Savannah River Basin Initiative
As shown in the timeline diagram (Figure 12), after the launch of the initiative, there are another five milestones before 2050. The first milestone is to work on the consistency of the bi-state water quality standard by 2025. Then the initiative should create a new regional Savannah river water resources management plan by 2030. This plan should be iterated by calibrating the product model based on the new data to prepare for the next long-term plan. The other two important milestones are to implement a climate adaptation plan focusing on coastal regions, and to work with Savannah to relocate water treatment plants based on financial and physical needs. The proposed timeline is not limited to 2050, instead, the initiative will keep running in a momentum fashion.
In order to keep the initiative running, funding is essential to support the daily operation of the initiative. Some potential funding resources from federal level to local level are shown in Chart 1.
| Grants/Funds | Description |
|---|---|
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants | Fund practices on protecting health and environment from small non-profit organizations to large state |
Savannah River Clean Water Fund | Smart science-based investments in water management and land conservation practices. The fund is a bi-state effort between South Carolina and Georgia stakeholders |
| Georgia Fund | State fund for water, wastewater, and solid waste infrastructure |
Georgia Reservoir Fund | State fund for reservoir water supply projects |
Chart 1: Potential Fund Resources
Recap & Limitation
Indeed, the SRBI solution has its limitations. First, based on Scott’s Moore’s point of view on the challenges of sub-national coordination, difficulties will exist in uniting 35 counties together as upstream agencies have to take responsibilities for others; second, the requirement of long-term collaborative efforts and long-term stable funding sources is a huge challenge to conduct daily operation and routine as we target to 2050.
However, considering the fragmented water planning boundaries and inconsistent water standards in the watershed, it is necessary to set up an agency to take responsibility and uniform the standard and regulation for the whole watershed. In the long run, there is a potential for the SRBI to work with groundwater management agencies to bring the surface water and groundwater together.
Citation
- Government of Savannah, GA, 2018. City of Savannah Water Quality Report, 2018.
- City of Savannah Georgia, Research Library & Municipal Archives. Savannah (Ga.). Industrial and Domestic Water Supply Commission. https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w63n6pmx
- WTOC, 2019. Over 15 million gallons of partially treated wastewater released into the Savannah River.https://www.wtoc.com/2019/12/27/over-million-gallons-partially-treated-wastewater-released-into-savannah-river/
- Marella, R.L., Berndt, M.P., 2005. Water withdrawals and trends from the Floridan aquifer system in the southeastern United States.
- Harlan B., Ellis, 1964. Salt-Water Encroachment Geology and Ground-Water Resources of Savannah Area Georgia and South Carolina.
- Government of Savannah, GA, 2019. Protecting the Source.
- Southeast green, 2020. Savannah River Tops List In Toxic Dumping.
- WTOC, 2018. Recent data shows over 70% of the Savannah River is likely contaminated.
- Savannah Riverkeeper, 2019. THE SAVANNAH RIVER. https://www.savannahriverkeeper.org/the-savannah-river.html#/
- Government of Savannah, GA, 2019. Protecting the Source.
- Susquehanna River Basin Commission. https://www.srbc.net/our-work/fact-sheets/docs/srbc-overview.pdf
- Delaware River Basin Commission. https://www.nj.gov/drbc/programs/flow/decree.html