The energy and water development appropriation bill for Fiscal Year 1984 expanded the scope of the study as follows: "Savannah Harbor Comprehensive Study, Ga. - The STUDY PURPOSE AND SCOPE The scope of the Savannah Harbor Comprehensive Study includes all aspects concerning navigation of the lower Savannah River and associated impacts on adjacent lands and facilities. The purpose of the study was to provide information for the planned development of Savannah Harbor and to determine whether specific action to solve navigation and related land resource problems, needs, and opportunities of the harbor should be recommended for Congressional authorization. The Savannah Harbor Comprehensive Study was divided into three planning phases. These three phases provided a mechanism by which the assumptions, data, and conclusions of the study could be periodically reviewed and refined as the study progressed. Each phase of the planning process provided for public review and comment. The Reconnaissance Phase planning effort emphasized problem identification and investigation of a wide variety of potential solutions to determine whether more detailed studies were warranted. During the Preformulation Phase, a broad range of alternative plans and management measures were developed and screened to determine which plans, if any, warranted even more detailed study in the Plan Formulation Phase. This third and final Plan Formulation Phase provided for the detailed assessment and evaluation of a small number of alternatives. During this phase, the alternatives were analyzed to a level of detail and refinement which assured that each plan considered was formulated to achieve the desired planning objectives, to assure that each plan was implementable, and to enable selection of the best plan. The planning period of analysis for this study was the 50-year period from 1995 to the year 2045. This Final Interim Feasibility Report is a General Investigation survey level report, partially responding to the authorizing Congressional resolutions. It includes an evaluation of the feasibility of navigation improvements and is restricted in its level of detail. In the PED phase, the project design would be completed and Plans and Specifications would be prepared. If Congress concurs with the report findings and authorizes the final recommended project, funds will be requested to initiate construction. PRIOR AND CURRENT INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTS Due to the size and importance of Savannah Harbor, it has been the subject of numerous studies and reports. Over the years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers produced many reports that led to the existing harbor improvements. Economic and environmental features of the Savannah River and Harbor have been reported by the Georgia Ports Authority, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many other organizations. Specific reports used in the preparation of this report are referenced where appropriate. The following is a brief description of several of the more important recent study efforts that were most useful in the planning process during the Savannah Harbor Comprehensive Study. Harbor Widening A study of potential harbor widening was authorized by a resolution of the Public Works Committee of the House of Representatives, dated July 10, 1968. The final Feasibility Report recommended widening the existing harbor channel from 400 to 500 feet between the Fig Island Turning Basin and the Kings Island Turning Basin. The Savannah Harbor Widening Project was authorized by Congress in PL 99-662, the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. Construction of the widening project began in December 1990 and was completed in March 1992. Maintenance Disposal Management Studies The Savannah District completed the Savannah Harbor Maintenance Disposal Management Study in April 1982. This in-house study dealt with the disposal areas currently being used to contain material dredged during maintenance of the harbor channel. The purpose of the study was to determine the remaining life of each disposal area and to develop methods of extending the useful life of each area. Environmental and cultural resources studies were performed to assess the impacts of proposed actions. The study recommended a program of incremental dike construction and active dewatering of the disposal areas. This Comprehensive Study made extensive use of the evaluation techniques developed during the Savannah Harbor Maintenance Disposal Management Study. Objections by the South Carolina Coastal Council to the use of unconfined dredged material disposal areas was one of the reasons for the Savannah Harbor Maintenance Disposal Management Study. The Georgia Department of Transportation is following its own plan of improvement to the disposal areas based, in part, on the report recommendations. The Georgia Department of Transportation plan has been updated by the Savannah District to ensure obtaining a 50 year life for the disposal areas. Due to numerous changes occurring in the harbor, the Savannah District has initiated in Fiscal Year 1992 a Long Range Management Strategy Study of dredging and disposal needs of the harbor. This study, which is expected to last 3 years, is being conducted as a multi-partnered effort. Metropolitan Savannah Water Resources Management Study The Metropolitan Savannah Water Resources Management Study was conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, in close coordination with the States of Georgia and South Carolina and local agencies. The study investigated the water and related land resources needs for the Metropolitan Savannah area. The study scope included water supply and use of the