SAVANNAH — As the packed ballroom fell quiet, the pastor at the State of the Ports luncheon interrupted his invocation to deliver a joke: We are thankful for the Savannah River, he said with a grin, though sometimes we wish it was a little deeper.

That quip has been a staple of this city’s prayers for decades. Bustling traffic and increased demand have helped make the port that rises just beyond River Street one of the nation’s busiest. But ever-larger ships require an ever-deeper channel — and greater political cooperation.

The last time port officials embarked on an effort to deepen the Savannah River’s shipping channel, the roughly $1 billion project took a quarter-century of studies, legislative wrangling and years of digging to dredge the shipping channel about five feet deeper.

It also took an unprecedented political effort by Georgia leaders from both parties who pulled every string they could to secure federal support for the project, which they framed as one of the most important economic development efforts in state history.

As port officials seek congressional approval for another river deepening, Georgia leaders are preparing a new all-out effort that will test the state’s political clout.

“It is moments like this when we invest in the future. We are going to be all in,” said Griff Lynch, the chief executive of the Georgia Ports Authority, who described it as part of a plan to transform Savannah’s terminal from a “Southeast gateway” to a national one.

Gov. Brian Kemp, a rising GOP figure with potential national ambitions, has made clear he’s putting his political might behind the project in his second term.

“The requested study is just the first step of many towards building on the Port Authority’s record-breaking success and has my administration’s full support,” he said, adding that it will take political unity for an initiative that will “have a generational impact on our state’s economy.”

But talking about bipartisan unity and actually achieving it are distinct efforts. Kemp, for instance, has a frosty relationship with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, and the two could run against each other in 2026. Working across the aisle for a years-long project takes a different political muscle.

“We seem to have a way of getting along here in Savannah. That’s what is unique about our city. Our leaders can get on the same page,” said state Rep. Edna Jackson, a former Savannah mayor whose House district includes the port.

“Something like this can get very complicated. And it can take a long time,” the Democrat added. “But I’m confident we’ll get there.”

‘Hell or high water’

The last deepening was a bipartisan triumph, one that took cooperation between then-Gov. Nathan Deal and other GOP statewide leaders with local Democratic officials.

Then-Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, at the time the state’s most prominent Democratic elected official, served as a go-between for GOP leaders in Georgia and President Barack Obama to help secure both funds and federal approval to complete the project.

Credit: ArLuther Lee

Credit: ArLuther Lee

Reed was often asked why he was so invested in the dredging of a port some 250 miles beyond his city’s limits. He pointed to studies that show the port generated tens of thousands of jobs through the state, calling it the “most consequential infrastructure project” since Atlanta’s airport.

“What the Savannah Port gives Georgia is a dynamic economy in both parts of the state,” Reed said in an interview last week. “It’s the closest thing we have to a second Hartsfield-Jackson in terms of economic impact. That’s why Gov. Deal and I approached the deepening the way we did.”

Chris Riley, who was Deal’s top aide during his two terms, said the message that a “rising tide raised all boats” permeated all levels of Georgia politics, transcending political infighting. He recalled a meeting between Deal, Reed and Ray LaHood, Obama’s transportation secretary.

“How do I tell President Obama that we shouldn’t do this with the top Republicans and Democrats in Georgia coming together as one to ask for it?” LaHood asked the two Georgians, whose political friendship helped pave the way for the project.

Credit: TNS

Even with the unified political front, sealing the deal was a tremendous lift. Georgia jockeyed with South Carolina for funding and tangled with environmentalists and other critics over the impact of the digging.

When then-Vice President Joe Biden came to Savannah in 2013 to declare the dredging would happen “come hell or high water” it kicked off yet another phase of congressional wrangling for legislation that authorized the digging and funding to pay for it. It was only formally completed last year.

‘Worth the squeeze’

Now, a little over a year after the expansion was finished, Georgia is pressing again for deeper water to capitalize on a shift in international trade that has made Savannah the nation’s fourth-busiest port for cargo shipped in containers. Officials say the booming port will lag competitors if their request is ignored.

The initiative will be led by a newer host of leaders, including Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who each voiced their support in statements last week. Each also has lauded the late U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, who made the last deepening one of his foremost priorities before he stepped down in 2019.

“Along with great opportunity comes great challenges,” said House Speaker Jon Burns, who succeeded the late David Ralston, another key supporter of the port dredging.

“And we see this as a great opportunity to move Georgia forward in every county, because this port affects every county around the state.”

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said the growing clout of Democrats in state politics will also help lend new perspective, particularly involving environmental issues.

“What happens, the folks in Savannah will have to deal with it,” he said, mentioning the potential impact of saltwater intrusion.

“We need to make a case about whether it should or should not happen. And with a Republican governor and two Democratic senators, there’s going to have to be even more collaboration and communication.”

Credit: AP

Lynch said state officials learned valuable lessons from that project, and expressed hope the next dredging could be “achievable” within a decade. But even forecasting to 2033 will take a sustained political commitment among an ever-changing cast of state leaders.

Some are already planning ways to blunt the cost to taxpayers. Chatham County Commissioner Pat Farrell said lawmakers could seek to tap a federal harbor fund that collects fees from foreign vessels that enter U.S. ports.

Reed said another round of dredging is within reach — as long as Republicans and Democrats work together.

“Gov. Deal was as much a Republican as anyone but he understood the import of the project. This is an occasion to put partisanship aside, you just have to work at it every day,” the former Atlanta mayor said. “The juice is worth the squeeze.”

Staff writer Adam Van Brimmer contributed to this report from Savannah.

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