By J. T. CALLAHAN, L. E. NEWCOMB, and J. W. GEURIN

Report based mainly on work 

accomplished cooperatively with 

the Georgia Department of Mines, 

Mining, and Geology, with the 

Georgia Highway Department 

and with other Federal agencies
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

WILLIAM T. PECORA, Director

Library of Congress catalog-card No. GS 65-354

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1965

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price 45 cents (paper cover)
CONTENTS

Page

Introduction: A tourist's view of water in

Georgia ................ 1

Georgia's water environment ........ 3

The hydrologic cycle .......... 3

Rainfall ............... 6

Runoff . . ............. 9

Quality of water ............ 13

How water is used in Georgia ........ 16

Withdrawal and consumptive use .... 16

Water for cities and towns ....... 20

Water for waste disposal ........ 23

How cities purify water......... 25

Water for the farm........... 27

Water for irrigation .......... 28

Water for industry ........... 31

Water for power ............ 31

Water for navigation .......... 34

Water for recreation .......... 35

Conflicts in water use ......... 35

Regional occurrence of water ........ 37

How water shaped the State ...... 37

The Cumberland Plateau and the Valley

and Ridge province ......... 40

The Blue Ridge province ........ 43

	iii
Page

Regional occurrence of water Continued

The Piedmont province ......... 46

The Coastal Plain province ....... 51

The major rivers of Georgia ......... 58

A river and its environment ....... 58

The Savannah ............. 59

TheAltamaha. ............ 61

The Chattahoochee .......... 63

The Flint ................ 65

The Coosa .............. 66

Enough water? ............ 68

Water problems in Georgia ......... 69

Floods ................ 69

Droughts ............... 71

Legal problems in competition for water . . 74

The problem of water quality ...... 75

Declining water levels ......... 77

Water and Georgia's future ........ 80

For more information ........... 86

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

FIGURE 1. How rain reaches the water table . 4

2. The hydrologic cycle ...... 5

3. Average annual precipitation in

Georgia .......... 6

4. The Fall Line ......... 7

5. Average annual runoff ..... 8

6. Variation of rainfall and streamflow, Whitewater Creek near 

Butler, June to November 1954 . 10

iv
Page

FIGURE 7. Variation of rainfall, streamflow, 

and ground-water levels in Flint 

River basin above Griffin, June 

to November 1954 ...... 11

8. The many uses of water. .... 17

9. Average daily withdrawal water

use, 1960 .......... 18

10. Maximum rates of use in relation

to minimum supply ..... 19

11. Location of public water systems 

that supplied more than 1 

million gallons per day in 1960 . 22

12. Density of farm ponds in 1954 . . 30

13. Physiographic divisions..... 38

14. Solution channels in limestone . . 41

15. Occurrence of ground water under 

water-table and under artesian 

conditions .......;. 42

16. Variation in daily flow for Yellow

River during a typical year . . 48

17. Variation of water levels in representative observation wells . . 50

18. Relative severity of the 1954

drought .......... 73

19. Level of water in a water-table

well in relation to rainfall ... 78

20. Population trend in Georgia,

1850-1960 ......... 81

21. Average rate of water use at

Atlanta .......... 84
Introduction

A Tourist's View of 

Water in Georgia

Tourists who passed through many south Georgia towns 

during August 1954 were puzzled by the frequent appearance 

of farm trucks loaded with water tanks and water barrels. 

Had they been traveling through parts of the arid Western 

States, such sights would not have been unusual, but they 

did not expect to see them in humid Georgia. Their amazement at such unusual conditions was a normal reaction to the 

severity of Georgia's 1954 drought. The statewide loss from 

crop failure alone during 1954 was estimated at 75 million 

dollars.

Newspaper headlines such as SOUTH GEORGIA RIVERS, STREAMS TERRIBLY LOW and GEORGIA 

RIVERS LOWEST SINCE '25! featured the drought of 

1954. If a tourist's impression of water in Georgia had been 

formed solely by what he saw on the highways and read in 

the newspapers during the summer of 1954, it would have 

been an entirely false one. The 1954 drought was a rare 

event, as the tourist might have surmised from the headline 

that implied it was the most severe water shortage since 

1925. During normal years, Georgia has abundant water 

supplies and even during the severe drought water was 

readily available underground, at little cost, at many of the 

farms where water was hauled by truck.
If the tourist stopped overnight in one of Georgia's cities 

he found little evidence of drought conditions. Excellent 

water was, as usual, freely available at a turn of a faucet. If 

he had been perplexed at the sight of some farmers hauling 

water, he understandably may have wondered how the city 

supply seemed normal while farm supplies were nil.

The tourist's speculations underscore the complexity of 

the water situation in Georgia. An understanding of it 

requires a much more complete knowledge of the variable 

nature of water in Georgia than can be gained by one or two 

chance observations or by reading a score of water-news 

items. Water varies with time and place in response to 

natural controls. A thorough study of water in Georgia 

must start with rainfall the primary source of it all.
Georgians

Water

Environment

The Hydrologic Cycle

At one time or another almost everyone has been forced to 

take shelter from a downpour of rain. While waiting for the 

rain to stop, you may observe many of nature's water controls in action. During the first few minutes of intense rain, 

much of the rainfall soaks into the ground. If the intense 

fall continues, small puddles of rainwater form in ground 

depressions and, if the rain is prolonged, the puddles grow 

and begin to drain over the ground.

After the rain stops, you may notice that small field 

ditches are flowing, that weeds and brush are dripping wet, 

and that the soil is soft, perhaps muddy (fig. 1). Nature's 

controls are working, unseen, on that part of the rain that 

soaked into the ground. The soil will keep some water, for 

a while, to satisfy the demand for soil moisture. If the soil 

moisture is already high, as it may be during winter, some 

unseen water will move slowly downward through the soil 

layer and underlying material. Eventually, under conditions that exist in much of Georgia, the downward-moving 

water will reach a zone of rock that is saturated with water. 

The top of this zone is the local water table. Water can be 

recaptured from the zone of saturation by wells dug or drilled 

into it.
FIGURE 1. How rain reaches the water table.

The total rainfall i& apportioned by natural controls as 

follows:

1. Water temporarily held on vegetation and on top of 

ground. This water eventually returns to the atmosphere by evaporation.

2. Water that runs off over the ground and eventually 

reaches the streams that drain the area.

3. Water that soaks into the soil, some to be used later 

by plants, some to evaporate from the soil, and 

some to travel downward to reach the local water 

table.

The relative amounts of water in each of the foregoing 

portions vary with location, season, and the amount and intensity of rain. On the average, about 70 percent of annual
rainfall in Georgia is returned to the atmosphere and about 

30 percent eventually flows into the ocean. In general, the 

latter portion is the water that can be managed for man's 

benefit.

Water follows an endless cycle from the ocean to the sky, 

to the land, and back again to the ocean. This phenomenon 

is called the hydrologic cycle. As shown in figure 2, the sun 

furnishes powers for this huge cycle by evaporating water 

from the sea and setting up atmospheric currents that result 

from unequal heating of the earth's surface. Acting with 

forces caused by the rotation of the earth, the unequal heating causes winds that carry the salt-free vapor over the land, 

where it is cooled and falls as rain or snow.

Part of the water returned to the atmosphere from soil 

moisture is used by vegetation. The transfer of water from 

soil to plants to air, called "transpiration," involves a tremendous volume of water. A single acre of corn transpires more than 3,000 gallons of water per day. A large oak 

tree transpires 40,000 gallons of water per year roughly

FIGURE 2. The hydrologic cycle.
equal to the annual amount of water used per person in a 

modern Georgia city. When we visualize the thousands of 

acres of farm crops and the millions of trees in the State 

we can understand how the total yearly transpiration exceeds the total yearly water use by industry and people. 

Evaporation from inland water surfaces, such as rivers, 

swamps, and lakes, is another way that nature returns water 

to the atmosphere. Artificial lakes and ponds for storing 

water increase the natural water loss which occurs through 

evaporation. Thus, each reservoir we build pays an "evaporation toll" in return for the benefits obtained.

Rainfall

Rainfall is the primary source of all Georgia's water. 

The water in Lake Lanier and the water flowing from 

Albany's artesian wells come from rain. The lake water

FIGURE 3. Average annual precipitation, in inches, in 

Georgia. (Adapted from map prepared by the U.S. 

Weather Bureau in the Weekly Weather and Crop 

Bulletin.)

52 56 ______60 68,
FIGURE 4. Map showing locations of the Fall Line in. Georgia.

may have reached the earth as rain only a short time ago; 

the artesian waters may be rain water that has moved underground for years. Variations in the flow of streams and in 

the water levels of wells reflect variations in rainfall.

Rainfall in Georgia averages about 50 inches a year; it is 

generous, but it is not uniformly distributed by season or 

location. The Augusta area annually receives about 43 

inches a small area in the mountains of northeastern 

Georgia receives nearly twice that amount. Average 

annual rainfall in Georgia (fig. 3) varies between these two 

extremes. Most of Georgia's rainfall comes from warm 

moist air masses that formed over the Gulf of Mexico. 

Lesser amounts of rainfall come from air masses that formed 

over the Atlantic Ocean. Average annual rainfall decreases with distance from the Gulf of Mexico and the 

Atlantic Ocean up to the Fall Line. The Fall Line is the 

discernible geologic break between the "hard rock" hills of 

the Piedmont and the more easily eroded rock of the coastal 

plain (fig. 4). The Fall Line, which parallels the eastern 

seaboard, is marked by steep cliffs, waterfalls, and rapids.
Average annual rainfall increases north of the Fall Line 

because the moist air is forced to rise, and it precipitates 

moisture as it passes over the mountains.

There are seasonal variations, too more rain falls in 

winter, early spring, and mid-summer than in May and 

June or in the usually dry months of October and November.

Average annual rainfall data, shown on figure 3, are useful for measuring the variation of rainfall in any specific 

year. Actually, the annual rainfall at a given point varies 

widely between extremes of drought and excess. The uneven time distribution of rainfall causes a water-supply 

problem. Rainfall may not occur during critical periods of 

the growing season, yet may be excessive during winter 

months of the same year. An obvious solution of the problem is storage of excess winter rain in reservoirs, for use in 

the dry summer.

FIGURE 5. Average annual runoff, in inches, in Georgia. 

30 40
Runoff

The water that collects in streams and flows to the sea is 

called "runoff." If no change occurs in the amount of water 

stored above and below ground, runoff is the difference 

between rainfall and the amount of water evaporated and 

transpired. Thus, runoff is a residual; it varies more from 

year to year than does the annual rainfall. Streams may 

be extremely low or completely dry during severe droughts, 

or may overflow their banks when heavy rains occur. Figure 5 shows the average annual runoff in Georgia in terms 

of its equivalent in inches of water on the area drained. 

Some similarity may be noted between the average a-nnual 

runoff map and the average annual rainfall map. However, 

there are some marked differences between the two such as, 

for example, the "mound" of high annual runoff in west 

central Georgia where an annual runoff of 25 inches occurs 

in an area where annual rainfall is about 50 inches. The 

difference, 25 inches, is attributed to evapotranspiration 

(evaporation plus transpiration). Elsewhere in the State, 

annual evapotranspiration appears to vary from about 30 to 

42 inches. The significantly lower evapotranspiration in 

the small area of west central Georgia is caused by the porous 

nature of the soil, which permits a high rate of rainfall intake. 

The water taken into the soil rapidly moves downward to 

the local water table and is protected from evaporation. 

Water thus stored is slowly released to sustain the local 

streams.

The records of flow of two nearby streams during the 1954 

drought show some interesting differences. The June to 

November 1954 daily flows of Whitewater Creek above the 

U.S. Geological Survey stream gage near Butler and of Flint 

River above the gage near Griffin (figs. 6 and 7), show 

that, although the two drainage areas received about the 

same rainfall, the flow of Whitewater Creek varied only 

slightly, but the flow of Flint River varied widely. Flint 

River was much more sensitive to rainfall than was Whitewater Creek. The long-term monthly average flows show
Wni'tewater Cresefc near Butt

long-term monthly average flow

FIGURE 6. Variation of rainfall and streamflow, Whitewater Creek 

near Butler, June to November 1954.

further that Flint River is sensitive to rainfall but that 

Whitewater Creek remains quite uniform.

All other natural controls on runoff being equal, a larger 

drainage area produces more flow than a smaller one. It 

might be concluded that Whitewater Creek has a large 

drainage area and Flint River a small one, but the fact is 

that Flint River above Griffin gage has an area of 272 square 

miles, roughly three times the area of Whitewater Creek 

above Butler, which is 93 square miles. Yet, Whitewater 

Creek maintains higher average flows in September and 

October than the Flint River. In the severe drought year of

10
RlOC

^H

I L ll

Pally lainfall at Griffi

1

Flim River near Griffin 

Long-term monthly t,<erage flow

Spalding C^urt,

State experiment nation

FIGURE 7. Variation of rainfall, streamflow, and water levels in Flint 

River basin above Griffin, June to November 1954.

1763-750 O 65 2 11
1954, Whitewater Creek maintained flows near the averages 

for those months while the Flint River flows dropped to only 

5 to 10 percent of the averages.

