The state of South Carolina and the city of Augusta filed for an injunction in the New Savannah Bluff lock and dam process last week, seeking an order to prevent the US Army Corps of Engineers from demolishing the lock and the dam and proceed with a planned construction project.
Filed Thursday, October 22, the motions are the next step in South Carolina’s lawsuit over the lock and dam.
The state of South Carolina has requested an injunction to prevent the US Army Corps of Engineers “from proceeding with the construction of the Savannah Bluff Dam and Blockade project … until this case can be decided,” according to the motion.
The city of Augusta moved to a preliminary injunction to prevent the Corps “from proceeding with the destruction of the Savannah Bluff lock and dam … and NSBLD park, which have served Augusta and hundreds of thousands of Augustans since 1937” .
The Corps of Engineers was tasked, as part of the Savannah Port Expansion Project, to provide a fish passageway for the sturgeon to migrate to historic spawning areas upstream.
Corps announced that the chosen path for the project is to remove the lock and dam and build a rock weir. Local municipalities have been fighting this plan because, as presented, it will lower the river pool near the center of Augusta and Augusta do Norte.
A telephone hearing before the judge is scheduled for November 19.
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