The court case over the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam continues.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as federal defendant in a case regarding the lock and dam, has filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
The notice of appeal was filed on Jan. 19.
In November 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel signed an order on motion for preliminary injunction in the case, enjoining the Corps from implementing its chosen plan “and any other plan involving the removal of the Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam if the proposal does not ‘maintain the pool’ that was in existence” on the date of the enactment of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act.
The lawsuit was filed in November 2019 by the state of South Carolina following the Corps’ announcement it planned to move forward with removal of the lock and dam and construction of a rock weir in its place.
A 2019 news release from the Corps announcing that decision stated the project, known as Alternative 2-6d, will lower the average height of the river in the Augusta area “approximately 2 feet from current average conditions.”
The lawsuit was filed by the state of South Carolina to prevent the removal of the lock and dam and any replacement that would result in the lowering of the water level.
The court order in November was met with praise from local leaders.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said then the order is a “victory for protecting State’s natural resources.”
The Corps was tasked as part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion project with implementing a mitigation project that will provide a fish passage so sturgeon can migrate to historic spawning grounds.
