Georgia’s Rivers

Doug Oetter and Chris Skelton

Dept. of History and GeographyDept. of Biology and Environmental Science

Georgia College & State University

Georgia’s Physiographic Provinces

• Cumberland Plateau• Blue Ridge• Ridge and Valley• Piedmont• Coastal Plain

Georgia’s Watersheds

• River headwaters in higher elevations

• Flow Southeast and Southwest to Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico

Blue Ridge • Constrained channels underlain by bedrock

• Generally clear and cool flow from forested watersheds

• High energy but with low flow due to smaller catchment basin

• Waterfalls

Ridge and Valley • Ranging from clear to colored, depending on watershed conditions and human activities

• Moderate flood potential• Highly variable flow

Piedmont• Constrained channels over

bedrock• Water discolored by sediments

from mining, construction, and agriculture

• Moderate energy with increasing flood potential due to large catchments

• Shoals and rapids• Hydropower potential

Coastal Plain

• Unconstrained channels meandering over deep sediments

• Ranging from highly colored by sediments to clear and blackwater rivers tinted with tannic acid

• Very large flows with broad flood plains

• Estuaries

Georgia’s Main Rivers

AltamahaYamassee Indian chief Altamaha,

named by DeSoto in 1540Chattahoochee

Creek for “flowered stones”Coosa

Cherokee name for the Upper Creeks of the region

FlintThronateeska, “flint-picking-up-

place”Ochlockonee

Hitchiti for “yellow water”Ocmulgee

Creek for “bubbling water”Oconee

From Oconee Old Town

Ogeechee

“River of the Uchees,” a sub-tribe of the Creek Confederation

St. Mary’sSpanish mission Santa Maria de

Guadeloupe, founded in 1568Satilla

Once named Riviere Somme; renamed ‘St. Illa’ by a Spanish explorer of the same name

Savannah“River of the Shawnees”

SuwanneeCreek word suwani, or “echo”

TallapoosaUnknown Creek word, possibly from

Choctaw for “crushed rock”Tennessee

Cherokee place name

Average FlowsName Longterm flow (ft3/ s) ALAPAHA RIVER NEAR ALAPAHA, GA 995 ALTAMAHA RIVER AT DOCTORTOWN, GA 23,000 CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT ATLANTA, GA 2,740 CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT BUFORD DAM, NEAR BUFORD, GA 1,620 CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT WEST POINT, GA 6,565 CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NEAR COLUMBIA, AL 13,400 COOSA RIVER NEAR ROME, GA 9,355 ETOWAH RIVER NEAR KINGSTON,GA 2,985 FLINT RIVER AT ALBANY, GA 9,020 FLINT RIVER AT BAINBRIDGE, GA 13,500 OCHLOCKONEE RIVER NEAR THOMASVILLE, GA 597 OCMULGEE RIVER AT LUMBER CITY, GA 8,795 OCMULGEE RIVER AT MACON, GA 3,860 OCONEE RIVER AT DUBLIN, GA 6,600 OCONEE RIVER AT MILLEDGEVILLE, GA 4,030 OGEECHEE RIVER NEAR EDEN, GA 3,520 OHOOPEE RIVER NEAR REIDSVILLE, GA 1,820 OOSTANAULA RIVER NEAR ROME, GA 5,034 SATILLA RIVER AT ATKINSON, GA 2,780 SAVANNAH RIVER AT AUGUSTA, GA 11,150 SAVANNAH RIVER NEAR CLYO, GA 14,700 ST. MARYS RIVER NR MACCLENNY, FLA. 366 SUWANNEE RIVER AT US 441, AT FARGO, GA 1,480 TALLAPOOSA RIVER BELOW TALLAPOOSA, GEORGIA 372

NameLongterm flow (ft3/s)

ALTAMAHA RIVER AT DOCTORTOWN, GA 23,000

SAVANNAH RIVER NEAR CLYO, GA 14,700

FLINT RIVER AT BAINBRIDGE, GA 13,500

CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NEAR COLUMBIA, AL 13,400

SAVANNAH RIVER AT AUGUSTA, GA 11,150

COOSA RIVER NEAR ROME, GA 9,355

FLINT RIVER AT ALBANY, GA 9,020

OCMULGEE RIVER AT LUMBER CITY, GA 8,795

OCONEE RIVER AT DUBLIN, GA 6,600

OCONEE RIVER AT MILLEDGEVILLE, GA 4,030

OCMULGEE RIVER AT MACON, GA 3,860

OGEECHEE RIVER NEAR EDEN, GA 3,520

SATILLA RIVER AT ATKINSON, GA 2,780

CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT ATLANTA, GA 2,740

OHOOPEE RIVER NEAR REIDSVILLE, GA 1,820

CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER AT BUFORD DAM, NEAR BUFORD, GA 1,620

Outline History of Georgia’s Rivers

• Native uses• Early commerce• Steamboat era• Flooding• River decline• Dam-building period• River resurgence

Native American Uses

• Drinking water• Food• Transportation• Settlement

– Fall Line communities– Resources of both

Coastal Plain and Piedmont

Early Commerce• Exploration• Trading• Minerals• Timber extraction• Hydropower (grist and

lumber mills)

Steamboat Era• Begun in late 1820’s

– Rivers developed for commerce

• Grain• Lumber• Manufactured goods• Cotton

• Continued until late 1930’s– Displaced by road

transportation

Flood Damage• Severe flooding

aggravated by sediment accumulation in river channel from massive soil erosion

River Decline

• Sedimentation• Untreated sewage

– Phosphates and municipal waste

– Nitrates– Industrial pollutants

• Removal of riparian vegetation

Dams and Reservoirs

• U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Reservoirs

– Allatoona Lake– Carters Lake– J. Strom Thurmond

Lake– George W. Andrews

Lake– Hartwell Lake– Richard B. Russell Lake– Lake Seminole– Lake Sidney Lanier– Walter F. George Lake– West Point Lake

• Powerplant cooling reservoirs

• Other small dams

Resurgence of Georgia’s Rivers

• Clean Water Act– Pollution control– Sewage treatment

• Recreation and Wildlife Values Riverfront Redevelopment