Savannah Riverkeeper

10/16/2026

A good marsh does a lot of heavy lifting.

They’re the river’s kidneys, nurseries, and first line of defense against a storm — a big ask for a patch of soggy ground.

That’s why we’re so excited to hear the University of Georgia has received an $8 million NOAA grant to restore salt marsh habitats across the Southeast, including Bird-Long Island at the mouth of the Savannah River.

Restoration means strengthening an essential ecosystem’s ability to filter pollutants, provide nursery habitat for fish and wildlife, and protect coastal communities from flooding and storm surge.

Protecting the Savannah River means protecting the entire watershed, from its headwaters to its tidal marshes. Remember, a healthy river doesn’t stop where the fresh water meets the salt.

10/16/2026

Our most sincere thanks to the stellar students from Augusta Prep who rolled in today to give Riverkeeper HQ a little polish. It’s always encouraging to see a new generation of potential river stewards willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved in the work we do here.

10/15/2026

Savannah Riverkeeper is proud to once again be taking an active role in the City Serve Clean Up Day. The event, which takes place Saturday, give us all an opportunity to make the community we live in in a bit better and brighter. If you are interested in volunteering, hit the link below. We would love to see you working one of the projects.

Sign up for projects October 2026

10/15/2026

In September, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit for the proposed Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island, clearing a major hurdle for a $2.3 billion expansion that would add 3.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units of annual capacity to the Port of Savannah.

For those of us who care about the Savannah River, this is no small development. Bigger port operations mean bigger questions about wetlands, aquatic habitats, water quality and the cumulative impacts of continued industrial expansion along the river.

Economic growth and environmental protection should not be competing priorities. But protecting the river requires more than assuming we can build our way forward and deal with the consequences later.

10/14/2026

We’ve been encouraged by the willingness of data centers to adopt closed-loop cooling. It’s not perfect, but it’s a vast improvement over the evaporative systems that were once the industry standard.

That doesn’t mean water consumption issues around data centers have, well, evaporated.

These facilities require massive amounts of electricity, and that electricity has to come from somewhere. The result? A real increase in power plant construction.

So while a data center itself may sip from a river or aquifer, the power plant generating its juice may require much, much more water. The problem hasn’t gone away. It’s just relocated.

Grant Blankenship has put together a great piece on this very issue for Georgia Public Broadcasting . Check it out.

People often worry about the water it takes to keep data centers cool. It takes far more water just to keep the power on.

10/14/2026

The River Winds Through History: Hopewell Rosenwald School

A schoolhouse can tell you a lot about a community, especially when the community had to fight for the chance to learn.

Near Clarks Hill, South Carolina, the Hopewell Rosenwald School opened in 1926 to serve African American children during segregation. Built with $400 from the Rosenwald Fund, the school reflected a broader effort to improve education for Black children across the rural South. Inside its modest exterior, generations of students built the foundations for their futures.

Hopewell served local children until 1954 and today, remains the only Rosenwald school standing in McCormick County. It's a reminder of the determination of the families, educators, and communities that made education possible when public support fell short.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, Hopewell stands as an important piece of the history of the Savannah River Basin and a testament to the people who helped shape it.

Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick

10/09/2026

Are you interested in a free tree? We have some real beauties that we are giving away.

Savannah Riverkeeper and the Augusta Woman’s Club are giving away free native trees to Richmond County families through February 2027. The program is aimed especially - but not exclusively - at Habitat for Humanity homes neighborhoods that lost canopy during Hurricane Helene.

We are inviting all interested arborists to come to a class, learn how to plant and care for your tree, and can take home up to two five gallon trees - plus mulch and a watering bag. You’ll also learn how to track your tree in the Augusta Tree App.

Register at https://bit.ly/AugTreeGiveaway

10/08/2026

A species without a habitat is a species without much of a future.

That seems like common sense. Apparently, it needs to be said out loud.

Recent changes to the federal definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act could leave endangered species, and the places they depend on, far more vulnerable.

For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has helped bring species including the American bison, peregrine falcon and humpback whale back from the brink. But protecting wildlife means protecting the places wildlife actually live.

Congress has an opportunity to fix this.

Tell your members of Congress to support H.R. 9901, the Safeguarding the Endangered Species Act, and S.J. Res. 204 and restore a commonsense definition of harm.

Because you can't save the fish - like the Shortnosed Sturgeon, a Savannah River native - if you destroy the river they call home.

10/07/2026

The River Winds Through History

If you watched "Band of Brothers", you’ve met Currahee Mountain.

The real-life Easy Company became famous through Stephen Ambrose’s book "Band of Brothers" and the HBO series that followed. But long before Hollywood got involved, these young men were in Toccoa, Georgia, learning how to become paratroopers on the steep slopes of the mountain.

Before Easy Company fought its way across Europe in World War II, the men of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment trained at Camp Toccoa, running up and down the mountain - “Three miles up. Three miles down.”

It was hard work and, as it turns out, pretty good preparation for jumping out of airplanes and fighting a war.

Currahee was the mountain helped win a war - and probably ruined a lot of perfectly good mornings.