Riverkeepers wary of dropping water levels

By MIKE MORRISON | Times-Union Correspondent

November 4, 2007

While the Altamaha River is flowing at an anemic level, a few miles to the southwest the smaller Satilla is flowing at a very healthy level.

This seeming incongruity may have some locals scratching their heads, but there's a simple explanation.

The difference is in the points of origin, say two organizations that watch over the streams.

The Altamaha rises in the foothills of drought-stricken North Georgia. The Satilla flows from the swamps and wetlands of the southern part of the state where rain has fallen in recent weeks.

Except for a short-lived boost from Labor Day storms, the stage of the Altamaha has been less than 2 feet at Doctortown in Wayne County, the last measuring point before the river dumps into the Atlantic.

That's unhealthily low, according to Altamaha Riverkeeper James Holland.

"Under normal circumstances, the Altamaha should be much higher this time of year," Holland said. "And not too much longer, it should be coming up out of its banks, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen this year."

Some of the lowest flows in the river in the past 50 years actually occurred in the dry weather of 2000, when in August the river fell to near a foot of water, said Jeff Dobur, senior hydrologist at the Southeast River Forecast Center in Peachtree City.

"I think some of the rains here in the past 60 days across South Georgia that North Georgia has not seen have helped stages from falling to these very low levels. We will have to see and hope that we see the winter and early spring rains come December through March," he said.

The Altamaha rose to a healthy level last winter, but the high water didn't last.

"It didn't stay up," Holland said. "It needs to stay up out of its banks for a couple of months."

Long periods of low water adversely affect the health of aquatic species that call the river home, he said.

"The fish are more plentiful and bigger, too, when the river stays high through the winter," Holland said.

Also, when the Altamaha's flow is diminished, salt water intrudes farther upstream. When it does, saltwater species such as crabs, speckled trout and shrimp move farther inland.

"They'll go way up the river when it's down low," Holland said. "I've seen crabs up on the other side of Jesup when it's like it is."

That increases the competition for food, ultimately harming indigenous species.

Atlanta worries coast

North Georgia - especially Atlanta - is getting the lion's share of attention over the drought. But Holland said its effects are keenly felt here and may worsen.

"I wish the drought would hurry up and go away," he said. "It's putting everyone in an awkward situation."

At Jaycee Landing near Jesup, Angie Pye's bait shop is languishing. With water only a foot deep in places, fishermen are staying away to avoid damaging their boats and motors, Pye said.

The drought has prompted a battle among Georgia, Alabama and Florida over water in the Chattahoochee River, which rises in the North Georgia mountains, forms the border with Alabama and flows through Florida to the Gulf of Mexico.

Holland worries that a continued drought will pit North Georgia against South Georgia.

"It's coming," he said. "They're going to treat us like Florida. They're going to pump water from one [river] basin to another and keep the water up there around Atlanta."

In a scenario in which water is withdrawn from the Altamaha's source streams, used, treated and dumped into another river, such as the Chattahoochee, the Altamaha will fall even lower, Holland said.

"Our local elected officials better wake up. What are they doing to protect us?" Holland asked.

Another river, another story

On the more serene Satilla, things are shaping up for good fishing.

After experiencing record lows in the summer, precipitation out of the Gulf of Mexico filled the Satilla up around Labor Day, and it has stayed at a healthy level.

"We were on our way to a record drought, but tropical precipitation jumped in the middle of it and saved this part of the state from some very bad conditions," Satilla Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers said.

The Satilla stage at Atkinson on U.S. 82 is at about 6 1/2 feet, down from an 11-foot surge in early October.

"It stayed up until the 16th, then it started dropping like crazy," Rogers said. "When it gets down to 4 1/2 to 5 feet, it's real fishable, but it sure is dropping fast."

Recent rain in the area has had a negligible effect on the Satilla, but it needs frequent and heavy rainfall to keep up a healthy flow.

With a dry winter forecast, Rogers is worried.

"We've spent so many years de-watering the landscape that we've robbed our drought-proofing," he said.

Scientists say that wetlands capture rainfall and release it slowly, providing a more constant flow to rivers like the Satilla.

But many wetlands have been drained by timber farming and development, which allows runoff to rush straight into the rivers.

"We've destroyed so much of our wetlands, however, that these days, South Georgia flushes like a toilet," Rogers said.