Why does Whitewater Creek show such amazing yield of 

runoff in comparison with the Flint River? It is because of 

the different geologic formations on which the two drainage 

areas lie. Flint River drains from an area of soils formed 

from crystalline rocks; these are very dense rocks that have 

only a moderate capacity to soak up water. The sensitivity 

to rain and the low yield of Flint River above Griffin gage are 

related to the impermeable soil of its drainage area. The 

opposite extreme a sandy, porous soil that readily lets 

water enter and travel downward explains Whitewater 

Creek's abundant yield and steadiness of flow. The soil 

readily passes rain through to the local water table underlying the drainage area. The entrenched channel of Whitewater Creek receives seepage from the water table along the 

Creek's course, and this nearly steady contribution of ground 

water makes the flow of Whitewater Creek almost ideally 

uniform.

We have compared these two streams because the comparison illustrates an important hydrologic principle: the 

soil cover and geology of an area determine the amount of 

each rainstorm that will either run off or seep into the 

ground. Runoff reaches a stream in two ways: it may flow 

over the ground surface, or it may travel underground 

through soil layers and finally seep into a stream through the 

zone of saturation beneath the water table. The day-to-day 

flow of any stream is therefore a mixture of direct runoff and 

seepage flow, or base flow, as it is called. After a long rainless period, the flow of a stream may be entirely base flow.

Figure 7 illustrates also the close relation of ground water 

to surface water. The water level of Spalding County Well 

(in the Flint River drainage) steadily declined during the 

1954 drought. Part of the decline represented the drainage 

of ground water to the Flint River for sustaining the base 

flow of the stream.

Average annual runoff, as shown in figure 5, is an excellent 

index to the water-potential of Georgia; it has a characteristic monthly distribution and it varies with rainfall and with

12
the seasonal demands of vegetation. Although monthly 

rainfall is roughly uniform, the amount of runoff declines as 

the amount of evapotranspiration increases. At the end of 

the growing season, the relation is reversed and the runoff 

increases as the evapotranspiration decreases; runoff reaches 

a high in winter. The normal variation in monthly runoff 

low streamflow in summer and high flow in winter calls for 

reservoir storage of the winter flows to supplement summer 

flows whenever the latter are inadequate to meet demands.

To water users and water planners, the minimum flow of a 

stream is more important than its average flow. Most important of all is the frequency of low-flow conditions. A 

community may endure infrequent water shortages, but refuse to tolerate annual shortages. To obtain information on 

the flows, the U.S. Geological Survey maintains continuous 

records of many of the rivers in the State.

Although large municipal and industrial supplies are 

pumped from the rivers, many smaller supplies depend on 

ground water. Towns of a few thousand people usually 

have one or more drilled wells, and many small industries in 

these towns have privately developed well fields. The rural 

population depends on springs and dug and drilled wells. 

Most of these springs and wells furnish water during 

droughts, although some have gone dry or failed to supply 

sufficient water. The most probable time for a well to fail 

is during a summer drought when demand is highest. The 

water level gradually falls and the well yields less water than 

formerly. When wet-weather conditions return, the water 

level recovers and the wells once again supply the quantity 

of water needed.

Quality of Water

Just knowing that water is available and how much is 

needed does not provide a complete picture of our water 

resources. Other characteristics of water must be considered in the selection of a water supply. The development 

of cities, the establishment and expansion of industries, and 

the productive yield of farms have been limited at some 

places by the quality, as well as by the quantity, of available

13
water. The chemical composition of water and its sediment 

characteristics and bacterial contamination, if any, all affect 

its suitability for use.

Water approaches chemical purity only as a vapor or as 

rain. Even then, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, as 

well as minute particles of industrial wastes and ocean salts, 

are carried by rain drops.

Water is dynamic; not only does it move, but the material 

that it carries in solution and suspension changes constantly. 

Given sufficient time and proper conditions, most materials 

known can be dissolved in water. The length of time required for solution depends on the material and on the 

water. For example, large amounts of sugar will dissolve in 

water in a relatively short time, but bits of limestone or commercial fertilizer on the farmer's field would take weeks or 

months. Quartz sand would require thousands of years for 

solution.

The capacity of water to dissolve materials is enhanced 

by the presence of other materials and by temperature 

changes. If the sugared water is heated, the sugar will dissolve more quickly. Iodine is barely soluble in distilled 

water. The addition of potassium iodine to this water, however, will increase the solubility of the iodine severalfold.

The quality of water is determined partly by the type of 

soil or rock on which the rain falls. As the water drains away 

or seeps into the ground, it dissolves some minerals which 

then travel in solution. When the water evaporates, the 

salts remain behind. Only pure water returns to the atmosphere. The result is a temporary concentration of salts on 

or near the soil surface. Flushing of these salts by heavy 

rainfall may carry them to nearby streams and alter the 

quality of water considerably during the periods of runoff.

The sand, silt, and clay carried in suspension by surface 

streams are collectively called "sediment." The amount of 

sediment carried into a stream is governed by several factors, 

such as the amount of material available, the slope of the 

runoff area, and the intensity of rainfall. When any one 

governing factor is altered, the sediment load of the stream 

is altered.

14
The amount of sediment a stream can carry is limited, and 

a change in stream course may cause the deposition of material. The shifting sand bars that plagued the Mississippi 

steamboat pilots are examples of such deposition.

The size of the sediment particle is also an important factor 

in determining the load a stream can transport. The larger 

the particles, the greater the force or velocity required to 

hold them in suspension. Thus, at the head of a reservoir, 

where velocity of the stream is lowered, the larger particles 

of gravel and sand are deposited first. Finer materials are 

carried farther into the reservoir. Some of the finest material, clay for example, may remain in suspension for days 

before settling, or may pass through the reservoir without 

settling. Paradoxically, a sediment-free stream flowing 

from a reservoir may create problems. If its velocity is sufficient, the clear water may erode streambed and banks for 

a considerable distance downstream from the reservoir or 

to the point where the stream's load of sediments is more 

nearly in equilibrium with its capacity to carry sediment. 

Deposits of sediment gradually build up in reservoirs and reduce the storage capacity. For municipal and for many industrial uses, sediment in the water must be removed.

Streams provide a favorable environment for many kinds 

of bacterial and microscopic life. Some bacteria in streams 

are harmless, but others, such as those that come from 

human wastes, cause serious epidemics. Typhoid fever, 

dysentery, and cholera are only a few of the water-borne 

diseases that once plagued America. About 1850, scientists 

in Europe showed conclusively that these dreaded diseases 

were mainly water-borne; by about 1900 most large cities 

in the United States were treating water supplies to prevent 

transmission of disease via the city water. However, the 

struggle to make water supplies safe from disease has been 

long and difficult. Only continued vigilance ensures safe 

water supplies and prevents the outbreak of water-borne 

diseases.

15
* How Water

Is Used 

in Georgia

Withdrawal and Consumptive Use

Most of the water that Georgia receives as rain is used in 

some way (fig. 8). A large quantity is absorbed by forests, 

pastures, and farm crops. About one-third of the average 

annual rainfall flows out of the State in the rivers after 

much use has been made of it. Even the water that evaporates from land and water surfaces and the water that discharges from aquifers under the ocean may not have completely escaped use, although in all probability most of it was 

never used.

The average daily withdrawal use of water in Georgia is 

shown in figure 9: nearly 44 billion gallons. Use by the 

State's 42 hydroelectric plants far exceeded all other uses. 

Industry is the second largest user of water. In addition to 

water from sources developed by private capital, industry 

uses between 30 and 50 percent of the water furnished by city 

water systems. The water for farm supplies, irrigation, and 

city supplies is but a small fraction of the total used in 

Georgia.

FIGURE 8 (opposite page). The many uses of water. 

16

Irrigation M 

37 mgd 

Rural 

91 mgd

Industrial

(private sources)

2,130 mgd

Public supplies 

370 mgd

Hydroelectric power 

41,000 mgd

Ground water Surface water

FIGURE 9. Average daily withdrawal water use, in million gallons per 

day, in Georgia, 1960.

Many uses of Georgia's water are not portrayed in figure 

9. Navigation, recreation, waste disposal, and conservation 

of fish and wildlife all require water, but measuring these 

uses in terms of gallons per day is almost impossible. The 

water uses shown in figure 9 are termed "withdrawal" uses. 

The other uses are nonwithdrawal; that is, the water is not 

withdrawn but is used in the stream or lake where it occurs.

Much of Georgia's industrial use of water is for cooling. 

Of the 2,130 mgd (million gallons per day) withdrawn from 

private sources by industry, 1,720 mgd was used to cool condensers at steam powerplants. The total use of water at 

steam and hydro plants to generate electricity was 98 percent 

of all withdrawal uses. Most of these withdrawals are returned to the source and are available for further use. 

Thus, the present use of water in Georgia has an insignificant 

effect on the quantity available.

Figure 10 shows where the major users of river water are 

located in relation to minimum supply. Note that only a 

few users of river water require more than the minimum 

daily flow expected, on the average, once in 20 years.

18
FIGURE 10. Maximum rates of use of river water, in million gallons per 

clay, in relation to minimum flow rate.

19
Fortunately, water is not destroyed in use. Most of the 

water used in homes and industries is discharged to rivers 

and streams by wray of sewers and treatment plants, and becomes available for reuse downstream. Such uses are nonconsumptive. Our biggest use of wrater to generate hydroelectric powrer is entirely nonconsumptive. Thus, the total 

of our uses is not directly comparable to the supply available. 

In comparing the amount of wrater used with the supply, 

total use is of less significance than consumptive use. In 

consumptive use, water is evaporated, transpired by plants, 

or incorporated into a product and is no longer available for 

reuse. Only a small part of Georgia's wrater use is consumptive. Water used for irrigation, especially sprinkler irrigation, is largely "consumed" by evaporation and transpiration.

Although the sum of all withdrawal uses of wrater exceeds 

the average supply of 39,000 mgd by about 10 percent, consumptive use the use that actually depletes the supply 

equals less than one-half of one percent of the average supply. Does this mean, then, that wre have plenty of wrater to 

meet our needs? Yes, it does as far as totals and averages 

are concerned. We have seen, however, that the supply of 

water is not uniformly distributed with respect to time and 

place. Often our demands for wrater are greatest wrhen the 

supply is at a minimum. For example, we draw heavily on 

our supplies to wrater lawrns and gardens in the summer and 

early fall wrhen streams and ground-wrater levels are apt to 

be IOWT . On the other hand, during winter months wrhen 

wrater is abundant, much of it escapes before wre can use it. 

We have plenty of water, but not ahvays when and where wre 

wrant it. We must devise wrays of distributing wrater so it 

will serve us best.

Water for Cities and Towns

To most of us, the wrater wre use means first and foremost 

the water that is piped into our homes the water wre use 

for drinking, cooling, washing, flushing the toilet, and watering the lawrn. Individually, wre use between 20 and 80 gallons of wrater per day for these purposes. It takes 20 to 40

20
gallons of water to take a shower or a tub-bath, 5 to 10 gallons to flush the toilet. The average family of five uses 250 

gallons of water per day. In a year, this amounts to almost 

100,000 gallons, enough to fill a fair-sized swimming pool.

Two out of every three Georgia families get their water 

from a public supply system. The public system not only 

furnishes water for our homes, but also water for fighting 

fires and washing streets, for business establishments and 

for some industries. About half the water distributed by 

the average public supply system is delivered to homes; the 

rest provides for public, commercial, and industrial needs.

Altogether, Georgia public supply systems furnished an 

average of 370 mgd in 1960 161 gallons per person served. 

This quantity is not large compared to most other water 

uses in Georgia, or compared to the 10,000 gallons-per-person 

available. However, we usually rate the need for an adequate and unfailing supply of pure water for our communities above all other needs.

The water requirements of a community vary from month 

to month, day to day, and even from hour to hour. The 

number of showers we take, the number of times we water 

the lawn, the working hours in factories, and the number of 

fires are only a few of the many factors which cause water 

demands to fluctuate. As might be expected, we use more 

water in summer than in winter. In most Georgia communities, the maximum amount of water used in any one 

day in a year is about 50 percent greater than average daily 

demand. Peak demands during part of a day are at a much 

higher rate. Water-supply systems must, of course, be 

capable of meeting maximum as well as average needs. 

Where they are not, water pressure becomes low and cities 

are sometimes forced to prohibit watering lawns or washing 

cars during the hours of peak demand. Such "shortages" are 

usually caused by the limitations of the water-supply system 

rather than by an inadequate source of supply.

Three-fourths of all Georgia communities use well or 

spring water that constitutes 26 percent of the water withdrawn for public supplies. The other communities, in general the larger ones, obtain their water from streams and 

withdraw 74 percent of the total. In northern Georgia,

21
Dalton

PUBLIC-WATER-SYSTEM PUMP AGE, 

IN MILLION GALLONS PER DAY

from streams

from wells

kSumme

Savannah

Waycross

/.Bainbridge Thomasville

Valdosta
most supplies are obtained from streams, but on the Coastal 

Plain all supplies but one are from wells. This difference is 

quite understandable because, as we have seen, streamflow is 

more dependable in northern Georgia than in southern Georgia, and ground water is much more abundant in the Coastal 

Plain than in the northern part of the State.

