About 8 miles of Savannah River banks will be conserved -- protecting wildlife and water quality for Beaufort and Jasper county residents -- with a $4.15 million grant to purchase 13,000 acres in Hampton County, Sen. Lindsey Graham announced Tuesday.

The land, known as Hamilton Ridge, will be part of the S.C. Wildlife Management Area program and open to the public for recreation. The program will run the property in conjunction with two neighboring conservation areas, the Webb and Palachucola preserves, said Emily Cope, S.C. Department of Natural Resources assistant director for special projects and national affairs.

The property, just southwest of Shirley, previously was owned by paper and packaging manufacturer International Paper, Cope said. The Conservation Fund and The Nature Conservancy split the cost to buy it from International Paper in April and held it until it could be transferred to public ownership, according to a Department of Natural Resources release.

The grant money to pay for the transfer came from federal money set aside for land conservation that was redirected from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when the agency had money left over from its conservation projects, said Kevin Bishop, a representative for Graham.

Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority General Manager Dean Moss said the purchase is an asset to the authority and residents of Beaufort and Jasper counties. It will help protect water quality, meaning the authority will not have to spend as much money to treat the water, he said.

"Clearly the best way to protect that water quality is to keep the land adjacent to the river undeveloped," Moss said.

About 95 percent of water in the authority's service area comes from the Savannah River, he said. The utility handles water service for most of Beaufort and Jasper counties.

Contact Scott Dance at 986-5539 or beaufortgazette.com.