SAVANNAH ― Gov. Brian Kemp plans to slake the Savannah area’s growing thirst for drinking water by investing $502 million to build out a system that draws water from its namesake river.
Kemp has included $232.5 million in grants and $269.2 million in low- or zero-interest loans in his proposed 2025 midyear budget, with those dollars going to a trio of local government water authorities to build new and expand existing facilities and infrastructure, according to governor’s office spokesperson.
“This proposal has been years in the making and is a direct result of our commitment to working with our local partners to meet the demands of our growing state,” said Gov. Brian Kemp. “This plan provides for the long term water needs of the region while also ensuring we are good stewards of our resources.”
State lawmakers will begin a review of the spending plan, known as the “little budget,” later this week. The General Assembly opens its 2025 legislative session today at the Capitol.
If approved, the new system is expected to be operational by 2030 and would solve a logistic issue plaguing local government and economic development officials: supplying surface water to the Hyundai electric vehicle factory that opened in October along I-16 west of Savannah. Kemp championed the $7.6 billion economic development project, the largest in state history, and wooed the South Korean automaker to Georgia with $2.1 billion in incentives.
In return, Hyundai committed to employing 8,500 workers at the 3,000-acre site by 2031 and suppliers are projected to add 7,000 more jobs.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The 2030 target date for the new water system would beat by a decade a deadline to reduce pumping of groundwater from four soon-to-be-drilled wells meant to supply the plant and related development. The first of those wells are to come online later this year and state-issued permits allow providers to pull up to 6.6 million gallons of water daily — with 4 million going to Hyundai.
Local governments were given 25 years to develop an alternative to the wells, a time frame shortened to 15 years under a legal settlement reached last week.
The water system investment has the backing House Speaker Jon Burns — and not just because the majority of the funds will be spent in Burns’ home county of Effingham.
“This is an answer to a lot of prayers when it comes to a sustainable water source for the economic engine of southeast Georgia,” Burns said.
What’s the rush?
Hyundai’s thirst made finding increased surface water supply in the Savannah region more urgent. The metro area’s population has doubled since 2000, and providers face increasingly strict groundwater withdrawal limits related to saltwater intrusion in the Florida aquifer.
Kemp’s proposal would draw 20 million additional gallons daily from the Savannah River via a new water intake at Georgia Power’s Plant McIntosh site in Effingham County. The plan also calls for a new water treatment plant in Effingham and expansion of the city of Savannah’s existing water treatment plant in Chatham County.
Twenty-nine miles of new pipe will connect those facilities and route water to an Effingham County industrial park adjacent to I-16 and on to the Hyundai factory 10 miles farther west. Much of the infrastructure will be built along an existing Georgia Power property easement that stretches like a belt across the middle of Effingham County, making land acquisition and permitting less challenging.
Richard Dunn, director of the state’s Office of Planning and Budget, labeled the water system plan a “historic investment.”
“I’ve personally worked on this issue for at least 7 years,” Dunn said. “This is a big moment.”
Doing the homework
The state Environmental Protection Division has begun studying the increased withdrawals from the Savannah River and the “health of the river” is a priority, said EPD Director Jeff Cown.
“Right now it looks to be in really good shape,” Cown said. “The amount to be withdrawn is very little when you consider the flow of the Savannah River.”
Effingham is seeking surface water access for the first time. The county authority currently supplies customers via a combination of water pumped from the aquifer along with water purchased from Savannah.
Credit: Courtesy of HMGMA
Credit: Courtesy of HMGMA
Savannah officials last fall unveiled plans to nearly double the municipal authority’s water capacity. Savannah City Manager Jay Melder said the increased supply was needed to serve the authority’s existing network and was not related to Hyundai’s demands. But the governor’s plan appealed to Savannah because the city already has a water agreement with Effingham, piping about 4 million gallons a day into the neighboring county.
The new Effingham water intake and treatment plant funded by the governor’s plan would reduce the county’s reliance on Savannah water, freeing up city municipal capacity, as well as provide resiliency should hurricanes or other disasters interrupt service at either authority’s facilities.
Then there’s the $146 million the state would contribute toward Savannah’s planned $500 million-expansion of its water treatment plant.
“This is an elegant solution to a generational problem,” Melder said, “This is a big step in our ability to focus our utility capacity here in Savannah and Chatham County.”
State officials emphasized that the infusion of funds to build out the multicounty system is a one-time investment and that the authorities would be responsible for costs associated with maintenance, operation and future expansions. The new Effingham plant would initially handle 12 million gallons of water daily but could expand to 24 million gallons.
Putting questions ‘to rest’
The plan signals the beginning of the end of a long-simmering water saga that’s boiled over in the last year.
Officials began studying ways to wean the Savannah region off the Floridan aquifer as early as 2010. The metro area experienced explosive growth following the Great Recession and experts anticipated heavy restrictions on Savannah groundwater withdrawals were to come out of a legal dispute involving saltwater intrusion. The region has long depended on water from the aquifer, which is significantly cleaner than surface water and cheaper to treat and distribute.
Georgia agreed to limit pumping in a 2013 settlement. A year later, Savannah-area economic development officials prepped an industrial site along I-16 in rural Bryan County to attract a major manufacturer. The property was subject to the groundwater withdrawal restrictions, and development planning included strategies to pipe water to the site from the Savannah River or other surface water source.
But Hyundai’s water needs exceeded expectations. The automaker plans to manufacture not just cars but also EV batteries, a water-intensive process. With Hyundai’s aggressive timeline — the battery factory is to come online this summer — the economic developers faced a water emergency.
The solution was to pipe groundwater to Hyundai from four aquifer wells drilled five miles west in an area not subject to pumping restrictions until the surface water system could be built.
The approach met opposition from farmers and residents who live near the well sites. These neighbors fear the withdrawals from the aquifer will lower the water table to a level where the pumps they use to irrigate their fields and supply their homes will run dry.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick/AJC
Credit: Katelyn Myrick/AJC
Environmentalists added concerns about pulling a significant amount of water from the aquifer for industrial use. The broad public outcry led to EPD capping the time the wells can operate and requiring a permanent alternative water source by 2049.
Trip Tollison, CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, called the surface water system plan a “huge development” for the region and answers those critical of using the aquifer wells as a water supply stopgap.
“This puts a lot of angst and questions about the future of our water supply to rest,” he said.
This story has been updated to correct that Georgia Power’s Plant McIntosh site in Effingham County still generates electricity.
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