Most of the approximately 450 public water-supply systems in Georgia are small 90 percent of them pumped less 

than a million gallons per day in 1960. The 10 percent that 

pumped more than a million gallons per day are shown on 

figure 11. These systems pumped over 80 percent of all 

water supplied by municipal plants. The pumpage rates 

shown are average peak pumpage rates are often one and a 

half, or more, times the average.

Water for Waste Disposal

All of us dislike using streams for sewers. We would like 

to keep our streams pure and sparkling free of pollution of 

all kinds. However, the transportation and dilution of 

wastes constitutes major and indispensible functions of 

streams. Most water used in city water systems is discharged to a stream as waste water. Untreated waste water 

is polluted. Completely treated waste water is as pure (except for an increase in salt content) as the city water supply. 

However, complete waste treatment is expensive and is not 

always necessary.

Every stream has a certain capacity to dispose of sewage 

and other wastes by natural processes. A stream, in effect, 

provides a natural sewage-treatment plant if the pollution 

load does not exceed the self-purification capacity of the 

stream. Problems begin when the pollution load is greater 

than the stream can handle. Good management of our 

streams to keep them clean, then, depends on keeping quantities of wastes below the self-purification powers of streams.

Man-made waste is either organic or inorganic. The organic wastes are a problem for they deplete oxygen in streams

FIGURE 11 (opposite page). Location of public water systems that supplied more than 1 million gallons per day in 1960.

23
during the natural self-purification process. The principal 

sources of organic wastes are: cities, canneries, packing 

houses, and pulp mills.

Oxygen dissolved in streams is a vital factor in the selfpurification process by which a stream "treats" organic 

wastes. The micro-organisms that act on the wastes in a 

stream are of two general types: oxygen consuming (aerobic) and nonoxygen consuming (anaerobic). The nonoxygen-consuming type nourishes under stream conditions 

which we find objectionable and, because we are very much 

interested in keeping the aerobic organisms alive, we try to 

keep enough oxygen in the stream so they can thrive and 

work on the wastes and so fish can live. Proper regulation 

of waste disposal in a stream depends on a knowledge of the 

dissolved oxygen in the stream and the biochemical oxygen 

demand of the wastes. The dissolved oxygen should not 

fall below about 4 parts per million if fish are to be 

protected.

Inorganic wastes, such as acids, cyanides, brines and the 

like are directly toxic. In excess, they can kill life and 

make water unfit to drink. Inorganic wastes include also 

silt, mineral tailings, and other solids carried in suspension.

In 1958, the U.S. Public Health Service listed 262 sources 

of pollution in Georgia which "are of significance in water 

pollution control programs." Of these sources, 240 were 

municipal sewage systems, 10 were industrial plants and the 

remaining 12 were schools, hospitals, and military establishments. Not all these sources polluted streams; 185 of them 

applied some type of treatment before disposing of their 

wastes in streams. Treatments ranged from simple processes 

for removal of solids to processes that produced an effluent 

with no biochemical oxygen demand. Of the 77 sources of 

pollution in the State which applied no treatment, 69 were 

municipal, 6 were industrial, and 2 were institutional.

Between 1954 and 1956, several Georgia organizations 

sponsored public meetings throughout the State to collect 

information on local water problems. Among the many 

and varied problems cited by farmers and townspeople were 

those involving pollution of streams and lakes; many, but

24
not all, of these problems were the result of waste disposal. 

Typical of some of the problems cited is one from Pierce 

County: "* * * Sewage entering the Alahaba River caused 

a fish kill which destroyed both game and rough fish; at the 

time of the kill, it was estimated that sewage constituted 30 

percent of the flow of the river at the sewer outfall * * *" 

Streams provide our communities and industries with easy 

and economical means of waste disposal, but such use should 

not unreasonably impair the value of the water for other 

uses. Pollution can and should be controlled. Most wastes 

can be treated. Some degree of purifying can be done at 

little cost, although complete purification can be very expensive. The basic question is: What degree of pollution 

control is necessary to protect public interests? The question is both economic and social. How much purification 

are we willing to pay for, through higher taxes and higher 

prices? To increase the value of streams for swimming and 

fishing, are we willing to pay a little more for a shirt or a can 

of peaches to cover the manufacturers' cost of waste 

treatment?

How Cities Purify Water

The water we draw from our taps must be clear, colorless, odorless, pleasant-tasting, fairly soft, and above all, safe 

to drink. It must be free of disease-producing bacteria, toxic 

salts, suspended solids, and organic matter. Moreover, its 

chemical composition should be such that it will not corrode 

or form scale in pipes and tanks and will not stain fabrics. 

For our safety, requirements for drinking water have been 

set forth by the U.S. Public Health Service and adopted by 

the Georgia State Board of Health.

Most urban water supplies require some treatment. The 

treatment removes substances occurring naturally or those 

resulting from man's activities. Well water is often chlorinated and sometimes softened or treated to remove iron, 

manganese, or carbon dioxide. Water from streams is 

always treated to remove impurities. Usually treatment 

involves settling the water in reservoirs, the addition of 

chemicals, filtration, and chlorination.

25
In Georgia, two-thirds of the public water supplies are 

treated. All the public supplies from streams receive some 

treatment, and sixty percent of the public supplies from 

wells receive chlorination. A few supplies are fluoridated. 

One hundred and twenty public supplies from wells receive 

no treatment whatsoever.

When we think of water purification, we think of a watertreatment plant. However, even before the water arrives at 

the plant, there are many ways in which it is purified by 

natural processes. Most well-water has been naturally purified by filtration through sand and gravel before it is pumped 

from the well. Water-treatment plants duplicate natural 

processes in producing pure water, but the treatment plant 

does in a few hours what Nature takes years or centuries 

to accomplish. Furthermore, chemical and mechanical aids 

are used in the treatment plant as additional safeguards.

Many cities store water behind dams in reservoirs to insure 

an adequate supply at all times. Reservoirs help the purification process. Most streams carry turbidity and sediment 

in suspension as long as the water is moving. When the 

water is ponded, all except the smallest sediment particles 

settle out quickly. Some bacteria adhere to sediment particles and settle with them. Others are destroyed by protozoa and die in the new environment. Some bacteria 

thrive in reservoirs, but few of these are harmful to man.

Sunlight acts on the water in the reservoir to destroy many 

bacteria, remove color, and stimulate algae growth. Some 

algae give water an odor and taste, but for the most part 

they do more good than harm.

Organic matter human and industrial wastes and forest 

debris decomposes in streams and reservoirs. Some of it 

imparts color, odor, and taste to the water. A carefully 

selected withdrawal point in a reservoir may minimize the 

amount of decomposition products pumped into a watertreatment system. Nevertheless, enough objectionable material gets into many systems to require specific treatment.

Taste and odors imparted to water by algae, decaying 

vegetation, dissolved gases, or by sewage and industrial pollution can be removed. Aerating the water by spraying it 

into the air is sufficient to remove many tastes and odors.

26
Specific treatment must be tailored to each individual taste 

or odor problem, for there is no single method that will solve 

all of them.

Many treatment plants soften water that is very hard. 

Lime and sodium carbonate and some natural minerals will 

remove calcium and magnesium, the principal hardnessproducing elements in water. A few treatment plants completely soften a part of the water, and by mixing it with unsoftened water prior to distribution, obtain water of the 

desired hardness. Completely softened water is not desirable because it is corrosive to metal. Chemicals are added 

to make the finished water noncorrosive.

It is well to remember that although man himself has 

often contaminated water supplies, he is able in most cases 

to treat the water so that the supply is as safe as it was before 

contamination. However, complete removal of dissolved 

material which results from dumping wastes into streams is 

very costly and is not usually done. .

Water for the Farm

A small but important proportion of our water demands 

are for domestic and livestock needs of rural people those 

not served by public water supplies. In 1960, about 36 percent of Georgia's population obtained water from their own 

wells or from ponds and streams. Exclusive of irrigation 

water, the estimated average rural use was 91 mgd, about 

one-fourth as much as was furnished by public supply systems. Sixty-two million gallons per day was for domestic 

use (in homes) and 28 mgd was for livestock. About twothirds of the water was taken from wells or springs and about 

one-third was taken from streams and ponds.

Generally, rural people do not use as much water in their 

homes as their city cousins, mainly because many rural 

homes still do not have running water. A rural family with 

running water uses about 50 gallons of water per person per 

day, but a family that relies on a hand pump, or perhaps 

bucket and rope, gets along with 10 to 20 gallons per person. 

In 1955, more than half of Georgia's rural families did not 

have running water in their homes.

763-750 O 65- 27
The quantity of water used by livestock varies widely depending on the age and kind of the animal and to some extent 

on the climate. Per-capita livestock needs are about as 

follows:

Gallons 

per dan

Horses and mules______________________ 10- 

Beef cattle_________________________ 10 

Milk cows___________________________ 20 

Hogs______________________________ 3 

Sheep_______________._______________ 2 

Goats______________.______________ 2 

Chickens____________________________ . 04 

Turkeys_____________._______________ . 06

The purity of water for domestic use in rural homes should 

equal that required for public supplies. Generally, Georgia 

rural well and spring supplies which are protected from contamination are of satisfactory quality.

Water for Irrigation

Irrigation is a recent development in Georgia. Before 

1950 it was almost unknown, because the State normally has 

abundant rainfall for good crops. In rare years, droughts 

reduce yields and sometimes cause crop failure. Such occurred in 1954, when the drought caused crop losses in the 

State in excess of 75 million dollars.

Agricultural research has demonstrated that the way to 

fight droughts is to irrigate. And that is just what an increasing number of Georgia farmers have begun to do; in 

1955, more than 600 installed irrigation systems. The total 

number of irrigated farms in the State was thus increased by 

more than 50 percent. So far, irrigation has been used 

mostly on tobacco and vegetables, but farmers are finding it 

can pay off for many other crops, including cotton, corn, and 

pasture. Furthermore, irrigation can increase crop yields, 

even in normal years.

No records of water use for irrigation in Georgia are available, but the quantity has been estimated from the number 

of acres irrigated and the usual rates of application. In 

1960, Georgia farmers applied irrigation water to about 

96,000 acres. Rates of application vary much for different

28
types of crops, different types of soils, and different weather 

conditions. The average use of water for irrigation in 1960 

was about 37 mgd.

Farmers do not, of course, apply irrigation water at a uniform rate throughout the year. Ordinarily, they irrigate 

only during dry periods of the growing season. Daily use 

during these periods is many times the average. The demand for irrigation water is often greatest when stream 

levels are seasonally low.

Georgia farmers pump about half of the water used for 

irrigation from streams and ponds, the other half from wells 

or springs. Many farmers obtain irrigation water from farm 

ponds that intercept surface runoff. Some farmers use 

ponds to store water pumped from wells. There were about 

30,000 farm ponds in the State in 1955 and farmers were 

building new ones at the rate of 250 per month. Figure 12 

shows the density of farm ponds as of 1954. Many, but not 

all, of these ponds are used to irrigate crops. Most of the 

ponds in the State have an average capacity of only 2 to 4 

million gallons. Individually, such ponds are big enough 

to irrigate only about 7 to 15 acres, but collectively they 

provide water to irrigate thousands of acres.

The quality requirements of water for irrigation are not 

as high as for homes and factories. The suitability of water 

for irrigation depends on the chemical and physical composition of the water itself, the composition of the soil, drainage 

conditions, climate, quantity and frequency of application, 

and the salt tolerance of the crops. In Georgia, both surface 

and ground waters are, for the most part, of good quality for 

irrigation.

Irrigation use in Georgia is still small, but almost entirely 

consumptive. The water taken from a stream or well to 

irrigate crops is transpired from the plants or evaporated and 

thus is not available for additional uses. Furthermore, 

when water is stored in reservoirs or ponds, evaporation loss 

increases. The net evaporation loss from all farm ponds in 

Georgia in 1954 was computed to average 100 mgd. Although evaporation causes serious water losses from individual farm ponds, the total Statewide loss from pond evaporation is less than 1 percent of the average annual runoff.

29
Farm ponds per 100 sq mi

FIGURE 12. Density of farm ponds in 1954.

30
Water for Industry

Georgia's industries use far more water than its homes and 

farms. Vast quantities of fresh and brackish water are required for generating steam, cooling, cleansing, use as a solvent, and for a host of other purposes. For example, it takes 

from 8 to 170 tons of water to manufacture a ton of textiles, 

and from 50 to 350 tons of water to make a ton of paper. 

Expressed another way, it takes 15 to 20 gallons of water to 

manufacture one bed sheet and about 13 gallons of water to 

manufacture the paper for one 50-page newspaper.

Total industrial use of water from sources other than public water systems was about 2,130 mgd in 1960. Of the total, 

about 1,720 mgd was used for cooling at steam powerplants. 

One plant, Hammond, uses Coosa River water at the rate of 

nearly a third of a billion gallons per day when operating at 

full capacity enough water to supply eight cities the size 

of Atlanta. Not much data are available on water use by 

other individual industries.

