Columbia County Engineer Jim Leiper looks at the area where stormwater will drain past the Food Lion site at Belair and Old Belair roads and into Crawford Creek. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

Engineers plan creek protection

Web posted November 8, 1999

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By Jason B. Smith
Columbia County Bureau

John Morgan remembers what happens to Crawford Creek when the rains come. Just a few years ago, he watched a refrigerator float along Colonial Road.

``You got water coming from over there,'' said Mr. Morgan, Columbia County's manager of construction and inspections. ``You've got water coming in from Rose Hill over here. It just demolished everything over here when it flooded.''

Crawford Creek is just part of more than 40,000 acres that drain into Uchee Creek. The watershed is one of the county's largest and is most threatened by development.

County Engineer Jim Leiper is concentrating on protecting Uchee Creek -- and the 40,000 surrounding acres -- from the type of problems that plague Reed Creek. His philosophy for the area is simple: ``Let's try to not let happen in the future what has happened in the past.''

Now, much of the Uchee Creek area -- which stretches from Harlem to the Savannah River between Belair, Chamberlain and Baker Place roads -- is undeveloped.

But in the past year, developers announced plans to add two golf courses, totaling 45 holes, and more than 3,000 houses in the basin. That doesn't count the dozens of smaller subdivisions already there.

``We have some problems now,'' Mr. Leiper said. ``I expect that as we get more and more development, we'll see more and more problems. With the stormwater utility, we'll be able to go out and address some of the problems.''

Officials plan to begin charging some residents and businesses -- those in the Martinez and Evans area -- a monthly fee for stormwater work. The fees from the stormwater utility -- which is awaiting final approval from the county commission -- should generate $1.5 million in the first year. Most of that money will be used for work along Reed Creek.

But Mr. Leiper also is focusing on Uchee Creek and its tributaries, including Crawford Creek, Tudor Branch and Walton Branch. He knows what unfettered development causes: A consultant has recommended more than $21 million in work along Reed Creek.

Crawford Creek passes under Columbia Road near the Maple Creek subdivision. It eventually joins Uchee Creek and flows into the Savannah River. JIM BLAYLOCK/STAFF

One of the first projects aimed at helping Uchee Creek actually will focus on Crawford Creek. The county is building a regional retention pond, which will control flow into the creek, near the intersection of Old Belair and Belair roads.

``The water that is coming off Belair and (Interstate 20) eventually ends up in Uchee Creek,'' Mr. Leiper said. ``With all the commercial development in that area, we've had a number of stormwater complaints.''

Officials also have been toying with computerized flow models of Uchee Creek. The models allow employees to better plan retention ponds.

``In some areas you may have to have more; in some areas you want a little less, so the water will not stack up,'' Mr. Leiper said.

Another area of concern is at the end of William Few Parkway and near the end of Uchee Creek's flow across Columbia County. There, Canal Industries is planning the Big Three Golf Course and more than 2,000 houses on 2,000 acres around Greenbrier schools.

``I'm not concerned about the stormwater discharge there because it is so close to the river,'' Mr. Leiper said. ``I am concerned about how close they'll build to the flood plain and our ability to control the floodplain, unlike was done in Reed Creek.''

Reach Jason B. Smith at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 115, or jbsmith@augustachronicle.com.