Chattahoochee River

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The Chattahoochee River begins in the southeast corner of Union County, Georgia at the Chattahoochee Spring, located 5 miles from Brasstown Bald, the highest point in the state of Georgia. The name Chattahoochee is derived from Creek Indian words meaning painted rock-drains. Its headwaters make up the smallest drainage area to provide a major portion of water supply for any metropolitan area (Atlanta, Georgia) nationwide. There are at least 39 major users that withdraw water from the river or it's lakes.

The river flows into Lake Lanier, where it is temporarily stopped by the Buford Dam. It then passes into Bull Sluice Lake, which is held by Morgan Falls Dam, which was created in 1902 to provide power for the Atlanta Trolly system.

From there, it heads through Atlanta, where the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area protects many of the riverbanks north of the city.

The non-profit organization Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper is a watchdog group for the northern half of the river.

Leaving the city of Atlanta, the river then turns southward and forms the southern part of the Georgia/Alabama state line. Lake George and West Point Lake are controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and provide hydroelectricity, flood control, drinking water, recreation, and navigation to both Georgia and Alabama.

After the West Point Dam there are a series of smaller dams along the river including:


At Lake Seminole near Bainbridge, the Chattahoochee merges with the Flint River and forms the [[Apalachicola River], and becomes the largest part of the ACF River Basin watershed.

The primary water supply for the city of Atlanta comes from the Chattahoochee River after it has gone through Buford Dam.


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Gauges

Stream gauges are located:

  • at Helen (near downtown) HELG1
  • near Cornelia (6 miles or 10km northwest of) DCNG1
  • near Buford (4 miles or 6km northwest of) immediately down from Buford Dam BUFG1
  • near Norcross (5 miles or 8km north of) on Medlock Bridge Road NCRG1
  • near Roswell (4 miles or 6km southeast of) just off old Riverside Road RWLG1
  • below Morgan Falls Dam TW MGFG1
  • at Vinings(3 miles or 5km southwest of) and Atlanta on Pace's Ferry Road bridge VING1
  • near Campbellton (1 mile or 1.6km northwest of) and Fairburn on Georgia 92 bridge FBNG1
  • at Whitesburg (2 miles or 3km southeast of) at Main Street (Georgia 18) bridge WHTG1
  • at Franklin at Main Street (U.S. 27) bridge in downtown FRNG1
  • at West Point (1 miles or 1.6km "northeast", actually north, of the center of town) WTPG1
  • at Columbus on 4th Street N (U.S. 280) bridge to Phenix City, Alabama CMUG1
  • at Walter F. George Dam (USACE) in Fort Gaines FOGG1
  • at George W. Andrews Dam (USACE) south of Columbia, Alabama COLA1

Forecasts are regularly issued only at Vinings/Atlanta. Forecasts are issued only during high water at Norcross, Whitesburg, West Point, and the lakes George/Andrews dams. All other locations have observations only.


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Tributaries

Tributary creeks, streams,rivers and lakes that feed the Chattahoochee and the county they are located in:

Note that the above list is incomplete, and that each item is not in the exact order which it joins the river. (For confluences now inundated by lakes, it may be impossible to determine from current maps exactly where they were.)

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