The quality of water needed for industry is often as important as the quantity. The water-quality requirements 

of some industries are more exacting than those for drinking 

water. Especially high standards of quality are required in 

manufacture or processing of chemicals, textiles, plastics 

and food. Often these requirements must be met by treatment similar to that given to public water supplies.

On the other hand, water of inferior quality can be perfectly satisfactory for some industrial purposes. In 1960 

about 20 percent of the water used by industry in Georgia 

was saline; that is, it contained more than 1,000 ppm (parts 

per million) of dissolved solids (usually brackish or sea 

water). Most of this water was used for condenser cooling. 

Much more of this low-quality water could be used if 

necessary.

Water for Power

The energy of falling water has been a source of power in 

Georgia since Oglethorpe's day. The first small grist mill in 

Georgia was built at the Salzburger settlement at Ebenezer

31
in 1740; some 2,000 water-powered mills followed. After the 

early 1900's, the increasing availability of electric power and 

the increasing efficiency of gasoline engines made the numerous small water mills unnecessary, and most of them fell to 

ruins. However, about 200 such mills are still in operation.

Nowadays, water power usually means hydroelectric 

power. The force of falling water is converted to electrical 

energy, which is transmitted through wires to any place 

where it is needed. More than 40 billion gallons of water 

per day were used in 1960 to spin the generators in the 

State's 42 hydroelectric plants more than 100 times the 

amount of water delivered by all Georgia's municipal supply 

systems. The combined capacity of these plants is more 

than 1 million kilowatts; generation of electricity in 1960 

was more than 3 billion kilowatt-hours.

Georgia's hydroelectric plants are backed up by reservoirs 

having a total usable storage capacity of 2.25 trillion gallons. 

This volume is roughly equal to that of a lake 10 miles square 

and 110 feet deep a large amount of water, but even so, 

only one-fifth the contents of Lake Mead formed by the 

mighty Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.

Reservoirs for storing or ponding water have a major role 

in power production. Storing water behind a dam not only 

provides operating "head" or pressure, but makes possible 

the generation of electricity as needed, rather than as nature 

sees fit to provide the water. The early settlers took advantage of waterfalls to supply the head needed to yield 

energy. Where waterfalls were not available, they built 

small dams to create the head. However, during dry seasons, power was severely limited by the small flows of the 

streams. (Power is the product of "head" multipled by 

"flow.") Millers needed more dependable power; they built 

dams at places where ponds would be formed that could supply stored water for tapping when the flow of streams was 

low. Typically, the mills operated during the clay and drew 

down the ponds as required. Then, at night while the mills 

were idle, the ponds would refill. This process is known as 

"ponding"; it is still generally used at the great modern 

hydroelectric powerplants.

As hydroelectric powerplants grew in number and size,

32
the larger reservoirs could control seasonal variations in 

streamflow. The surplus flows of the winter and spring were 

"stored" in the reservoir to be released during the low-flow 

seasons of late summer and autumn. This process is known 

as "storage" operation, now a common procedure at many 

power reservoirs.

Modern hydroelectric-power development often calls for 

the coordinated operation of a number of reservoirs and 

powerplants within a river basin. Reservoirs on headwater 

streams are filled and emptied annually to "iron out" the 

wide seasonal fluctuations in flow. Power production at 

these reservoirs is relatively small. In contrast, the dams 

on the lower reaches of the main river generally provide the 

head for most of the power production of the system. They 

do not provide much seasonal storage because they are operated to maintain as much head as possible. Both the 

upstream and the downstream reservoirs are operated to 

provide daily pondage.

Steam-electric and hydroelectric powerplants are most 

efficient when they coordinate their operations. Power demand in any region is essentially a combination of a constant "base" load and daily "peak" loads. Steam-electric 

plants are best adapted to constant-output operation such 

as the "base" load. Hydroelectric plants work well in coordination with steam plants by taking care of the "peak" 

portion of the load. Of course, the relative shares of the 

total load that are taken by steam and hydro normally vary 

with the seasonal availability of water. During periods 

when water is abundant, hydroelectric powerplants may operate continuously. During dry seasons, however, the hydroelectric plants are normally operated intermittently, 

sometimes for only a few hours at a time.

The passage of water through a hydroelectric plant does 

not diminish the supply available. Except for the evaporation loss from reservoir surfaces, hydroelectric use is nonconsumptive. Regulation of the river by a powerplant does, 

of course, affect the pattern or distribution of flow. Water 

stored deep in a reservoir loses its dissolved oxygen. Removal of sediment during storage partly compensates for this 

quality deterioration.

33
Water for Navigation

Navigation on major rivers requires sufficient depth of 

water to float barges and towboats. The required depth of 

water can be maintained in two ways: by installing low 

dams and locks to make the river a canal, or by providing 

sufficient flow so that the water is always deep enough. The 

second method is apparently the most feasible in Georgia; 

it is used almost exclusively. It works well in conjunction 

with multi-purpose dams.

Projects completed in 1962 and 1963 will add considerably 

to the use of Georgia's rivers as waterways. At present 

(1964), the Savannah River has a 9-foot minimum depth as 

far as Augusta, and the Apalachicola and Flint Rivers have 

a 9-foot minimum depth to Bainbridge; the latter depth 

was made possible by the completion of Jim Woodruff Lock 

and Dam at the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint 

Rivers in 1957.

Construction was completed and the reservoirs filled to 

operating levels in 1963 on the Chattahoochee River to provide a 9-foot channel as far as Columbus. Navigation was 

made possible by the Walter F. George Lock and Dam at 

Fort Gaines and the Columbia Lock and Dam, in addition 

to the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam. Regulation at Buford 

Dam on the upper Chattahoochee will help to maintain 

the flow requirements of this system.

The widening and deepening of the 199-mile channel between Savannah and Augusta, to its authorized dimensions 

of 9 feet deep by 90 feet wide, was finished in 1963. Clark 

Hill and Hartwell Dams upstream from Augusta regulate the 

flow of the Savannah River to provide 3,300 mgd or more 

for the enlarged channel. The amount of water needed is 

very large because the channel is a "flowing-water" channel 

rather than a "slack-water" channel, such as might be 

created with a series of dams and locks. Clark Hill was completed and the reservoir filled to operating levels in 1954, 

and Hartwell in 1962.

Thus, more than 500 miles of waterways are serving 

principal cities in Georgia. Waterborne transportation is

34
available to all points along the Atlantic seaboard and the 

Gulf of Mexico.

Water for Recreation and Fish and Wildlife

Anyone who likes to swim, fish, hunt, sail, water ski, picnic, 

or just sit and admire the scenery can appreciate that water 

resources contribute much to our enjoyment of life. The use 

of water for these purposes cannot be measured in gallons, 

nor its value determined in dollars and cents. But as sources 

of pleasure and relaxation, lakes, ponds and streams are 

worth a great deal to us.

A study conducted jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service and the State Game and Fish Commission shows that 

Georgia has more than 6 million acres of water and wetlands. 

Besides natural lakes and streams, this figure includes almost 

90,000 acres of farm ponds and about 250,000 acres of reservoirs. Much of this water offers a variety of opportunities 

for recreation and wildlife native and stocked fish, waterfowl and water animals, bathing and boating facilities, and 

scenery. An amazingly large number of Georgia farmers 

stock their ponds with fish. Reservoirs for storage of water 

for flood control, hydroelectric power, or navigation have 

tremendous recreational potential when they are intelligently 

planned and are made accessible to the public. Twenty 

hydroelectric-power dams in Georgia or on the State boundaries have created lakes that annually attract many thousands of vacationers and sportsmen. The Corps of Engineers set aside 14,000 acres adjacent to Jim Woodruff Reservoir and 3,500 acres adjacent to Lake Sidney Lanier for 

public recreation and game management. Two new reservoirs authorized and under construction give promise of 

providing more beaches, fishing places, and camp and picnic 

grounds.

Conflicts in Water Use

Some of the possible complications inherent in water use 

are: (1) If the irrigator withdraws too much water upstream, 

downstream water users will not have enough; (2) if water

35
levels in the reservoir fluctuate too much as a result of regulation by the hydroelectric plant, recreation and wildlife 

will suffer; (3) if the plant stops all flow during "shutdown" 

periods downstream use will be affected enough flow must 

be released at the plant to satisfy the needs of downstream 

users; (4) return water from a steam-electric plant can raise 

the temperature of the water in the river enough to injure 

the fish and reduce its value to downstream users; (5) inadequately treated sewage from the city will pollute the 

stream; (6) factory wastes can also pollute the stream; (7) 

heavy pumpage of ground water by one user may lower the 

water table and deprive others of water or, at least, increase 

their pumping costs; (8) ground-water supplies may become 

polluted if septic tanks are not properly constructed and 

adequately spaced.

Georgia water users have all these conflicts of interest, 

Some are of serious import, others are not. As our water use 

increases, the conflicts will multiply and become more acute. 

At present, the courts have the responsibility for settling 

disputes arising from these conflicts. However, the water 

laws on which the courts must base decisions are very general 

and have not been modified to fit the changing water situation. Additional regulatory legislation may be needed. 

Voluntary cooperation of water users and the general public 

to solve water problems can minimize the need for legal 

control.

36
Regional

Occurrence

of Water

How Water Shaped the State

Water shaped Georgia into its present physical form. 

Water attacks, erodes, and dissolves. It has carved and 

eroded Georgia for millions of years, and every time it rains, 

a little more of the State is carried to the seas as grains of 

sand or dissolved salts. The rock shapes resulting from this 

continual action of water make possible the division of the 

State into five major physiographic provinces or areas (fig. 

13). Some rocks lie flat, like the pages of a book, one on top 

of the other. Other rocks are folded, as the pages will fold if 

they are pushed from the edge of the book toward the binding. Still other rocks are massive, broken, cracked, and without apparent layering. Each of these rocks react differently 

to the action of water.

The State has been subjected to the upheavals of the earth 

many times in the past millions of years. Oceans, sweeping 

across it, have eroded the land at one place and built it up 

at others. Water from the oceans and from the atmosphere 

has relentlessly and continuously modified the shape of the 

State.

In northwestern Georgia, the Cumberland Plateau section 

and the Valley and Ridge province are characterized by 

parallel valleys and ridges which are underlain by Paleozoic

37
FIGURE 13. Physiographic divisions of Georgia in relation to river basins 

(above) and ground-water areas (right).

sedimentary rocks, some nearly flat lying and some much 

folded. The Blue Ridge province is a mountainous area

38
Cumberland Plateau

underlain by very hard crystalline rocks. The Piedmont is 

a hilly, rolling area, a well-watered land where the ridgetops 

have a uniform level that slopes to the south. It is underlain by the same crystalline rocks as the Blue Ridge province.

39
The Coastal Plain is nearly flat everywhere. It is underlain by thick beds of sand and limestone, which were deposited only a short time ago (as geologists measure time) 

in an ocean whose shoreline was sometimes north of Macon. 

Climatic conditions in all parts of Georgia are nearly alike, 

although north Georgia is slightly cooler and wetter than 

south Georgia. But geology, topography, and stream-channel development vary significantly with the location. However, several large areas are homogeneous with respect to 

the occurrence of water. A division of the State by physiographic areas, as in figure 13, is convenient for discussing 

the regional occurrence of water.

The Cumberland Plateau and the Valley and 

Ridge Province

The Cumberland Plateau section and the Valley and Ridge 

province grade one into the other; the rocks of the plateau lie 

almost flat, whereas those of the Valley and Ridge are folded. 

The latter province gets its name from the many long valleys and ridges that result from the erosion of the folded 

rocks that extend into Tennessee and Alabama.

Erosion is the process by which water, wind, and weather 

break down rocks; it works fastest on limestone which underlies most of the valleys. Not only is the limestone broken 

up by other rocks carried by moving water, but it is also 

dissolved by the water itself. This solution action has riddled the limestone with an extensive network of interconnected channels and caverns (fig. 14). Through these large 

openings the water moves as freely as it would through a city 

main. Solution action has also opened channels in some of 

the sandstone. However, these channels are very fine; 

water moves through them very slowly and in much smaller 

quantities.

Because the solution channels are interconnected under 

large areas, water can move long distances from its point of 

entry as rainfall. Water that falls as rain in Tennessee may 

flow underground and emerge in Georgia, and water that 

falls in Georgia may emerge in Alabama.

40
FIGURE 14. Solution channels in limestone.

For water-supply purposes, the shale beds can be considered dry and impermeable, that is, incapable of allowing 

water to pass through. Because of their impermeability, they 

confine the water in sandstone or limestone above and below 

them and create artesian conditions. Artesian water is 

ground water that is under pressure and is confined between 

rocks of low permeability. Ground water that is not so confined is said to occur under water-table conditions. Figure 

15 illustrates the occurrence of ground water under watertable conditions and under artesian conditions.

The Cumberland Plateau and the Valley and Ridge province might be thought of as "spring" provinces. Thousands 

of springs ranging in yield from 1 to 15,000 gpm (gallons per 

minute), flow from the caves and channels dissolved in the 

limestone. Much of the water in the streams comes from 

springs that line the valleys. For example, a large proportion of the water pumped from the rivers at Dalton and 

Ringold comes from springs a fews miles upstream.

