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It’s a nugget that neighbors go unnoticed, worried about the future of their water supply.
During a briefing last Tuesday at Southeast Bulloch High School, Georgia environmental officials raised the option that the four proposed wells, which can also potentially draw more than 6. 6 million gallons of water per day for Hyundai Motor Group’s “Metaplant” in Bryan County, possibly won’t get the job.
Representatives from Georgia’s Division of Environmental Protection laid out an imaginable “future suggestion for drilling new aquifer wells in Florida” that would also supply the electric vehicle production plant, where Hyundai has pledged to employ 8,500 workers. This would be in addition to the 4 wells for which Bulloch and Bryan counties are seeking state permits.
When later asked to explain the reference to more wells, an EPD spokesperson noted that projecting maximum effective and sustainable resources for such a gigantic amount of water “is a matter of enormous complexity. “
“Details matter,” Sara Lips, the division’s director of communications and network engagement, wrote in an emailed response. “There will be a procedure to update the coastal authorization strategy in a few years. This will be the time for us to reconsider the balance between demand and/or between surface and groundwater as sources. “
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Without offering details on the conceivable location of those additional wells, the EPD referred to locations “farther north or west” of a so-called depression cone in the Savannah Domain aquifer, adding that any “transfer or displacement (of) the allowable limits for emitted groundwater will have to comply with all EPD policies and permitting requirements in place at the time of such proposal.
This formula implies that a greater number of wells would be accompanied by a corresponding increase in the allowable withdrawal from the aquifer.
The EPD also suggests that long-term plans for Bryan and Bulloch counties “should be based on the provision of sufficient surface water (or other alternatives) to offset allowable groundwater withdrawals from the Florida aquifer” to serve the Hyundai site.
Other wells also want to meet the growing demand for water, as Metaplant drives the region’s industrial, advertising and residential growth, EDP adds.
When asked about the possible choice of water resources for Hyundai’s site and responding to a similar development, Lips said it was too early to talk about the possibilities.
“Considering rivers or streams as water source resources involves integral and complex processes,” he said. “Without really extensive paintings to identify the precise rivers/streams and possible sampling locations, guessing what serves as a water source would be nothing more. than speculation. “
Other effects on EPD’s predictive models for the 4 proposed wells included:
There will be no salt water reaching private wells in either county due to increased extraction.
The maximum aquifer “shrinkage” in spaces near the proposed wells would be about 19 feet.
Private wells drawn from the Florida aquifer could be affected, with a maximum renewal of 15 feet.
These effects were obviously on the minds of the citizens who attended the February 27 session.
Among them was Brian Pfund, a retired U. S. Army officer who has lived in Bulloch County for the more than two years and said he had no interest in fighting water projects for Hyundai’s plant in the first place.
“I just wanted to buy a 10-acre farm and relax,” he said. “But I’m not going to sit back and say, ‘I’ve done something,’ so here I am. I take some time off to work, get into meetings and all that, so I’m here to win.
The last thing Pfund wanted to hear was interviewing EPD officials acknowledging that some personal wells will likely want to deepen if the thirst for water from Hyundai’s aquifer is satisfied.
“We don’t need that,” he said. We don’t need our county to pay for it because it’s our tax money. “
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Despite Metaplant’s location in Bryan County, the 4 proposed wells would be in Bulloch County.
That’s because Bryan County, like Chatham and parts of Effingham counties, are subject to limits on what they can receive from Floridians.
The EPD set those limits in 2013 after an investigation concluded that overexploitation of the aquifer in the Savannah domain was largely to blame for Florida’s saltwater intrusion, which in turn negatively affected the water source on Hilton Head Island.
A 97-million-gallon freshwater reservoir built as a component of the Savannah River Harbor Deepening Project was completed in 2018, offering an additional source of water for the area.
According to EDP’s filing, the Savannah domain now draws about 69 million gallons per day from the Florida aquifer, while Hilton Head Island consumes an average of nine million gallons per day.
However, the water issues in Savannah and Hilton Head were on the minds of most Bulloch County citizens who attended Tuesday’s meeting, Lisha Nevil added.
“I’m worried about my whole family,” she said. We don’t have the money to dig those (deeper) wells. “
He added that the aquifer is an asset to the county’s agricultural industry.
“Everywhere you go, you’ll see farms and irrigation systems,” Nevil said. “I’m terrified that there might be a problem with the water. “
Journalist Latrice Williams contributed to this story.
John Deem covers climate change and the Georgia coast. He can be reached at jdeem@gannett. com
This article originally gave the impression on the Savannah Morning News: Georgian officials say more wells are imaginable for Hyundai’s electric vehicle plant.
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