Chattahoochee River, Origins, Uses and Destination

I wrote in an earlier blog post about the Flint River. I had lots of interest on the subject so I decided to research and write a blog post on the Chattahoochee River.

Chattahoochee River has its source in several headstreams in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northeastern Georgia, U.S. It flows southwestward across northern Georgia to West Point, south of which its course marks the Georgia-Alabama and Georgia-Florida boundaries until it joins the Flint River at Chattahoochee, Florida, after a course of about 436 miles (702 km), where it forms the Apalachicola River. The Chattahoochee is navigable from Columbus to its mouth. The Dept. of Interior has released a tool that lets you map out a river from it's source.

http://www.americanrivers.org/newsroom/blog/sdetwiler-20130726-where-does-a-river-flow.html

In 1953, the U.S. Congress authorized the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Project to construct 4 dams on the Chattahoochee River for flood control and hydroelectric power generation. The Buford Dam was the first dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Chattahoochee River dam building project. The Buford Dam bridged the Chattahoochee River between Cumming and Gainesville in North Georgia and created Lake Lanier. The Walter F. George Lock and Dam created Walter F. George Lake near Eufaula and Cuthert, Georgia. The George W. Andrews Lock and Dam created Lake George W. Andrews near Columbia, Alabama, and the Jim Woodruff Dam created Lake Seminole in Chattahoochee, Florida.

Uses of the Chattahoochee River include: Drinking Water: The Chattahoochee River system provides drinking water for more than 3.5 million people, including 70 percent of the people in metro Atlanta (approximately 450 million gallons per day). Water withdrawals are by public or private suppliers and are delivered for domestic, industrial, and commercial use.  Wastewater Assimilation: The river carries away, and assimilates, our treated wastewater, however, it is challenged to handle increasing volumes because of its small size, as it flows through metro Atlanta. Approximately 100 public and private wastewater treatment plants discharge more than 250 million gallons per day into the Chattahoochee Basin. Agriculture: The Chattahoochee River Basin’s forest cover consists chiefly of second-growth hardwoods and planted pine. Timber is the leading cash crop in the basin. Total farmland in the basin has decreased since the 1970s, however, poultry production has been increasing during that same period. Crops with the largest harvested acreage include peanuts, corn, soybeans and cotton. Recreation: Because of proximity to the largest metropolitan area in the Southeast, the reservoirs, rivers, and streams of the ACF Basin are heavily used for recreation. In the Chattahoochee Basin, this includes Lake Lanier — the most highly visited Corps impoundment in the country, a cold-water trout fishery below Buford Dam within a federal park, and West Point Lake, downstream of Atlanta. One interesting development is the construction of a 2 ½ mile white water course in Columbus, GA. When completed, it is being reported as the longest urban white water course in the USA. http://columbusgawhitewater.com Power: Power generation is the single largest water use. Sixteen of the basin’s 22 power-generating plants are located along the mainstem of the Chattahoochee River. The first power-generating dam, the Eagle-Phenix Dam near Columbus, was originally constructed in 1834 and reconstructed in 1865 to provide hydropower to the mills.  Navigation: Navigation has been an historical use of the waterways of the ACF Basin from Apalachicola Bay to the Fall Line (Columbus). A series of three navigation locks and dams are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1946, authorization was provided for the maintenance of a 9-foot deep and 100-foot channel from the mouth of the Apalachicola River to Columbus.

For almost two decades, Georgia, Alabama and Florida have been battling over the future allocation of water in two major river basins that cross their borders.  Georgia wants to have enough water to allow metro Atlanta to continue growing, while Alabama and Florida - the downstream users - want enough water flowing for their own economic well-being.  The dispute involves several federal agencies, courts and mediators, and its outcome is one of the most important environmental issues in the region today.

Each state has its own concerns about the proper allocation of water:

Georgia - As the upstream user, Georgia wants to have enough water to continue growing, particularly in booming metro Atlanta.

Alabama – A downstream user, Alabama is concerned that Atlanta’s ever-increasing thirst for water will severely limit its own use of water for power generation, fisheries and other uses.

Florida - Another downstream user, Florida wants enough freshwater to reach the Apalachicola Bay to sustain its multi-million dollar shellfish industry.

The battle for water and water rights will become more frequent and aggressive as society wrestles with the need for clean water as our population grows! 

For Information on Buying or Selling Land contact G. Kent Morris, ALC, RF at              (706) 457-0090