41
Artesian 

well

Cone

FIGURE 15. Occurrence of ground water under water-table and under 

artesian conditions.

Springs, wells, and cisterns furnish water to the rural population. A good spring makes rural real estate more valuable. 

Nearly all the older houses in this region were built near 

springs, and the first industries were located at springs.

The region is drained by a network of streams yielding 

generous supplies of water. Those in the northwest section 

drain northward into the Tennessee basin; the remainder 

drain westward into the Mobile basin. The streams generally flow in deep channels meandering in wide flood plains. 

Where they cut through the ridges in water gaps, they are 

shallow and swift and have many rapids. The steep slopes 

of northwest Georgia are ideal for the rapid runoff of storm 

water. Rivers rise quickly and often cause large volumes 

of angry flood water to spill over the banks into the valleys, 

as the residents of Rome well know.

The average annual runoff of streams ranges from 18 to 

24 inches. That is, the water draining from the region in 

the course of a year is sufficient to cover the area to a depth of 

18 to 24 inches. Average annual runoff from the State of 

Georgia as a whole is 14 inches. As elsewhere in Georgia, the 

yield of the streams varies greatly in time and place from 

mere trickles to raging torrents. In the Valley and Ridge

42
province, generally, the flow of streams is well sustained 

during dry weather because of the numerous springs which 

feed them. Streams draining the Cumberland Plateau have 

lower flow during dry weather because they are not fed by so 

many springs.

Water of the Valley and Ridge province is suitable for 

most uses, although removal of some constituents may be 

necessary for specific uses. Ground and surface waters in 

prolonged contact with the limestone rocks often contain relatively high amounts of calcium and magnesium carbonates 

which cause the water to be hard. Objectionable quantities 

of iron are found in ground water in some of the shale and 

sandstone. However, both of these conditions are easily 

remedied by minor treatment.

Blue Ridge (Mountain) Province

The Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States 

extend southwestward from the State of Maine to the Blue 

Ridge province of Georgia. This province is the coolest and 

wettest part of the State. During the 1954 drought, when 

other parts of the State received as little as 45 percent of 

the average annual rainfall, the mountains received their 

full share. Average annual rainfall in the province ranges 

from 55 to more than 80 inches per year, the greatest amount 

falling in the higher altitudes. The annual average temperature is about 57°, 10° cooler than south Georgia.

The province contains thousands of acres of forest land, 

beautiful mountains and rivers, and state parks and national 

forests having a great potential for recreation. The area is 

not farmed extensively nor is it densely populated. The 

steepness of the topography makes the land more suitable 

for forests than for farms.

The Blue Ridge is drained by headwaters of four basins 

the Tennessee, the Savannah, the Chattahoochee, and the 

Coosa. The rivers within the provinces are small and have 

small drainage basins, but they have the highest yields for 

their size in the State, almost 2 mgd per square mile of drainage area in some places. Their channels are steep and rocky, 

and water flows swiftly over many rapids and waterfalls.

763-750 O 65- 43
The combination of high yield and steep fall is ideal for water 

power. Eleven dams situated among the mountains provide 

hydroelectric power and flood control. Several of the larger 

dams have created beautiful lakes that provide a variety of 

recreational opportunities. Fishing and boating, plus the 

mountain scenery, have helped make the Blue Ridge one of 

the most popular recreation areas in the southeastern States.

High rainfall insures a continuous water supply. Steep 

topography encourages rapid runoff, but as long as the 

mountain slopes are tree covered, surface runoff is slowed 

down and erosion prevented. If the soil is in a porous condition, rainfall can infiltrate it and move deeper into the 

ground. Even though the vegetation consumes much of the 

water that falls, the soil and roots slow down the movement 

of the remaining water and make more of it available for 

man's use. A barren slope usually becomes hardpacked and 

sunbaked quickly; its permeability is thus lessened, and fast 

runoff causes erosion. Even though vegetation consumes 

much water, it helps to conserve some for man's use.

The Blue Ridge province is underlain by rocks that the 

geologist calls "crystalline." They consist of granite, slate, 

gneiss, and other dense, hard rocks. The mountains are 

high and steep and have nearly V-shaped valleys; they are 

covered with thick forests and soil. The decayed vegetation 

and the roots of the trees, which make the soil relatively 

permeable to the movement of water, allow more rainfall to 

seep downward to the rocks where it is stored in the zone of 

saturation.

A valley is the best place to drill a well in crystalline rocks 

in the Blue Ridge region. Water drains from the high to the 

low areas through cracks and open spaces in the rocks. Because it does, water is deep under the hills, and close to land 

surface in the valleys. The valley well will yield more water 

for a longer period of time than the hilltop well, and be less 

affected by a drought.

The crystalline rocks contain few open spaces, except in 

the cracks which extend downward to a depth of several 

hundred feet. The cracks in the existing rocks are open only 

to depths of 300 to 600 feet. At greater depths they are

44
closed tight by the weight of the overlying rocks. The weathered zone has more open space for water storage, but it is 

relatively thin. The crystalline rocks are a good source of 

water supply during droughts because the cracks are full of 

water long after the weathered material has been drained. 

Openings vary in size and numbers from one rock to another, 

but none of the crystalline rocks are as permeable as the 

limestone of other parts of the State.

The few towns and industries in the mountains are small 

and do not use large amounts of water. Supplies are obtained in about equal amounts from rivers, springs, and 

wells. Rural household supplies are obtained from springs 

and wells, and livestock supplies from springs and rivers. 

The wells range in depth from 30 to 400 feet and yield from 

1 to 130 gpm. The average drilled well yields less than 50 

gpm, but if drilled in the proper place and to a sufficient 

depth, yields as high as 200 gpm may be obtained. The 

region contains many springs that yield less than 10 gpm 

and a few that yield much more.

The water resources of this region are not completely developed; much more use could be made of them. More 

springs could be developed for domestic supplies and some 

could supplement the main source of the towns. Wells could 

be drilled for community and industrial supplies, and more 

water could be taken from the rivers. Undeveloped supplies are adequate for all but the largest water-using 

industries.

The chemical quality of water in this region is good for 

most purposes. The river water is low in dissolved solids, 

most of the supplies containing less than 100 ppm. The 

ground water contains less than 100 ppm dissolved solids and, 

like the surface water, is classified as soft. Dissolved iron 

in the water at some places causes trouble, but it can be removed. The iron is present because it is dissolved from the 

rocks by the acid water of the region. When the water is 

exposed to air, the iron in solution is converted to its solid 

state, and causes red stains on enamel ware and white 

clothing.

Although this area may not be able to support many large 

water-using industries, it does have sufficient water resources

45
to supply the needs of industries which do not use a great 

deal of water. Even though 10 gpm may appear to be a 

small quantity of water, if pumped continuously it represents enough water to satisfy the basic daily needs of more 

than 100 persons. A dug well or spring that yields only 1 

gpm will provide water for the daily needs of at least 14 

people if storage facilities are provided.

Piedmont Province

The Piedmont province is the most densely populated part 

of the State. About two-thirds of the State's population 

lives in this province, which contains about 40 percent of the 

State's area. The Piedmont was primarily an agricultural 

region for two centuries, but in the last half century the textile industry has expanded, and in recent years a completely 

diversified industrial expansion has begun. Airplanes, automobiles, aluminum products, steel pipe, plastics, food stuffs, 

pharmaceutical products, rubber and many other products 

have supplemented textiles. The industrial expansion was 

largely possible because of the availability of water and 

waterpower.

The Piedmont province is underlain by the same crystalline rocks as the Blue Ridge province, but it lacks the high 

relief of the Blue Ridge. It is an area of rolling plain, 

broken here and there by narrow stream valleys and prominent hills. The soil cover in the Piedmont is not as thick 

nor as capable of slowing the runoff as that of the Blue Ridge. 

In fact, where the Piedmont hills have steep slopes, runoff 

rates approach those that occur in the Blue Ridge province.

The Piedmont province includes parts of several drainage 

basins the Savannah, Ogeechee, and Altamaha basins 

which drain into the Atlantic, and the Flint and Chattahoochee which drain to the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout most 

of the province the main streams flow southeastward, the 

direction of the general slope of the upland, and cross the 

underlying rock structure at right angles. In the northwest 

section of the province, the Chattahoochee and some streams 

in the Mobile basin tend to follow the direction of the underlying rock structure. The streams generally have moderate

46
slopes interrupted by occasional rapids and waterfalls, and 

flow in well-defined channels within fairly narrow valleys 

a situation which provides many ideal waterpower and 

reservoir sites.

The ridges between the major drainage systems are broad 

and rather sinuous. The cities, highways, railroads, and 

farmlands are concentrated on the ridges. For instance, the 

cities of Atlanta, Griffin, Fort Valley, and Cordele, connected 

by U.S. Highway 41, are situated on the ridge between the 

Apalachicola and Altamaha basins. Towns were established 

on the ridges along the old wagon trails and railroads because 

the ridges were well-drained routes that required a minimum 

number of bridges and were free of. the danger of floods. 

However, these same ridges were the least promising for 

obtaining a water supply. Well fields must be located in 

adjoining lowland, or water must be pumped from streams in 

near or far-off valleys.

Where do people living in the Piedmont get their water? 

The answer depends on whether they live in a city, small 

town, or rural area. All the large cities and many of the 

smaller ones use purified river water. The Chattahoochee 

River system alone serves more than a million people, and 

the Savannah and Ocmulgee Rivers serve additional hundreds of thousands. Some of the smaller towns and all the 

rural population obtain water from wells and springs. 

Water for livestock is obtained from the rivers, ponds, wells, 

and springs. The rivers are the most important source of 

large water supplies; we might therefore classify the Piedmont as a "river" province.

Rainfall along the northern margin of the province, the 

area, of highest altitude, averages more than 50 inches annually. To the south and east, rainfall is less. The Augusta 

area receives less than any other part of the State, a little 

more than 42 inches annually, but more than falls on most 

of the rest of the United States.

The big rivers are the major source of water for the large 

cities, the water-using industries, and the hydroelectric and 

steam-electric plants in the region. They concentrate the 

flow from hundreds of miles of smaller streams in one channel where it can be drawn upon by the big water users.

47
The streams tributary to the big rivers are important 

sources of water supply in themselves. Generally, the flow 

of rivers is large in comparison to the amount of water needed 

for community supplies. The East Point water system, 

which serves about 70,000 people, withdraws an average of 

about 7 mgd from Sweetwater Creek. This withdrawal is 

equal to the average yield from only 9 square miles of the 

Sweetwater Creek watershed! The average flow of smalland medium-sized streams in the Piedmont ranges from 0.5 

to 1.5 mgd per square mile.

Man finds the variability of rivers most difficult to cope 

with when he attempts to harness them for his use. Rivers 

seldom flow at their "average" rate; on most days of the year 

their flow is below average, and on a few days of the year it 

is far above average. The variation in average daily flow 

for Yellow River at a point near Snellville during a typical 

year is charted in figure 16. The wide range of flows on this 

small Piedmont stream is typical of streams which are not 

regulated by storage reservoirs. The average flow for the 

years 1937 to 1963 was 103 mgd as indicated in the figure. 

Note that the highest daily flow of the year is about 700 times 

the lowest daily flow. At the peak of the rise of February 7, 

the highest during the year, the momentary rate of flow (as 

opposed to the daily flow) reached 2,200 mgd. The range 

in stage during the year from lowest to highest was 11

FIGURE 16. Variation in daily flow for Yellow River during a typical

year.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

48
feet. It is expected that once in 20 years, on the average, 

this stream will discharge as little as 1 mgd and as much as 

4,700 mgd. (A flow which is described as occurring once in 

20 years may occur in any year or even in two years in succession. However, its chances of occurring in any particular 

year are 1 in 20.)

The minimum flow is more important to most water users 

than the average flow. The minimum flow of many streams 

in the Piedmont exceeds the maximum anticipated need. 

All the water needed can be obtained without building a 

storage reservoir. To use the "average" flow of a stream 

all the flow in excess of the average must be stored for later 

release when the natural flow is less than average. Some 

reservoirs store enough water that the streamflow can be 

almost fully used for hydroelectric-power production, municipal supplies, dilution of wastes, and other uses.

Ground water under both water-table and artesian conditions is a source of supply in some areas of the Piedmont. 

Under water-table conditions, as in most countries, water 

levels fluctuate with rainfall, evaporation, and vegetation 

use. As shown on figure 17, the water levels in Fulton 

County well 26 and Stephens County well 2 rose during the 

winter and spring and declined during the summer and fall. 

Note the low levels of the drought years of 1954 and 1955, 

and the subsequent recovery during 1956 and 1957, for 

Fulton County well 26.

The Dougherty and Chatham County well records shown 

in figure 17 are from artesian wells in the Coastal Plain. 

Artesian water levels fluctuate with ground-water pumpage 

and are not ordinarily affected by variations in local rainfall. 

