Climate Talk: Savannah Riverkeeper’s Tonya Bonitatibus talks water impacts

Climate Talk is a series in which experts in the field of climate science shed light on the numerous impacts of climate change, including its economic, agricultural, and infrastructure costs. 

Tonya Bonitatibus is the executive director of the Savannah Riverkeeper. In an interview with The Augusta Chronicle, Bonitatibus highlights evidence that climate change is happening now and impacting water resources locally. Here’s what she had to say and what you can do to help.

Erica Van Buren: How does climate change specifically affect this region’s water resources?

Tonya Bonitatibus: So, two big concerns directly related to climate change in the area are the increased storms, particularly at the top of the river. So the lakes all the way up to the North Carolina border, that area, specifically in north Georgia, has the single largest risk of loss of life because of climate change in our region. That’s because of the increased rain that happens in the deep ravines, similar to the flooding that happened in Asheville, North Carolina (following Hurricane Helene). Increased flooding and the increased intensity of storms are a big issue.

The second one is the lack of water. We had a drought a couple of years ago that pushed the limits of water availability. The Savannah River is a very large river, but it’s used by a bunch of different municipalities and industries. There have been multiple times when the amount of water was at the bare minimum of what the industry downstream needed on top of their intakes. Almost 2 million people rely on the river for drinking water and industrial purposes.

Van Buren: What is the most important thing people don’t understand about climate change?

Bonitatibus: When people hear climate change, they think about their grandchildren having to worry about it, when in fact they need to change the way they operate today. There are already millions of climate refugees in the world. Africa is, of course, always a hotbed of places where people can’t live anymore because of the changing weather patterns. 

People here locally need to understand that because weather patterns have changed and because the pace of development around them is so high, they need to exceed, or go beyond, state standards. Everybody wants to have a nice little creek in the backyard, but you need to build a 200-year floodplain, not a 100-year floodplain, which is the standard. The federal agencies use the term 100-year floodplain, or 100-year build mark. That number is no longer accurate. In fact, it is quite off, and it doesn’t really mean once in 100 anyway. It means you have a 1% chance of flooding. But that one building in a 100-year floodplain isn’t a good idea anymore. It’s going to flood much more often than that. 

Van Buren: How are weather patterns changing? 

Bonitatibus: In the Augusta area, it is expected to see slightly less rain in the coming years. But the top part of the river, which is what really affects how much water is in the river, is expected to actually increase pretty significantly. So (there will be) more rain in that upper basin area, which is good because it means that there will still be water in the river channel. But it also means that the 100-year floodplain isn’t accurate, and there’s a lot of people living in places that will flood that didn’t previously.

Van Buren: Are increasingly severe weather events endangering the infrastructure?

Bonitatibus: Savannah and Augusta are some of the oldest cities in the nation. The infrastructure, particularly under the streets, some of it is equally as old. And unfortunately, with the changeover in the administration, many communities lost huge amounts of funding on big flood projects that they needed moving forward, which means that the pipe underneath the ground can make the difference in whether somebody’s house floods or not.

Van Buren: What are the most effective solutions or adaptations?

Bonitatibus: I’m really obsessed with cool roofs. My house was built in the 1970s by my grandparents. It’s got a bunch of different pitches on it. We painted our roof with something called elastomeric paint. It’s relatively cheap, and it makes a huge difference in the amount of electricity … the cost of your electricity in the summer and how much heat your house is reflecting back out. So in places like downtown Augusta, where it’s second to Hades in the summer, replacing roofs and replacing the reflective surfaces to white makes a huge difference, and it’s cheap. You don’t need a bigger air conditioner if you paint your house white.

This reporting content is supported by a partnership with several funders and Journalism Funding Partners.

Erica Van Buren is the climate change reporter for The Augusta Chronicle, part of the USA TODAY Network. Connect with her at EVanBuren@gannett.com or on X: @EricaVanBuren32.