| Chattahoochee River | |
|---|---|
 Chattahoochee River at Jones Bridge Park inPeachtree Corners, Georgia | |
 Map of the Apalachicola River system with the Chattahoochee highlighted in dark blue. | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| States | Georgia, Alabama, Florida |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | nearJacks Knob |
| • location | Blue Ridge Mountains,Chattahoochee National Forest,Georgia |
| • coordinates | 34°49′26″N83°47′28″W / 34.82389°N 83.79111°W /34.82389; -83.79111[3] |
| • elevation | 3,550 ft (1,080 m)[4] |
| Mouth | Apalachicola River |
• location | confluence withFlint River, nearJim Woodruff Dam |
• coordinates | 30°42′32″N84°51′50″W / 30.70889°N 84.86389°W /30.70889; -84.86389[3] |
• elevation | 75 ft (23 m)[3] |
| Length | 430 mi (690 km)[1] |
| Basin size | 8,770 sq mi (22,700 km2)[1] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 10,090 cu ft/s (286 m3/s)[2] |
| • minimum | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 195,000 cu ft/s (5,500 m3/s) |
TheChattahoochee River (/ˌtʃætəˈhuːtʃi/) is ariver in theSoutheasternUnited States. It forms the southern half of theAlabama andGeorgia border, as well as a portion of theFlorida and Georgia border. It is a tributary of theApalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee andFlint rivers and emptying from Florida intoApalachicola Bay in theGulf of Mexico. The Chattahoochee River is about 430 miles (690 km) long.[1] The Chattahoochee, Flint, and Apalachicola rivers together make up the Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint River Basin (ACF River Basin).[1] The Chattahoochee makes up the largest part of the ACF'sdrainage basin.
Thesource of the Chattahoochee River is located in Jacks Gap at the southeastern foot ofJacks Knob, in the very southeastern corner ofUnion County,[5][6] in the southernBlue Ridge Mountains, a subrange of theAppalachian Mountains. The headwaters of the river flow south from ridges that form theTennessee Valley Divide. TheAppalachian Trail crosses the river's uppermost headwaters. The Chattahoochee's source and upper course lie withinChattahoochee National Forest.
From its source in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Chattahoochee River flows southwesterly toAtlanta and through itssuburbs. It eventually turns due-south to form the southern half of the Georgia/Alabama state line. Flowing through a series ofreservoirs and artificial lakes, it flows byColumbus, the second-largest city in Georgia, and theFort Benning Army base. At Columbus, it crosses theFall Line of the eastern United States.
FromLake Oliver to Fort Benning, theChattahoochee Riverwalk provides cycling, rollerblading, and walking along 15 miles (24 km) of the river's banks. Farther south, it merges with theFlint River and other tributaries atLake Seminole nearBainbridge, to form theApalachicola River that flows into theFlorida Panhandle. The Chattahoochee River ends in the city ofChattahoochee, FL. From there, the same river is then named Apalachicola River, which ends (106 miles away) in the city ofApalachicola, FL (meaning both rivers end in the city named after them). Although the same river, this portion was given a different name by separated settlers in different regions during thecolonial times.
The nameChattahoochee is thought to come from aMuskogee word meaning "rocks-marked" (or "painted"), fromchato ("rock") plushuchi ("marked").[3] This possibly refers to the many colorfulgranite outcroppings along the northeast-to-southwest segment of the river. Much of that segment of the river runs through theBrevard fault zone.
The current course of the Chattahoochee River has a geologic history that extends back in time at least 100 million years. A Late Cretaceous system of paleovalleys incised into the Coastal Plain unconformity in the vicinity of Columbus, Georgia is infilled with fluvial sands and gravels of the lowerTuscaloosa Formation. Younger rocks of the overlyingEutaw Formation record an estuarine environment in approximately the same location, suggesting a persistent paleodrainage system in the vicinity of the modern Chattahoochee for at least 10-20 million years during the Late Cretaceous.[7] North of the Fall Line, in the Piedmont of Georgia and Alabama, the course of the Chattahoochee River cuts across prominent, resistant rock layers, including the HollisQuartzite of the Pine Mountain belt, and must have established its current course prior to uplift of those units. At the mouth of the Chattahoochee-Flint-Apalachicola River system, in the Apalachicola River delta, the geologic history of the delta can be traced at least as far back as theMiocene.
