Tag Archives: Army Corps of Engineers

Flood mapping and modeling @ VCC 2014-01-09

The Valdosta City Council votes Thursday on a contract for flood mapping related to the series of secretive Army Corps of Engineers meetings, plus bids for water and sewer and smoke testing sewers. They’re also swearing in winners of the recent election and electing a mayor pro-tem (probably the same one), along with a change to the Entertainment Ordinance and public hearings to close an alley and abandon part of a street, and the usual City Manager’s Report, Council Comments, and Citizens to be Heard.

No detail in the city’s agenda about the flood mapping, but at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session 11 November 2013 Emergency Services Director Ashley Tye said the current agreement wouldn’t obligate any payment, merely to reserve the right to contract at a later date if that seemed to be in the county’s best interests, and at the Regular Session 12 November 2013 the county approved getting LIDAR data from NOAA Coastal Services Center. Neither the county nor the city has published this agreement.

Here’s the agenda: Continue reading →

Tybee beach to be resanded

The Army Corps of Engineers has released a Draft Environmental Assessment and a Draft Finding of No Significant Impact for putting more sand on Tybee Island beach, also known as “renourishment”.

Mary Landers wrote for ajc.com yesterday, Tybee beach renourishment plans move forward,

The renourishment process involves using a cutterhead dredge to move about 1.7 million cubic yards of high quality sand from an area located 1.5 miles from the southern tip of Tybee Island. The deposited sand would be enough to compensate for the erosion expected to occur over the subsequent nine years. The project will include placing sand up to the north terminal groin. This northern area was included in previous renourishment cycles, but not the 2008 renourishment.

“It is good news,” said Tybee council member Paul Wolff. “Obviously we depend on the beach for our economy. Everything that gets done to move the process forward helps. We’re optimistic we’ll get the federal cost share again.”

Hm, I wonder if this contact information would work for other projects: Continue reading →

Plant Vogtle water use

Apparently the nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle will use more water than the City of Savannah, and more than agricultural uses for the middle Savannah River watershed. Much of the water (3/4?) is evaporated, leaving less for drinking, farming, and everything else. What goes back in the river is rest warmer than it came out, affecting everything that lives in the river. Remind me: why are we building those nukes instead of solar and wind generators, which use no water while producing power?

Plant Vogtle currently uses 43.2 million gallons of water a day, and with all 4 units, is planned to use 86.4 million gallons of water a day, or 2% of the *average* flow of the Savannah River, according to UNC’s Powering A Nation journalism team, 9 June 2010.

That’s more than the City of Savannah, according to the City of Savannah.

Continue reading →