Any apparent similarity of fluctuations in water-table wells 

and artesian wells during a drought is caused by the higher 

pumping rates in dry seasons. Artesian levels in Chatham 

County have declined steadily in recent years because of increased pumpage in the industrial areas. Pumpage in 

Dougherty County has varied over the years, and the water 

level has varied with it.

In the Piedmont province, both ground water and surface 

water have considerable variation in chemical quality. Most

49
8 _ Water level, in feet above land surface WWW o M *> Water level, in feet belaw land surface. M M 3; r*. w »*. - «

Water level, in feet belaw land surface.

Water level, in feet below land surface.

K g £
of the water is low in dissolved solids and some is highly mineralized; other supplies contain large amounts of iron. 

Nearly all the ground water, despite these variations, is 

classifiable as soft.

Coastal Plain Province

Georgia's Coastal Plain is famous for many things. One 

is scenery, another is agriculture, and still another is industry. 

The picturesque city of Savannah, the beautiful Sea Islands, 

and the seemingly mysterious Okefenokee Swamp are visited 

by thousands of tourists every year. The residents are justifiably proud of their region. They are also proud of the 

tremendous increase in the industrialization of the region. 

All of these the scenery, industries, and farms are obvious 

things. They are a part of the landscape, and are impressive to the resident and visitor alike. The resource that 

makes the growing industrial might possible is one that is 

not so obvious at first; part of it remains hidden from human 

eyes until used. That resource is water. In addition to its 

large rivers, the region has a tremendous asset in its vast 

hidden ground-water resources. Southern Georgia has an 

extremely valuable water supply, one of the best in the 

Nation. Even brackish and salt water can be used. Plant 

McManus in Glynn County now uses an average of 26 mgd 

of brackish water to condense steam from its huge turbines.

Over three-fifths of Georgia lies in the Coastal Plain, and 

the people are concentrated in and around the Fall Line cities 

of Augusta, Macon, and Columbus and the coastal city of 

Savannah. Only the Fall Line cities, together with Savannah and Waynesboro, use river water for municipal supplies. 

Savannah uses river water only to supplement the main supply from the well fields.

The Coastal Plain contains the State's largest undeveloped 

water supplies. The region is like a great sponge, absorbing 

water almost everywhere. The river supplies have been

FIGURE 17 (opposite page). Variation of water levels in representative 

observation wells in Georgia. Line dashed where record not continuous.

51
barely utilized. The Savannah River alone pours more than 

7 billion gallons per day into the ocean, and withdrawals 

from it are only a fraction of 1 percent. Additional billions 

of gallons flow into the ocean under the ground.

Yet in spite of these great rivers, the Coastal Plain is a 

ground-water or "drilled-well" province. Most supplies are 

obtained from wells, because ground water is obtainable 

everywhere at low cost, and the maintenance costs of well 

fields are much less than for the filter and treatment plants 

of a surface-water system. This cost factor is significant for 

a small town; furthermore, its nearly constant temperature 

and chemical composition make ground water ideal for 

industrial use.

Because of the great difference in the runoff characteristics 

of the streams, hydrologists differentiate between the upper 

Coastal Plain and the lower Coastal Plain (fig. 13). Streams 

in the upper Coastal Plain have relatively uniform flows and 

high yields because of small storm runoff and large groundwater inflow. The very small streams commonly have very 

little runoff because the permeable soil absorbs rainwater 

rapidly and the channels are not intrenched deeply enough 

to intercept much ground-water flow. The average annual 

runoff of the larger streams ranges from 12 to 28 inches. 

The streams are generally sluggish and flow in deep meandering low-banked, tree-choked channels bordered by wide 

swampy, densely wooded valleys. A few low-head waterpower sites exist on larger streams but, because of the flat 

terrain and permeable soil, there are few reservoir sites.

The lower Coastal Plain generally has the least runoff of 

any part of Georgia. The average annual runoff ranges from 

9 to 14 inches. The streams wander in wide swampy, heavily 

wooded valleys separated by very wide and very low, flat 

ridges. Swamp vegetation consumes large quantities of 

water and evaporation loss is high.

Water-bearing rock formations are called aquifers. There 

are three main aquifer systems in the Coastal Plain province: 

the Cretaceous sand aquifers, the limestone-sand aquifers, 

and the principal artesian (limestone) aquifer. The Cretaceous sand aquifiers and the limestone-sand aquifers are

52
used mostly in the upper Coastal Plain; the principal artesian aquifer is in the lower Coastal Plain.

The Cretaceous sand aquifers are a blanket of sand and 

gravel that begins at the Fall Line and thicken to the south. 

Rainfall filters quickly into this sand blanket and recharges 

the sand aquifer with water. When the stream levels are 

high, water moves from the streams into the sands; when the 

stream levels are low, water feeds back from the sands into 

the streams.

The Cretaceous sand aquifers contain many different beds, 

some of which are beds of clay. The clay beds are the source 

of much of the Nation's kaolin (the raw material of the 

ceramics industry). Kaolin is quarried extensively in this 

part of Georgia. The kaolin industry uses large amounts 

of water in the processing of the clay.

The cities of Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Waynesboro are the principal users of river supplies in the Coastal 

Plain. Of the four, only Waynesboro could develop ground 

water to supply all its needs. The other cities straddle the 

Fall Line, and neither the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont 

nor the Cretaceous sands of the Coastal Plain can supply 

their needs. However, ground water from either source 

could be used as an emergency or supplemental supply. All 

the other towns and the rural population have wells. In 

Quitman and Stewart Counties, town wells are about 1,100 

feet deep, but eastward the water is closer to the land surface. 

Between Macon and Augusta, many wells which penetrate 

the Cretaceous sands flow at the land surface.

Artesian water was discovered in Georgia in the year 1881 

on Hickory Level Plantation, some 20 miles west of Albany. 

Up to that time water had been obtained from dug wells 

and cisterns containing rainwater. These supplies were 

sometimes polluted. Artesian wells drilled at Albany in 

subsequent years provided an ample supply of unpolluted 

water, and thus were very beneficial to the economy of the 

area. They gave Albany its title of the "Artesian City."

Albany lies in the limestone-sand aquifer area, a triangular-shaped part of southwestern Georgia in the upper 

Coastal Plain. Most residents of southwestern Georgia are

53
familiar with the lime sinks, caves, and underground rivers 

which are typical of the area. These features are formed by 

the solvent action of water on the limestone. When the 

limestone is dissolved, caverns and interconnected channels 

below land surface are left. If the cavern roof collapses, 

sink holes are created.

The Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers both flow from the 

Piedmont, across the Cretaceous sands and across the limestone-sand aquifer. Where the rivers cross the limestone, 

an interchange of water takes place between the stream and 

the ground through open channels in the limestone.

The region receives about 50 inches of rain distributed 

fairly evenly throughout the year. Much of this water 

either is transpired by plants or evaporates, but probably 

more water soaks into the ground through sands, sink holes, 

and solution channels here than anywhere else in the State. 

The Ocala Limestone, a part of the principal artesian aquifer, 

forms the surface rock in much of the Albany area, which 

is one of the important recharge areas for the Ocala Limestone. Water below the Ocala Limestone is under artesian 

pressure, and there are many flowing wells. Some wells in 

the Albany area no longer flow because pumping of water 

has lowered the artesian head below land surface.

Springs in the limestone maintain the low waterflow of 

the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. The flow of Radium 

Springs, the largest in Georgia, into the Flint River has 

varied from 18 to 87 mgd. During the 1954 drought, the 

minimum monthly yield of the Flint River was nearly twice 

as much at Bainbridge as at Albany. This large increase in 

flow was from springs issuing from the Ocala Limestone.

All municipal water supplies in this area are obtained from 

drilled wells. Although the rivers are not used for city supplies, they provide for important industrial uses, such as 

cooling, generating electric power, and waste removal. They 

also provide recreation for thousands of people.

The quality of ground water in this region is good enough 

for most purposes. The water from the Cretaceous sands is 

soft, but in some places contains objectionable amounts of 

dissolved iron. Water in the overlying limestones and sands 

is moderately hard and is lower in iron content. River water

54
in the limestone area is harder than in most areas of Georgia, 

but is fairly soft in comparison to United States river water 

generally. Water obtained from aquifers below the Ocala 

is generally safe from surface pollution if wells are constructed properly. As has been explained, the surface limestone is open and contains many solution channels. Polluted water can move rapidly through these channels, and 

may be pumped back to the surface before the bacteria have 

been destroyed. Those who drink untreated water from 

such wells are risking disease.

In the western and northern parts of the limestone-sand 

area where the shallow water is in sand, the ground water 

should be unpolluted a short distance away from the immediate vicinity of septic tanks. Sand is the material commonly used in treatment plants to purify the water. In the 

ground, sand acts in the same way. Polluted water is purified by moving a short distance through a sand aquifer.

Most of the water used today in the Coastal Plain is obtained from a series of limestone beds that are riddled with 

interconnected openings and which are known collectively 

as the principal artesian aquifer. This aquifer underlies 

about two-thirds of the Coastal Plain, and about 70 percent 

of all ground water used in the State is pumped from it. The 

aquifer extends northeastward into South Carolina and 

southward into Florida, and furnishes water supplies to the 

entire region. At one time all the wells at the lower elevations along the coast and for many miles upstream in the 

river valleys were flowing wells. Today many of them have 

stopped flowing, especially near the industrial cities where 

heavy pumping has lowered the artesian pressure.

Other aquifers, both limestone and sand, overlie the principal artesian aquifer, but they do not yield such large quantities of water. Although the limestone and sand aquifers 

are very important sources of water for the rural population, 

they are seldom used by municipalities and industries, partly 

because of the uncertainty of the yield and partly because 

of the difficulty of developing wells in the sand.

The annual rainfall in this region of Georgia averages from 

45 to 52 inches, but the runoff averages only 9 to 13 inches. 

The streams whose drainage areas lie entirely within the

55
lower Coastal Plain have lower yields than those of any other 

part of Georgia. Rainfall drains slowly over the flat terrain 

and the part which does not sink into the ground is quickly 

evaporated or consumed by vegetation. Because most of the 

lower half of this area is covered by a blanket of sand left 

by the last invasion of the sea, much water disappears quickly into the ground and is protected against immediate loss.

Water for most uses in the lower Coastal Plain comes 

from drilled wells. Only Savannah takes water supply from 

a river, although all the cities use rivers for waste disposal. 

The river water is available for development at many cities, 

and it is only a question of time before more of it will be used.

Ground water is inexpensive and is obtainable nearly 

everywhere in large quantities. The major supplies, however, are obtained from the principal artesian aquifer. 

Pumping has greatly changed the flow pattern of ground 

water in the artesian aquifer. Before water was pumped 

from this aquifer, the artesian pressure caused well water to 

rise to about 40 feet above sea level at Savannah, 65 feet at 

Brunswick, and more than 70 feet at Waycross. After the 

advent of well drilling, flowing wells became commonplace. 

Millions of gallons of water were wasted and the artesian 

pressure was reduced. Today, there are no flowing wells 

where once they were common. At one time, water in the 

aquifer flowed past Savannah toward the sea, but now it 

flows from the sea toward Savannah, because of the reduction 

of pressure in the artesian aquifer. Fortunately, water 

moves slowly, and there is time to determine the extent of the 

invasion of fresh water by sea water and the speed of its 

movement. Reducing the pumpage or changing the pattern 

of wells in the Savannah area can retard or prevent further 

salt-water invasion. In time, pumpage must be controlled 

in these areas or the artesian supplies will become too salty 

for use.

Greater use could be made of the shallow sand aquifers 

along the coast to lessen the draft on the principal artesian 

aquifer. Supplies for small industries, air conditioning, and 

household use could be obtained from the sands in many 

places, including the coastal islands. Water can be obtained

56
from a simple sand-point driven well 10 to 30 feet deep. 

Water also may be pumped from the streams and purified.

The quality of water in the area of the principal artesian 

aquifer is generally good. The temperature of river water 

varies with the seasons; it is usually about the same as the 

mean monthly air temperature. The water of some rivers 

contain sediments; that of others is free of sediment but contains organic color. The temperature of ground water is 

nearly constant within any individual aquifer, but the kinds 

of dissolved solids vary with location. However, good quality ground water can be obtained everywhere. Ground water 

in the principal artesian aquifer itself is hard and contains 

some hydrogen sulfide gas (the rotten-egg smell), but this 

odor does not detract from its usefulness. Savannah has a 

problem of salt-water encroachment. A well at Valdosta 

found high-sulfate water, which is bitter to the taste. A well 

in Thomas County tapped brackish water at a depth of 1,635 

feet in rocks below the principal artesian aquifer.

Water in the shallow sands is generally soft but contains 

sulfurous gas at some places. On some of the small coastal 

islands the sands contain brackish water, but on the larger 

islands the water is fresh. Many rural dwellers take water 

from these sands because they prefer a soft water and low 

pumping costs.

Aside from the few problem areas, the lower Coastal Plain 

contains billions of gallons of good quality water that, with 

or without treatment, can be useful in many ways for the 

further development of the State.

