Infrastructure: Water, Part one

Written By Clara Fishel

This is our first post in a series exploring infrastructure throughout Savannah and Coastal Georgia. Our region is in the process of absorbing a $7.6 billion auto plant, a proposed $20 billion AI data center, port-driven industrial growth, and a steady wave of new housing and commercial developments, all the while sitting on a stressed aquifer and treatment facilities racing to keep pace. This month, we cover the basics so that next month we can look at what this current water infrastructure landscape means for regional development.

Surface Water. The City of Savannah’s Industrial & Domestic (I&D) Water Treatment Plant is located at 6183 GA-21, near the Abercorn Creek water source. The I&D plant treats surface water from this tributary of the Savannah River to supply industrial, commercial, and residential users across Chatham, Effingham, and Bryan Counties and has served the region since 1947. This only surface water treatment plant in Coastal Georgia broke ground on Phase 1 upgrades in early 2026 that take treatment capacity from 58 to 65 million gallons per day (MGD).

That work is one piece of a roughly $500 million state-funded regional package announced in 2025. Savannah's share is about $146 million for the I&D plant. The largest share, about $319 million, goes to Effingham County for a new Savannah River intake and a surface water plant permitted at 23 MGD, with 12 MGD initially. An 18-mile line will carry that water directly to the Hyundai site in Bryan County.

Sewer. Savannah launched a $343.6 million water and sewer capital program this year. It includes a new treatment plant at the Georgetown site on the southside, about $100 million for a second phase of sewer work at Travis Field, and later upgrades at the President Street, Wilshire, and Crossroads reclamation facilities. The existing Georgetown plant is permitted for 2.45 MGD and must reach at least 3.45 MGD, with deadlines running through mid-2027. The city is also planning around the expectation that state regulators will further cut its groundwater withdrawals.

Stormwater. Savannah's drainage was built for gravity, and higher tides now push back into outfalls, so streets can flood even on a sunny day. Researchers at UGA's Carl Vinson Institute have projected that one foot of sea level rise would bring tidal flooding on the order of 100 days a year. Suburban growth adds its own strain: in fast-growing areas like Pooler, more impervious surface means more runoff with fewer places to go. Savannah City Council approved a Stormwater Utility in December 2025, and the first bills began mailing September 1, 2026.

The Aquifer. Most of the coast drinks from the 100,000 square mile Floridan aquifer, one of the most productive groundwater sources in the world. Nearly a century of heavy pumping in Savannah created a "cone of depression" causing saltwater to intrude into wells on Hilton Head and leading to reduced permitted withdrawals across Chatham, Effingham, Liberty, and Bryan counties.

Withdrawal permits for users in those counties expire at the end of 2027. The Coastal Georgia Regional Water Planning Council and a Coastal Permitting Advisory Committee are now modeling how to reissue them knowing that the coast cannot rely on groundwater alone. For property owners, the 2027 reissuance is a date to watch. It will shape how much new capacity utilities can promise and at what cost.

Sources/Read more here…

Clara Fishel https://www.level-cre.com
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