The vicinity of the Chattahoochee River was inhabited in prehistoric times byindigenous peoples since at least 1000 BC. TheKolomoki Mounds, now protected in the Kolomoki Mounds Historic Park near present-dayBlakely inEarly County, southwest Georgia, were built between 350 AD and 650 AD and constitute the largest mound complex in the state.[8][9]
The Chattahoochee River was of considerable strategic importance during theAtlanta campaign by Union GeneralWilliam Tecumseh Sherman of theAmerican Civil War.
Between the tributaries of Proctor Creek and Nickajack Creek on the Cobb and Fulton county lines in metropolitan Atlanta, are nine remaining fortifications nicknamed "Shoupades" that were part of a defensive line occupied by theConfederate Army in early July 1864. Designed by Confederate Brigadier GeneralFrancis A. Shoup, the line became known asJohnston's River Line after Confederate GeneralJoseph E. Johnston and is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
A month prior to theBattle of Atlanta, Shoup talked with Johnston on June 18, 1864, about building fortifications. Johnston agreed, and Shoup supervised the building of 36 small elevated earth and wooden triangular fortifications, arranged in a sawtooth pattern to maximize the crossfire of defenders. Sherman tried to avoid the Shoupade defenses by crossing the river to the northeast. The nine remaining Shoupades consist of the earthworks portion of the original earth and wooden structures; they are endangered by land development in the area.[10]
Two of the last battles of the war,West Point andColumbus took place at strategically important crossings of the Chattahoochee.
Since the nineteenth century, early improvements and alterations to the river were for the purposes of navigation. The river was important for carrying trade and passengers and was a major transportation route.
In the twentieth century, theUnited States Congress passed legislation in 1944 and 1945 to improve navigation for commercial traffic on the river, as well as to establish hydroelectric power and recreational facilities on a series of lakes to be created by building dams and establishing reservoirs. Creating the manmade, 46,000-acreWalter F. George Lake also known as Lake Eufaula, in Eufaula, Alabama, required evacuating numerous communities, including the historically majority-Native American settlement ofOketeyeconne, Georgia.[11] The lakes were complete in 1963, covering over numerous historic and prehistoric sites of settlement.[12]
Beginning in the late twentieth century, the nonprofit organization called "Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper" has advocated for the preservation of the environment and ecology of the northern part of the river, especially the part traversingMetropolitan Atlanta.
In 2010, a campaign to create awhitewater river course was launched in the portion of the Chattahoochee River that runs through Columbus, Georgia. Between 2010 and 2013, construction took place on the river, the Eagle and Phenix and City Mills Dams were breached and a 2.5 mile Whitewater Course was formed in Uptown Columbus. The project returned the river to its natural path across theFall Line, as well as creating the longest urban whitewater course in the world.[13]
Several large manmadereservoirs, includingLanier,Lake Eufaula,West Point, andGeorge W. Andrews, lakes are controlled by theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers. The dams and reservoirs were developed following legislation by Congress of the mid-1940s forflood control, domestic and industrial water,hydroelectricity, recreation, and improved navigation for river barges. Most of the lakes were completed by 1963.[12] Numerous historic and prehistoric sites were covered over by the lakes during the flooding of the reservoirs, including Oketeyconne, Georgia.[11]
TheGeorgia Power Company also owns a small series of dams along the middle portion of the river (the Columbus area) between West Point Lake and Lake Walter F. George. Several smaller and older lakes and dams also provide these services on a much smaller and more localized scale, includingBull Sluice Lake, which is held by theMorgan Falls Dam. This dam was built by theGeorgia Railway and Power Company in 1902 to provide electric power for the Atlantatrolley system, which has long since been replaced by other forms of transportation.
