Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026
Correction: Aug. 19, 2026, 5 p.m. There are nine counties in the Coastal Georgia Regional Water Planning Council. A previous version indicated the wrong number of counties.
Good morning! Today we’re catching up on Georgia shrimp, marsh migration, and one agile solar company. We’re also serving up hurricane preparation tips to keep you safe if you have to –eek! — do without your smartphone. And don’t miss the brief update about newly proposed rules to allow private recreational docks to be built larger than ever.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at mary.landers@thecurrentga.org
NEWS: BUSINESS
Where’s that shrimp from?
A Georgia law that went into effect July 1 requires restaurants to let diners know, via menus or posted notices, if the shrimp they’re serving was harvested in the U.S. The Current GA‘s Gracie Nelson checked out some Coastal Georgia restaurants to find out how they are preparing to comply when enforcement begins in the new year.
EXPLAINER: ENVIRONMENT
Move over for the saltmarsh
Liberty County is combating erosion through a living shoreline project aimed at restoring natural marsh grasses, as Emily Jones of WABE/Grist reports. As sea levels rise due to climate change, local leaders and organizations like the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative are advocating for broader conservation efforts. These initiatives seek to protect adjacent lands to ensure marshes can migrate inland, providing a critical buffer against storm surges.
FEATURE: ENVIRONMENT
Carrot and stick shape solar in Georgia
South Korean firm QCells is expanding its Georgia factory to house the entire solar cell production process by late October. Emily Jones of WABE/Grist takes a look at how the company took advantage of both the Biden administration’s carrot approach to attracting solar panel makers as well as the Trump administration’s stick approach of imposing tariffs on foreign made solar panels.
EXPLAINER: ENVIRONMENT
Plan to be phoneless in a disaster
With the peak of hurricane season arriving next month, it’s a good time to review disaster plans. The Conversation offers tips on how to prepare to make it through a disaster if your smartphone is inaccessible. Among the suggestions:
- Keep a printed or handwritten list of essential phone numbers and your basic medical information somewhere easily accessible, where you’ll remember it.
- Agree on where family members will meet if communication is disrupted.
- Know your evacuation route options and make sure you have multiple ways to get emergency information, including a battery-operated radio.
Also noted
The Coastal Resources Division of DNR has revised its proposed rules for private recreational docks built in the publicly owned marsh after receiving significant public comment on its first draft. (Comments available here). The division will present the new draft, which allows larger walkways of up to 1,500 feet long and six feet wide, to the DNR board at its Aug. 25 meeting. If the Board concurs, CRD will issue a new notice of proposed rulemaking and public comments will again be accepted.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division will accept nominations through August 29 to the Regional Water Planning Councils, including the nine-county Coastal Georgia Regional Water Planning Council. Find more information and a link to the nomination form here.
Responding to changes in the coastal Georgia and South Carolina Lowcountry landscape, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to expand 10 national wildlife refuges, including five in Coastal Georgia. See this bulletin for more information and to learn how to submit a comment by Sept. 17.
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Under new legislation, restaurants prep to post origin country for shrimp
Georgia’s House Bill 117 requires restaurants to disclose the country of origin for shrimp to increase transparency and support local shrimpers against foreign competition.
A new plan to preserve Georgia’s marshes: Give them space to migrate
Coastal communities in Georgia are implementing living shorelines and pursuing large-scale conservation plans to protect migrating salt marshes from rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Prepare to lose use of your smartphone in a disaster
Recent natural disasters have highlighted the critical need for disaster resilience through redundant communication methods beyond reliance on smartphones.
How this Georgia factory is surviving America’s solar policy whiplash
As the Trump administration implements new tariffs and minimum import prices on polysilicon, QCells is expanding its Cartersville, Georgia, facility to house the entire solar cell production process under one roof by late October.
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