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The 'Chattahoochee River' runs from the 'Chattahoochee Spring' in the mountains of northeast Georgia, southwestward past Atlanta and through its suburbs, then turns southward to form the southern half of the Georgia/Alabama state line. Further south itmerges with the Flint River at Lake Seminole near Bainbridge to form the Florida panhandle's short Apalachicola River, and is the largest part of the ACF River Basin watershed. The name Chattahoochee is thought to come from a Creek word for "painted rock," possibly referring to the many colorful granite outcrops along the northeast-to-southwest segment of the river. Much of this segment of the river runs through the Brevard fault zone.
Several lakes, including Lake Sidney Lanier, Walter F. George Lake, West Point Lake, and others are controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, providing hydroelectricity, flood control, drinking water, recreation, and navigation. Several smaller and older lakes and dams also provide these services on a much smaller and more localized scale, including Bull Sluice Lake, which is created by Morgan Falls Dam.
It serves as the border between several counties and cities, including:

★ Carroll and Coweta

★ Carroll and Fulton

★ Douglas and Fulton

★ Cobb and Fulton

★ Fulton and Gwinnett

★ Forsyth and Gwinnett

★ Habersham County and White County

★ City of Roswell and City of Sandy Springs
The non-profit organization Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is a watchdog group for the northern half of the river.
Controversy has come to the river because of the enormous growth of metro Atlanta, and the tremendous increase in water withdrawals from the river. Oysters in Apalachicola Bay depend on the brackish water mix and alternating freshwater and saltwater flows which the river and tides provide. Interbasin water transfers also occur, where water is withdrawn from the Chattahoochee, but then discharged as treated sewage into another river, such as Hall County's Oconee River. The U.S. Congress has been asked to intervene to put navigation of the lower Chattahoochee (south of Columbus, Georgia) by barges last on the priority list, as most people view this as a complete waste of water during droughts, and a tremendous aggravation to the fight between Georgia, Florida, and Alabama over rights to the river. The case is now in court, and may take years to resolve.

Contents

Flooding

Tributaries

See also

Notes

External links

Flooding

The most recent major flood along the river occurred in September 2004, as a result of Hurricane Ivan.^[1] At Vinings at the northwestern Atlanta city limit, it rose to 22.60 feet or 6.89 meters late on September 16, far above its flood stage of 14.0 feet or 4.3 meters. Numerous tributaries also swelled far over and beyond their banks. These were the highest levels seen since 1990, and the second highest ever since Buford Dam was built upstream. The National Weather Service in Peachtree City estimated that this was a nearly 100-year flood event.^[2] At Helen, above the dam, the river rose to 6.8 feet or 2.07 meters, just above the flood stage of 6.0 feet or 1.83 meters.

Tributaries

Tributary creeks, streams, and rivers, as well as lakes, along with the county they are in:

★ Lake Lanier and Buford Dam (Dawson, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, and Lumpkin)

★ Anneewakee Creek (Douglas)

★ Arrowhead Creek (Cobb)

★ Bald Ridge Creek (Forsyth)

★ Ball Mill Creek (DeKalb and Fulton)

★ Basket Creek (Douglas)

★ Bear Creek (Douglas)

★ Bear Creek (south Fulton)

★ Beech Creek (Fulton)

★ Big Creek (Hall)

★ Brock Branch (south Fulton)

★ Browns Lake (south Fulton)

★ Brushy Creek (Gwinnett)

★ Bull Sluice Lake and Morgan Falls Dam

★ Cabin Creek (Fulton)

★ Camp Creek (Fulton)

★ Charlie's Trapping Creek (Fulton)

★ Chestatee River (Dawson/Hall border, Forsyth/Hall border, and Lumpkin)

★ Crooked Creek (Fulton and Gwinnett)

★ Deep Creek (south Fulton)

★ Dick Creek (Forsyth)

★ Dog River (Douglas)

★ Four Mile Creek (Forsyth)

★ Gilberts Branch (Douglas)

★ Haw Creek (Forsyth)

★ Hewlett Creek (Fulton)

★ Hurricane Creek (Carroll and Douglas)

★ James Creek (Forsyth)

★ Johns Creek (Forsyth and north Fulton)

★ Level Creek (Gwinnett)

★ Long Island Creek (Fulton)

★ Marsh Creek (Fulton)

★ Mavern Creek (north Fulton)

★ Mill Branch (south Fulton)

★ Mountain Health Creek (Fulton)

★ Mulberry Creek (Cobb)

★ Mulberry Creek (Harris and Talbot)

★ Nancy Creek (DeKalb and Fulton)

★ Nannyberry Creek (Cobb)

★ Nickajack Creek (Cobb)

★ Old Mill Creek (north Fulton)

★ Owl Creek (Cobb)

★ Pataula Creek (Clay, Quitman, Randolph, and Stewart)

★ Pea Creek (south Fulton)

★ Peachtree Creek (Fulton)

★ Pine Creek (south Fulton)

★ Proctor Creek (Fulton)

★ Richland Creek (Gwinnett)

★ Rogers Creek (Gwinnett)

★ Rottenwood Creek (Cobb)

★ Sandy Creek (Fulton)

★ Shoal Creek (Gwinnett and Hall)

★ Six Mile Creek (Forsyth)

★ Sope Creek (Cobb)

★ Soque River (Habersham)

★ Suwanee Creek (Gwinnett)

★ Summerbrook Creek (Fulton)

★ Sweetwater Creek (Cobb, Douglas, and Paulding)

★ Trout Lily Creek (Cobb)

★ Tuggle Creek (south Fulton)

★ Turkey Creek (south Fulton)

★ Two Mile Creek (Forsyth)

★ Upatoi Creek (Chattahoochee/Muscogee border and Marion/Talbot border)

★ Wahoo Creek (Coweta)

★ White Oak Creek (south Fulton)

★ Whitewater Creek (Fulton)

★ Willeo Creek (Cobb/Fulton border)

★ Wolf Creek (Carroll)

★ Vickery Creek (north Fulton)

★ Young Deer Creek (Forsyth)

★ West Point Lake (Chambers, AL, Heard, GA, and Troup, GA)

★ Lake Harding (Harris, GA and Lee, AL)

★ Goat Rock Lake (Harris, GA and Lee, AL)

★ Lake Oliver (Lee, AL, Russell, AL, and Muscogee, GA)

★ Walter F. George Lake (Barbour, Henry, and Russell, AL and Clay, Quitman, and Stewart, GA)

★ Lake Seminole (Jackson, FL, Decatur, GA, and Seminole, GA)

See also

★ Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

★ Metropolitan River Protection Act

★ List of Alabama rivers

★ List of Florida rivers

★ List of Georgia rivers

Notes

1. [1]
2. [2]

External links

★ Five piece series on the Chattahoochee River