57
The Major

Rivers

of Georgia

A River and Its Environment

A river means many things besides a water supply to the 

people who live along its banks. Like the Savannah, it can 

be an opening to a continent. The history of sections of 

North America is the history of their rivers. The Ocmulgee 

and the Chattahoochee both determined the course of destiny for the cities along their banks. Indians, traders, and 

settlers moved up the rivers and used them not only as 

avenues of travel but as slender threads of communication 

with their own kind.

These rivers have a definite relationship with their environment. The "hills of Habersham" and the "valleys of 

Hall," like other hills and valleys, have their part in determining how much of the water from precipitation will find 

its way into the Chattahoochee basin, to be taken to the 

"lordly main from beyond the plain." The valley structures 

will resist erosion in some places, and in others submit to 

sculpturing by the river. The same soil that supports the 

peach orchards that decorate the hillsides like fragile clouds 

will capture varying amounts of rain water for its own uses 

and send the rest farther down valley. The underlying 

rocks, fragments of which sometimes shine in the streambeds,

58
will receive or reject this water, according to their nature. 

Together, soil and rock will determine how much of the 

water will be returned to the surface, how much will move 

to another valley, or how much will be sent on directly into 

the ocean. The width of the ridges and valleys in the basin 

to some extent will influence human activities, which, in 

their turn, will control or consume the water or allow it to 

run off freely.

Because Georgia's major rivers drain more than one 

physiographic province, their flow characteristics reflect 

the influence of variable rainfall, topography, and rock 

structure. The effects of factors that control runoff in a 

tributary stream may be barely discernible in the flow of the 

big river into which it drains. The big river blends both the 

quantity and quality of flow from tributary streams that may 

differ significantly in flow characteristics.

The flow of big rivers varies from day to day but generally 

to a lesser degree than the flow of their tributaries. Big 

rivers of Georgia never go dry nor do they produce as high 

flood discharges on a per-square-mile basis as do the 

tributaries.

Big rivers require big dams if water-control projects are 

to be worthwhile. The size of the flood discharges in relation to the size of average flows gives a rough idea of the 

reservoir capacity required to store enough floodwater even 

to reduce partially flood damage caused by a big river. 

Projects to increase significantly the low flow of the big 

rivers also require large and costly reservoirs. Because big 

projects are expensive, they are built only after careful study 

shows that project benefits will exceed project costs.

The Savannah River

The Savannah, one of Georgia's largest rivers, begins near 

the northeast corner of the State where the Tugaloo and 

Seneca Rivers join. It flows about 300 miles southeastward 

along the State's eastern boundary to the sea. It drains an 

area of 10,600 square miles, 55 percent of which lies within 

Georgia. The Savannah's upper tributaries are typical 

mountain streams that have many rapids and deep gorges ;

7 63-730 O 65-- 5 59
in the Piedmont, the main stem of the river flows in a fairly 

deep channel of moderate slope and numerous rock shoals; 

in the Coastal Plain, the river sluggishly winds its way 

between the low banks to the sea.

The average runoff from the Savannah River basin is 

about 15 inches per year, a bit more than the State average 

of 14 inches. As in all rivers, the natural flow of the Savannah varies with time. Several reservoirs regulate the flow 

to provide a nearly constant discharge in the middle and 

lower river. Figure 10 shows how steady the flow is at 

Augusta. Even on the regulated Savannah, however, the 

relatively infrequent extreme flows vary a great deal from 

the average. At Augusta the minimum flow is about half the 

average flow and floods that had been about 220 times the 

average would be either fully controlled or reduced to the 

point where they would cause but little damage.

The rapid runoff in the Savannah River headwaters allows 

little time for contact between the water and the rocks of the 

area. This condition plus the absence of readily soluble 

rocks, results in water that is usually quite soft, clear, and 

low in mineral content. Some increase in concentration 

occurs as the water passes through the Piedmont and Coastal 

Plain provinces. Especially noticeable are the increases of 

color and sediment in the lower reaches of the stream produced by the clays of the Piedmont and upper Coastal Plain 

and the colored water of swampy coastal areas.

Although the properties of the water vary with time, only 

small variations appear in most of the constituents. Impoundment behind dams levels out the variations. Except 

for color and sediment removal, only minor treatment is required for most water uses. In the basin there are no known 

areas of gross contamination of the water supply by industrial or other wastes.

The flow of the Savannah River is regulated by a series of 

powerplants and reservoirs. Six powerplants on the Tugaloo and its tributary, the Tallulah, and one on the Seneca 

regulate the flows of these rivers. Clark Hill Dam on the 

main stem creates a great multi-purpose storage reservoir 

for flood control and hydroelectric power and, in conjunction

60
with Stephens Creek Dam. below it, controls the flow to provide navigation between Augusta and the ocean. The Augusta City Dam diverts water to the city power canal, and the 

new Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam creates a slack-water 

navigation pool. In 1963, construction was completed on 

Hartwell, a new multi-purpose dam 67 miles upstream from 

Clark Hill Dam. Hartwell Dam, when filled in 1962 impounded a reservoir almost as big as the one above Clark 

Hill. Even now, practically all the water flowing from the 

upper Savannah River basin is used for hydroelectric power, 

much of it several times over. Sixty percent of the average 

flow of the river at Augusta is required to maintain navigation in the river downstream.

Besides furnishing water for hydroelectric power and 

navigation, the Savannah River provides water for cities and 

industries. Augusta withdraws 10 mgd; Savannah withdraws about 30 mdg for industrial use; Urguhart, a steam 

powerplant on the South Carolina side of the river, uses 210 

mgd for cooling; three smaller steam powerplants use a total 

of about 185 mgd; the Atomic Energy Commission's Savannah River Plant uses over 700 mgd for cooling. All these 

uses are considerably smaller than the minimum flow of the 

river. Furthermore, these users only "borrow" the water; 

they return almost all of it after use.

The Altamaha River

The Altamaha, the largest river lying wholly within 

Georgia, rises in the Piedmont province, crosses the Coastal 

Plain, and enters the ocean near St. Simons Island. The 

two principal rivers of the upper basin, the Ocmulgee and the 

Oconee, unite to form the Altamaha River. The length of 

the Altamaha from the mouth to its uppermost source, the 

headwaters of the Ocmulgee, is more than 400 miles. It 

drains 14,400 square miles 5,800 square miles of the Piedmont and 8,600 square miles of the Coastal Plain. In the 

Piedmont the Ocmulgee and the Oconee flow through narrow valleys in rather deep channels having shoals and rapids. 

In the Coastal Plain the rivers of the system meander from 

bluff to bluff in comparatively broad, shallow valleys.

61
The average annual runoff from the Altamaha basin is 

12.5 inches, a little less than the average for the State. However, in terms of the average flow, the Altamaha is the largest 

river; at Doctortown the flow exceeds 8,000 mgd. Day to 

day flows on the Altamaha River system are not as uniform 

as on the Savannah or the Chattahoochee, and minimum 

flows of the Altamaha are lower than those of the Savannah. 

In the Piedmont the minimum flow is generally 3 to 5 percent of the average flow, but the South River, a tributary 

of the Ocmulgee, is an exception. It receives extra water 

from the Chattahoochee River by diversion through the 

Atlanta and De Kalb County water and sewer systems; the 

diversion causes an increase in the minimum flow to about 

10 percent of the average. In the Coastal Plain, respective 

minimum flows of the Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Altamaha are 

15,9, and 11 percent of the average.

Waters of the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers are very similar 

in chemical composition. Lying entirely within the Piedmont and Coastal Plain provinces, these rivers contain waters 

having only slightly higher concentrations of minerals than 

those of the Savannah River. Color and sediment are more 

pronounced in the Altamaha than in the Savannah River. 

Industries and cities pollute the water at a few places, but 

not severely at present.

Two reservoirs regulate the flow of water in the Altamaha 

system: Jackson Lake formed by Lloyd Shoals Dam on the 

Ocmulgee River and Sinclair Lake formed by Sinclair Dam 

on the Oconee. The regulation by Lloyd Shoals has a 

marked effect on the day-to-day flow of the river for a short 

distance downstream. Lloyd Shoals uses 67 percent of the 

average available yearly flow to generate hydroelectric power; Sinclair uses 83 percent. In addition, there are several 

small "run-of-the-river" hydroelectric plants. Run-of-theriver plants depend on "as is" flows. The storage behind a 

run-of-the-river dam is too small to increase low riverflows 

appreciably.

The Altamaha River system drains a region that is basically agricultural; however, in recent years industrial growth, 

especially along the rivers, has had a marked effect on the

62
region's economy. Cities such as Macon, Milledgeville, 

Dublin, and Jesup have attracted new industries and have 

grown in size and importance. The availability of water, 

both in rivers and in the ground, has been a major factor in 

this growth. The largest municipal user of river water is 

Macon: it withdraws about 20 mgd from the Ocmulgee. 

The largest industrial user of river water is Plant Arkwright 

near Macon: its average use is 180 mgd, more than the minimum riverflow of record and 15 percent of the average flow. 

Shallow-draft vessels ply the Altamaha River between 

Doctortown and the ocean. Sixteen percent of the average 

flow is required to maintain a minimum depth of 3 feet for 

navigation on this section of the river.

The Chattahoochee River

The Chattahoochee is the longest river in Georgia 436 

miles from its source in Union and Towns Counties to its 

junction with the Flint River. At Chattahoochee, Fla., the 

Chattahoochee River joins the Flint to form the Apalachicola 

River which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Chattahoochee's 8,340-square-mile drainage area, which includes 

part of southeastern Alabama, lies in three physiographic 

provinces, the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont, and the Coastal 

Plain. The course of the river is characterized by long 

straight reaches, deeply cut through the middle of the valley. 

Its upper reaches, above Gainesville, have the steep slopes 

of mountain streams; between Gainesville and West Point 

the slope is moderate and fairly uniform; in the vicinity of 

the Fall Line, between West Point and Columbus, the river 

falls steeply; and across the Coastal Plain to the river's 

mouth, the slope is gentle.

An average of 17.5 inches of water runs off the Chattahoochee River basin each year; at Alaga, Ala., this runoff 

amounts to about 7,000 mgd. At Atlanta, the average flow 

is 1,600 mgd, about 13 times metropolitan Atlanta's municipal use.

The many uses of the Chattahoochee River have varying 

effects on the quality of its water. In general, the mineral 

content of the water is rather low in the headwater area and

63
increases as it moves downstream. Originating as it does 

in the Blue Ridge province, the water is similar to that in 

the headwater section of the Savannah River. Variations 

in quality are small because of the mixing of waters in the 

reservoirs.

Industrial and municipal wastes enter at intervals throughout the entire reach of the river. Although pollution could 

become a serious threat to the suitability of the Chattahoochee as a water supply, there is, at present, sufficient flow 

to dilute wastes.

The lower reaches of the Chattahoochee, as well as the 

other streams of the Piedmont and Coastal Plain provinces, 

are fairly high in sediment content and color.

The waters of the Chattahoochee are gradually being 

brought under complete control. The upper part of the 

river is slightly regulated by several mills and powerplants. 

Buford Dam, completed in 1956 for flood control and hydroelectric power, regulates the flow of the river below it, and 

will greatly reduce floods at Atlanta; for example, the 50- 

year floodflow (flow recurring an average of once every 50 

years) will be reduced 43 percent. Downstream from West 

Point a series of eight power dams regulate the flow. Multipurpose projects, such as the Jim Woodruff Dam at the 

junction of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and the Walter F. George Lock and Dam regulate the river in the 

Coastal Plain.

The water supplied to almost one-fourth of the homes in 

Georgia comes from the main stem of the Chattahoochee 

River. In addition, homes in several communities obtain 

their water from the Chattahoochee's tributaries. Water 

systems in the Atlanta metropolitan area withdraw more 

than 80 mgd a lot of water, but even so, only 5 percent of 

the average flow and 25 percent of the minimum flow (minimum maintained by release of water at Buford Dam) of the 

river at Atlanta.

By supplying cooling water for two major steam-electric 

plants, the Chattahoochee further adds to Georgia's supply 

of electricity. Plant Atkinson near Atlanta uses an average 

of 310 mgd, almost four times metropolitan Atlanta's use.

64
In 1958, Plant Yates, near Newnan, increased its maximum 

water use to more than 500 mgd. These plants annually 

generate enough electricity to provide for the needs of about 

iy2 million homes.

The Flint River

The Flint River rises just south of Atlanta and flows 

southward in a wide eastward arc to its junction with the 

Chattahoochee at the southwest corner of Georgia. It drains 

an area of 8,500 square miles, about a third in the Piedmont 

and two-thirds in the Coastal Plain. Like the other streams 

traversing these two provinces, the river slopes rather gently 

across the Piedmont, more steeply in the vicinity of the Fall 

Line, and very gently across the Coastal Plain. Throughout most of its reach, high banks generally confine the river 

in its channel through the rolling countryside. Swampy 

land borders the lower reach of the river, between Bainbridge 

and its mouth.

