By Eric Curl
Dec. 19, 2023 – The plan is the largest project undertaken for the Savannah I&D Surface Water Treatment Plant since it was initially constructed in 1947, according to city officials. On Tuesday, the Savannah City Council approved a $1.5 million contract as part of the plan to to reduce the amount of groundwater it withdraws by 2025, as mandated by the state to prevent saltwater intrusion, even as area growth is increasing demand.
Screenshot from city video of the I&D plant in Port Wentworth.
The contract calls for the contractor, Hussey, Gay, and Bell, to determine future water demand needs, develop supply plans, evaluate the plant’s condition and recommend upgrades. A work plan will then be presented to the city council next year as the initial tasks are completed and additional funding for the project is needed.
In addition, the withdrawal will require mitigation for reduced dissolved oxygen levels within the Savannah River watershed. Determining the extent of dissolved oxygen mitigation as well as potential ways to mitigate the reduced dissolved oxygen levels is also part of the contractor’s scope of work, according to the request for proposals. It would not be the first time the such mitigation measures had to be implemented. An oxygen injection system, consisting of 12, 2-story cones was constructed at a cost of almost $100 million to make up for depletion caused by the Savannah harbor deepening that was completed last year.
The plant treats water from Abercorn Creek a tributary of the Savannah River in Port Wentworth and then supplies the water to city customers, as well as industrial businesses, the cities of Pooler and Port Wentworth, and Effingham County.
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In other actions, the city council approved rezoning for a proposed 350-unit housing development in Georgetown off Wild Heron Road, ending a more than year-long process of community engagement and project changes, as reported by the Savannah Morning News.
In other news:
The Pooler City Council approved its main street master plan on Monday night. The plan establishes a specific vision for the Main Street corridor, which involves U.S. 80 between I-95 and a little beyond Pooler Parkway, as reported reported by WJCL. The city council also denied plans for a container storage yard after residents raised concerns about traffic, road damage, noise and how the containers could be an eyesore, as reported by WSAV.
Also on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Planning Commission postponed consideration of a petition from a Florida-based company, 31 MLK, LLC, to combine eight lots into one lot at 515 W 31st St. in historic Cuyler-Brownville. The lots are currently vacant except for a single metal building with frontage on 31st Street. Staff recommended denial due to a lack of a site plan and because of concerns the recombination would produce a split-zoned lot with both residential and commercial zoning. Read more about the plan and see what else was on the agenda. (Editor’s Note: This brief was corrected to reflect that the MPC met Tuesday and not Wednesday. I apologize for the error.)
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