At various points, the Chattahoochee serves as the boundary between several counties and cities, as well as forming the lower half of the boundary between Alabama and Georgia.
Within Georgia, it divides:
Atlanta is built upon the crest of a large ridge, rather than in the floodplain of the river. This has contributed to the preservation of much of the natural scenic beauty of the section that runs through metropolitan Atlanta. North of the metropolis, theChattahoochee River National Recreation Area protects other portions of the riverbanks in a region that is spread across several disconnected areas.[14]
The river traverses much of Atlanta's hilly topography of the northern suburbs. Wealthy suburban communities in northern metro Atlanta that abut the river include:Vinings,Buckhead,Sandy Springs,East Cobb,Roswell,Dunwoody,Peachtree Corners,Duluth,Johns Creek, andBerkeley Lake.
Since three states have needs related to the river, there has been increasing controversy since the late twentieth century related to competing development among the regions and the implications for the river. The enormous growth of metropolitan Atlanta has increased its water withdrawals from the river. This has effects downstream. For example, theoysters in theApalachicola Bay of Florida depend on the brackish water mixture of river and ocean water, and the alternating freshwater and saltwater flows that the river and the tides provide. The amount of flow in the Chattahoochee has also been decreased by interbasin water transfers, where water is withdrawn from the Chattahoochee, but discharged as treatedsewage water into another river, such as theOconee River, which flow to the Atlantic Seaboard via theAltamaha River.
Interest groups and the state of Florida have asked theU.S. Congress to intervene to reduce the priority given to put navigation of the lower Chattahoochee, south of Columbus, by river barge. This requirement causes large water withdrawals, which environmental supporters consider a waste of water needed to support habitats, especially during droughts. The navigation issue has aggravated the fight between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama over rights to the river water. A lawsuit has been filed in the case to reduce priorities given to navigation. The lawsuit is now in court, and may take years to resolve.[when?]
The most recent major flooding of the Chattahoochee River took place in November 2009. This was caused by torrential rains fromTropical Storm Ida as it tore through the Georgia Piedmont. Downstream from Roswell, the Chattahoochee River remained in moderate flood stage. Streams affected by the September 2009 floods included the following:
The second most recent major flood along the river occurred during the2009 Georgia floods, with 28.10 feet (8.56 m) of water recorded atVinings at the northwestern Atlanta city limit. The flood was over 5 feet (1.5 m) higher than the previous flood recorded in September 2004, as a result ofHurricane Fred. Numerous tributaries also swelled far over and beyond their banks. These were the highest water levels seen since 1990, and the second-highest ever since the largeBuford Dam was built upstream. TheNational Weather Service inPeachtree City estimated that this was a500-year flood event.
The mainstream gauges are located:
Water-level forecasts are regularly issued only at Vinings and Atlanta. Forecasts are issued only during high water at Norcross, Whitesburg, West Point, and the Lake Walter F. George and Andrews Dams. All other locations have observations only.
Tributarycreeks,streams, andrivers, as well as lakes, along with the county they are in:
Note that the above list is incomplete, and that each item is not in the exact order in which it joins the Chattahoochee. (For confluences now inundated by lakes, it may be impossible to determine from current maps exactly where they were.)
The beauty of the Chattahoochee River is commemorated in the poem "The Song of the Chattahoochee" (1877),[29] by the noted Georgian poetSidney Lanier.Lake Lanier on the Chattahoochee is named for him.
Country music artistAlan Jackson released his song "Chattahoochee" in 1993 as a single off his albumA Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love) (the name of the album being the last line of the aforementioned song's chorus). "Chattahoochee" receivedCountry Music Association awards for Single of the Year and Song of the Year.[30]
ComposerJuan María Solare wrote a piano piece calledChattahoochee River, technically a slow blues with a central faster section.
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