News 12 at 6 o'clock, August 14, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga.---A lot of our area's recreation and business is tied to the Savannah River. And the river's health could slow down fast-growing Columbia County. Some new standards on water quality could affect you.

The new proposed standards will limit the amount of waste water that can be dumped into the river. It's designed to help save fish, but in the process some say it could hurt development.

Greg Jones enjoys fishing, whenever he has the free time. His favorite, part? The peace and quiet.

This rod and reel aren't the only things disturbing fish right now. Near the Savannah Harbor, The Environmental Protection Agency found low levels of dissolved oxygen, which basically leads to poor water quality. And this decrease has the EPA taking a closer look at waste water being dumped downstream in Augusta. Today they held a public hearing in Columbia County to help get feedback on their proposal. "We proposed various standards, we revised the standards for the do for the Savannah Harbor which is what will impact the discharges," says Elizabeth Booth with the Georgia EPD.

Discharges, or treated water, like this are heading straight to the river.
Higher quality standards means better treatment, which means more money for you at home. "Anytime you increase the treatment it increases the costs," says Margaret Doss, the water quality manager with Columbia County.

On top of that, the EPA isn't giving any new or modified permits for unloading waste water into the river. The freeze could last two years.
For the Columbia County Water Utility, that means they can't expand the Little River treatment plant like they planned. "So the question becomes, will we get our waste load allocations and be able to start our expansion before we use up the current capacity of the plant?" Asks Doss.

A million dollar question, that could have a million dollar impact on the growth of parts of Columbia County. "Worst case scenario would be that we would have to slow down development in that area and that's something none of us want to do," says Doss.

But this won't just cost Columbia County. "This affects Columbia County, Richmond County. It affects all the counties that are in the Savannah River Basin," says Doss.

So while Greg enjoys his solitude, water officials will help decide the fate of fish upstream.

The EPD said they were happy with the public hearing Thursday morning. They said they received good feedback and constructive criticism on their proposal.

Anyone who missed the hearing, and wants their opinions heard can mail their comments to EPD's Atlanta office at the address below by August 25th:

Elizabeth Booth
Watershed Protection Branch
4220 International Parkway, Suite 101
Atlanta, Georgia 30354