local aquifer, flood-related problems, and water quality conditions of the Savannah River. A numerical transport-dispersion water quality model was developed for the Savannah Estuary as part of the water quality investigations. Data collected in preparing this model were used in the Salinity-Sediment Transport Model developed during the Savannah Harbor Comprehensive Study. Talmadge Bridge Studies There have been several studies of the need to replace the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge which had a vertical clearance of 136.7 feet with a structure that would provide more vertical clearance above the harbor channel. Principal supporters of the movement were the Georgia Ports Authority, Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, Savannah Pilot's Association, and several other port-related groups. The Georgia Department of Transportation issued a report in September 1981 showing replacement of the bridge to be feasible. The University of Georgia conducted a study in 1982 for the Georgia Ports Authority, detailing the economic impacts that the vertical clearance of the Talmadge Bridge had on ship movements. An Environmental Impact Statement for a new bridge was prepared by the Georgia Department of Transportation for the Federal Highway Administration in March 1983, and preliminary engineering studies were begun in 1983. The Georgia Department of Transportation completed feasibility plans for replacement of the bridge in 1986. Replacement of the Talmadge Bridge was authorized in the Federal Highways Act of 1987, P.L. 100-17. Construction of the replacement bridge is complete and it is open to traffic. Savannah River Basin Reconnaissance Study, GA, SC, and NC This study was initiated in fiscal year 1985, under the authority contained in resolutions of the Senate Public Works Committee on September 24, 1965, and January 14, 1966, and the House Public Works Committee on May 5, 1966. The Savannah River Basin comprises about 11,000 square miles in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, extending from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina to the Savannah Harbor at Savannah, Georgia. A reconnaissance was initially completed in May 1990 and revised and amended in November 1990. The main focus of the study was to identify the current water resource needs of the basin area and to determine if the present operation of the J. Strom Thurmond, Richard B. Russell, and Hartwell projects best meet those needs. The report, which has been coordinated with the Governors of South Carolina and Georgia, has concluded that a comprehensive review of the basin is needed; however, both States have chosen to delay cost-sharing in the feasibility phase until results of an effort on an interactive basin model being developed by the South Carolina Water Resources Commission are known and have been discussed. Savannah Harbor Environmental (Salinity) Study As a result of resource agency concerns, surfaced during review of a prior draft deepening feasibility report in late 1987, the Savannah District suspended further work on the deepening study and, in January 1988, undertook a study to address these concerns. Concerns centered around salinity increases that had occurred in the upper harbor area due to past harbor improvements, particularly the tide gate in Back River. Data was collected in 1988 and 1989 and used to recalibrate and reverify a two-dimensional mathematical model (LAEMSED) of the estuary that had been constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station. This model was then used to develop alternatives to mitigate for past harbor improvements and return harbor conditions to predicted pre-tide gate conditions. The model was also used to predict possible increases in salinity conditions from deepening the harbor. This subject is discussed in detail in the Environmental Impact Statement. Environmental Restoration (Section 1135) Study The Savannah District recently completed a study evaluating an environmental restoration modification to the Savannah Harbor Navigation Project pursuant to the authority provided by Section 1135 of the 1986 Water Resources Development Act. The modification would close New Cut with a hydraulic fill and permanently discontinue the operation of the tide gate structure. The modification was authorized for implementation on 15 November 1991 and closure of New Cut was completed in February 1992. The purpose of the proposed modification is to restore environmental conditions, particularly salinity levels, in the Savannah Harbor close to conditions which existed prior to construction of the sediment control works. STUDY AREA The study area for the Comprehensive Study was defined as the lower 45 miles of the Savannah River, adjacent lands in Chatham County, Georgia, and Jasper County, South Carolina, and the Savannah Harbor Navigation Channel. Socioeconomic data for study purposes included Chatham and Jasper Counties. PROJECT LOCATION The city of Savannah is located on a bluff overlooking the Savannah River in the southeastern portion of the State of Georgia. It is approximately 75 miles south of Charleston, South Carolina, and 120 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. The entrance to the Savannah River and Savannah Harbor is located north of Tybee Island, about 18 miles east of the city. Savannah Harbor includes the lower 21.3 miles of the Savannah River. The Savannah River, with certain of its tributaries, constitutes the boundary between the States of South Carolina and Georgia. A channel 11.4 miles in length is maintained from the mouth of the harbor across the bar to the Atlantic Ocean. Figure 1 shows the major features of the Savannah Harbor Navigation Project. |