Why saving the Savannah makes dollars and sense.

       There is no doubt about it, the Savannah River is the lifeblood of our communities. She stretches over 400 miles, forms the state boundry between Georgia and South Carolina, and drains more than 10,000sq miles of land.  Her reach is almost perfectly cut in half, the top half largely lakes, including Thurmond, the largest lake east of the Mississippi. Her bottom half is free flowing, is largely industrial and where she meets the ocean lies the 4^th biggest port in the United States. The Savannah binds those of us relying on her waters, making us reliant on those above us to care for the water before it reaches us. And those below us are just as reliant on us to make sure we are being responsible as well. Our economies are inseperably tied to the river, our drinking water comes from her, and for many of us her waters supply us with our recreational activities.  Without her we wouldn’t be here, and making sure she stays healthy and clean is not only the right thing to do, it is unquestionably something we must do, our health and our economies rely on it.

      

      In just one day, The Savannah supplies over 1.4 million people with fresh drinking water,  receives and dilutes over 18,000 tons of waste from industries and municipalities, and carries over 7000 containers through her port. Each of the rivers major users have support businesses reliant on their business, such as the trucking company transporting our exports to the port.  The Savannah is used for such a broad spectrum of uses, and a balance must be kept to ensure all needs are being met adequately.  We are now seeing what happens when the river isn’t kept adequately, and why we must make river health a top priority.

       

       It’s cheaper to treat clean water. One of the greatest things about a river is its ability to clean itself. A river’s wetlands and swamps serve as filters, its ground water recharges push in clean water, and the bugs, plants and fish eat and filter out pollutants. The longer a river flows, the cleaner it can become, and clean water is cheaper for all of us to use. Our industries rely on the river to dilute and clean their waste, and we rely  on the river to supply us with healthy and safe drinking water.  Much of the pollutant load into the river does come from “point sources” such as the industries, but a large percentage of the pollutants that enter our waterways come from “non-point” sources such as runoff from our roadways, storm drains, or backyards. This cocktail of pollutants not only can detract signifigantly from the health of the river, it is in direct contrast with the filtering and cleaning effect non-developed land has. By ensuring that we are doing what we can to reduce the negative effects of our run-off we are helping keeps the costs of water treatment down, allowing the industries the ability to use the waste load they need while ensuring the health of our waterways for all to enjoy. The industries are trying to do their part to ensure the health of the waterways, we must all make sure we are doing what we can as well.

      The Savannah is a public resource, she belongs to all of us, and with ownership comes responsiblity. Many of us work at the many industries, or supporting businesses, that rely on the Savannah for their water and waste dilution, all of us rely on her water for our homes. She is the 4^th most toxic in the United States because of overuse. It is vital to our economy that no one use more than their fair share, and that they return what they use much as how they found it.  A healthy river is the cheapest to consume and use. We own the river, we should take pride in her and realize how important her health is to our lives. It is up to all of us to protect her. Do it for our economy, do it for our health, do it for our River!