Glynn silt solution awaits Bush OK

October 8, 2007
By MIKE MORRISON | The Florida Times-Union

BRUNSWICK - A project that could reduce silting problems in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in Glynn County may get stuck in the bureaucratic mud.

Funding for the project, which would restore the natural flow of Latham River by breaching and bridging the Jekyll Island causeway in two places, is included in the Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA.

The act awaits President Bush's signature. Bush has threatened a veto for what he considers a pork-laden bill.

The WRDA authorizes about $20 billion for use in water projects across the country. Georgia's portion comes to $127 million, with $6.2 million set aside for the Latham River restoration.

If the bill eventually becomes law and funds are appropriated, an additional $5.8 million will be needed from a state or local sponsor such as the Georgia Department of Transportation, the Department of Natural Resources or even Glynn County, said Dan Parrott, chief of Civil Programs and Project Management for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.

With cash in hand, the Corps can undo the damage done when the causeway was constructed in the 1950s. That will include reconnecting the severed reaches of the river by trenching across the causeway, constructing bridges over the trenches and filling in a canal that was dug to provide an upstream link between Latham River and Jekyll Creek.

Jekyll Creek runs along the western side of the island, connecting St. Simons Sound with Jekyll Sound at the southern tip. It is part of the Intracoastal Waterway and is generally considered the worst stretch in Georgia.

At low tide, it is as shallow as two feet, far off the 12 feet the federal government guaranteed when the Intracoastal Waterway was built in 1919.

"The purpose of this project is environmental restoration," Parrott said, "but it will benefit the Intracoastal Waterway, too."

The project could reduce the need to dredge by 25 percent, he said.

"And it's a one-time deal. You do it one time and you get long-term gains," Parrot said.

Since federal funds for maintenance dredging dried up six years ago, Jekyll Creek has silted in to the point that it is impassable at low tide by larger boats. A restored Latham River would increase the flow of water into Jekyll Creek, flushing out much of the silt.

Parrott said he is not aware that a state or local sponsor has signed on to the project.

But information provided by the office of Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., indicates the state DOT will participate. Isakson played a key role in the bill's passage in the Senate.

According to a news release, "the Georgia Department of Transportation ... is expected to contribute to the restoration by demolishing the current causeway and replacing it with bridges, which will aid in the restoration of the original tidal flows."

Brenda Horton of the DOT's Jesup office said the approximate cost of the project is $12 million, with no other agencies involved in its financing. But the DOT has committed to just a 25 percent match, or $3 million, she said.

"The project is on hold until the Corps can come up with the funding," she said.

Isakson's office could not reconcile the funding gap, but press secretary Sheridan Watson said Isakson is confident the Corps of Engineers and Georgia DOT will "work together, once federal funding is assured, to do provide the resources necessary to complete the project."

Watson called the inclusion of the Latham River project "a good first step in what will be a long process.'' The bureaucratic process cannot begin, however, unless Congress overrides Bush's threatened veto.

"It was passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, 81-12," she said. "We believe it is veto proof. We believe it is in the House as well."

The bill passed in the House 381-40. U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., represents Glynn County but voted against it.

Kingston's Director of Communications Rob Asbell said Kingston opposed the bill because it soared $6 billion over the last WRDA, which was passed in 2000.

Kingston is spearheading an effort to find alternative sources of money to pay for maintaining the Intracoastal Waterway in Georgia.