The annual runoff from the Flint River basin is higher 

than the average for the State 15.6 inches versus 14.0 

inches. At Bainbridge, 30 miles above the mouth, its avearge 

flow is 5,500 mgd. As has been mentioned, numerous springs 

in the Coastal Plain contribute to the Flint River and sustain 

its flow there remarkably during dry seasons. The minimum 

flow of the river across the Coastal Plain is 22 percent of the 

average flow, but in the Piedmont, where there are fewer 

springs, the minimum flow is only 5 percent of the average.

Most of the Flint River is low in dissolved material. Appreciable concentrations occur in the headwater area near 

Atlanta but dilution by tributaries progressively reduces the 

concentrations downstream. Large volumes of hard water 

entering from Ichawaynochaway and Chickasawhatchee 

Creeks and from the many springs cause an increase in dissolved solids in the lower Flint River.

Two hydroelectric powerplants, one near Cordele and the 

other at Albany, regulate the flow of the river. Jim Woodruff Dam at the mouth uses 68 percent of the river's total 

runoff to generate electricity.

65
A steam-electric plant below Albany, Plant Mitchell, that 

uses about 8 percent of the average flow for cooling is the 

largest industrial user of the water. The largest municipal 

use of the river water is at Griffin where withdrawals from 

a tributary of Flint River average 4.3 mgd, much less than 

the average flow. However, at times during the drought of 

1954, even though the entire flow of the tributary was 

pumped into the Griffin water mains, there was not enough 

water. Albany, the largest city in the basin, gets its water 

from wells; it discharges its wastes to the river.

Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam enables river boats and 

barges to navigate in a 9-foot channel up the Flint River as 

far as Bainbridge.

The Coosa River

The Coosa River is formed by the confluence of the Oostanaula and Etowah Rivers at Rome. The Etowah River rises 

in the mountains of north central Georgia, flows westward to 

Rome through rugged Piedmont terrain and across the folded 

rocks of the Valley and Ridge province. The Oostanaula 

River rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains and flows mostly 

along the folded rocks of the Valley and Ridge province. The 

characteristics of the two rivers differ considerably. In general, the Etowah River has flashier floods. The Oostanaula 

River floods tend to be lower but to move slower than those 

on the Etowah River. Below the confluence at Rome, the 

Coosa River has more of the characteristics of the Oostanaula 

River as it follows a wandering course through the Valley 

and Ridge province into Alabama, where it eventually enters 

the Gulf of Mexico in Mobile Bay. Of the Coosa River system's 10,300 square miles of drainage area, 4,400 square miles 

are in Georgia. Rapids and riffles characterize the upper 

reaches of the river system. Farther downstream in the 

Valley and Ridge province, the rivers generally meander in 

deep channels within wide flood plains.

The average annual runoff of that part of the Coosa basin 

that lies in Georgia is about 20 inches, highest of any of the 

major rivers in that State. At Rome, the Coosa River flows

66
at an average rate of 4,000 mgd; 58 percent of this water 

comes from the Oostanaula River and the remaining 42 percent from the Etowah River. The dry-weather flow of the 

larger rivers in the Coosa system is also well sustained. For 

example, the minimum daily flow occurring once in 20 years 

on the average is 24 percent of the average flow in the Blue 

Ridge province and 14 percent in the Valley and Ridge province. In contrast, some rivers in the Coastal Plain have 

minimums that are less than 5 percent of the average.

Waters of the Coosa River basin are moderately hard, low 

in color, and high in sediment. The Etowah River water is 

much softer than the Oostanaula River water. Only minor 

treatment and the removal of the sediment are needed to 

make all the Coosa basin waters satisfactory for most uses.

Several factors affect the quality of the water in the Coosa 

River; most important probably is the varied geology of the 

headwater area. The concentration of dissolved solids in 

the Oostanaula River is, on the average, nearly twice that 

of the Etowah River; it results from solution of dolomite and 

limestone in the headwaters of the Oostanaula River. The 

concentration of salts below the confluence of the two rivers 

fluctuates because the proportion of the flow contributed by 

each stream varies.

Some wastes are discharged into the Coosa River system 

but, as is true of most rivers in Georgia, there is enough flow 

for adequate dilution.

Floods have been a more severe problem at Rome than at 

most river cities in Georgia. The frequency of damaging 

floods at Rome is high because the city is built on a low-lying 

flood plain and because the Etowah and Oostanaula come 

together there. Most other major Georgia cities are on 

reaches of streams where floodwaters do not concentrate so 

severely.

Allatoona Dam and Reservoir, a multi-purpose development on the Etowah, increases low flows and reduces floods. 

For instance, the minimum monthly flow of the Etowah at 

Rome to be expected once in 20 years has been increased 

about 25 percent by operation of the dam. As for floods,, the 

Corps of Engineers estimates that if Allatoona had been in

67
operation during the destructive floods of 1886 or 1919,, maximum stages of the Etowah at Rome would have been reduced 

by about 5 feet.

Allatoona Dam uses practically all the flow of the Etowah 

River to generate electricity. Plant Hammond, a steamelectric plant on the Coosa, uses about 5 percent of the average flow near Rome for cooling. The city of Rome uses1 7 mgd 

from the Oostanaula River, a fraction of a percent of the 

average flow and less than 2 percent of the minimum flow to 

be expected once in 10 years.

Enough Water?

The foregoing descriptions show that Georgia's major 

rivers provide plenty of good quality water for present use 

and, in most areas, enough for substantial increased use in 

the future. Urban water demands are generally not large 

in proportion to average or even minimum riverflows. Water 

use for cooling at steam-electric plants sometimes exceeds 

rare minimum flows, but is well below average flows. Continued expansion of steam-electric plants may require storage 

of the flow or, perhaps, more efficient cooling installations 

at the plants. Hydroelectric powerplants use practically 

all the flow at several points on the major rivers. However, 

all these uses have little effect on the quantity of water 

available. The same water may be used over and over at 

different points along a river. Water removed for irrigation 

does diminish the supply but, so far, irrigation withdrawals 

amount to only a small fraction of 1 percent of the flow. 

Even by 1970, irrigation withdrawals above hydroelectric 

dams will probably not reduce power production by more 

than 1 to 2 percent. Concentrations of municipal and industrial wastes, dissolved salts, or sediment constitute serious 

problems at some times and some locations, but the overall 

quality of water in the big rivers is good.

68
Water

Problems

in Georgia

Floods

Since the dawn of history man has had water problems of 

one kind or another. At some places he has had too much 

water and at others too little. Floods have ravaged civilizations throughout history. When more water reaches a river 

than its channel can hold, the excess must flow on the flood 

plain, and floods result. The flood plain and the river channel were made by the river. The river formed its flood plain 

from sediments carried by floodwaters. We will always 

have floods, for they are natural and cannot be wholly eliminated. Complete prevention of floods along the entire reach 

of our streams would be far too costly to attempt, but we have 

learned to control them to a certain degree with dams, levees, 

and channel improvements.

The idea persists that there were no floods prior to the cutting of the forests, but explorers and early settlers saw floods 

long before the forests were cut down. It is true that the 

amount and kind of vegetation on the land surface can and 

do affect the yield of streams, especially the low and medium 

flows and minor floods, but there is no proof that our use of 

the land has increased the severity or frequency of major 

floods.

69
Floods in Georgia, where there is little or no snow, are 

caused almost exclusively by heavy rainfall. The size of a 

flood depends on the rate, duration, and extent of rain, and 

also on the amount of rain which the soil can absorb. Most 

of the flood-producing rain in Georgia is associated with 

cyclonic storms which bring warm moist air over the State, 

principally from the Gulf of Mexico. The most severe floods 

on major rivers usually occur during the winter when a broad 

"front" between warm moist air and cool dry air stagnates 

and results in a few days of moderately intense rainfall over 

a wide area. Another type of storm, the short, violent local 

thunderstorm of summer, is a common cause of floods on 

very small streams but is rarely a cause of major floods on 

large rivers.

At average discharge, the river channel is far from full; on 

several days of each year the channel is about three-quarters 

full, and about twice a year the river flows bankful. Once 

every year or two, or perhaps once in several years, the river 

uses its flood plain. These generalizations may be modified 

for particular streams by many factors such as the climate, 

the topography, and the drainage pattern. Flood conditions 

may even vary at different points on the same stream. A 

flood in one section of a stream may be well contained within 

the channel at another section.

Georgia has not suffered from damaging floods to the extent that some other sections of the country have. On the 

Coastal Plain and Piedmont the cities, rail lines, and highways tend to favor the high ground between streams. Ridge 

cities, along the broad drainage divides, have few flood problems. Even so, many of the people of Georgia live, and 

much of Georgia farm land lies, on flood plains. The cities 

of Columbus, Macon, and Rome particularly have suffered 

from floods. Plans for future Georgia development must 

take these flood dangers into consideration.

Flood-control measures do not eliminate floods but they do 

provide a certain amount of protection from them. Major 

dams such as Buford on the Chattahoochee, Clark Hill on 

the Savannah, and Allatoona on the Etowah, the protective 

levees at Augusta, Rome, and Macon, and small upstream

70
flood-retarding project? as in the Coosa River basin provide 

varying degrees of protection. The cost of this protection 

is the price we pay for occupying flood plains.

It is true that floods will always occur, but there need be 

no flood damage if we do not occupy the flood plains. Although cities, transportation lines, farms, and industries use 

the flood plains, they do so at the risk of flood damage. We 

can choose among the following alternatives: building on the 

flood plains and accepting the flood hazard, not using the 

flood plains at all, using them with flood-protection works, or 

adopting flood-zoning regulations. More and more communities in the United States are adopting flood zoning as a 

way of reducing flood damage. By "flood zoning" we mean 

local ordinances which regulate the use to which tracts in 

the flood plain will be put. Zoning might mean restriction 

of the use of the flood plain to agriculture or to municipal 

parks and playgrounds. Commercial enterprises which 

might be permitted are parking lots or factories and office 

buildings in which people and valuable records are accommodated only above the first floor.

Droughts

Here in Georgia, there were droughts in 1925 and 1941, 

but that of 1954 is generally considered the most severe in 

recent history. It was a major agricultural disaster. Municipalities and industries suffered less but, even so, 18 cities 

and towns had difficulty with water supply because streamflow dropped to very low levels. In southern Georgia, some 

streams were completely dry for the first time in memory. 

The 1954 drought was so damaging that it aroused widespread interest in measures to modify or prevent the effects 

of any future drought.

The basic cause of drought is simply lack of rainfall. In 

1954, rainfall was deficient over the State by about 15 inches. 

It is chiefly in summer during the growing season that deficient rainfall causes drought. At other times of the year, 

seepage from the ground-water reservoir may keep stream 

levels high enough to meet needs. During the growing season, however, vegetation requires much moisture and only

71
a small part of the rainfall runs off into streams. Evapotranspiration from plants tends to deplete any small surplus of 

water which might accumulate in the soil. Without rainfall 

in the summer, streamflow continually diminishes until a low 

point is reached in the fall.

For purposes of conservation, use, and control of water, 

the minimum flow of a river is a critical statistic. Municipal 

and industrial water supplies are designed on the basis of the 

minimum flow. If a lesser flow occurs than the design minimum, water use may have to be curtailed, irrigation may 

cease, and factories may be shut down; the whole economy 

of the town or region will be affected.

The severity of low-flow, or drought, conditions depends 

upon several factors. The quantity of flow is one factor; 

for example, it may still be sufficient for urban water supply 

long after it has become inadequate for waste-disposal,, industrial, or power needs. The length of the low-flow periods 

is another important factor. A reservoir may suffice for a few 

days' deficiency, but may be inadequate for a shortage of 

several months. Another factor is the frequency of low-flow 

conditions. A community or industry may adapt itself to 

occasional water shortages in rare droughts, but may find 

conditions intolerable if the shortages occur too frequently. 

Thus, low flows must be defined in terms of the quantity of 

the flow, the duration of the low-flow period, and the frequency of recurrence. Hydrologic information to define 

these terms is obtained in Georgia by the U.S. Geological 

Survey through the continuous operation of a network of 

more than 100 streamflow stations and by making low-flow 

measurements at well over 1,000 sites throughout the State.

Data for the 1954 drought, collected by the Geological 

Survey in cooperation with the State of Georgia, indicate 

that the relative severity of the drought condition varied 

considerably over the State. Generalized areas were delineated in which the relative severity of the 1954 drought 

was indicated to be fairly uniform. 1 These generalized areas 

are shown on the map (fig. 18). The relative severity

1 Thomson, M. T., and Carter, R. F., 1963, Effect of a severe drought (1954 

on streamflow in Georgia : Georgia Geological Survey Bulletin 73.

72
SEVERITY OF 1954 DROUGHT

Area A: Fourth to sixth most severe

in 69 years

B: Second most severe in 66 years 

C: Most severe in 70 years 

D: Most severe in 38 years 

E: Second most severe in 66 years

FIGURE 18. Relative severity of the 1954 drought.

of the 1954 drought in each area ranges from the sixth most 

severe in 60 years to the most severe in 70 years. In the 

Coosa River basin (area A of fig. 18) the drought was the 

fourth to sixth most severe in 69 years. On the Tennessee 

River tributaries in northeast Georgia (area B), it was the 

second most severe in 66 years. In area C (the Savannah 

River basin from Toccoa to Augusta, the Altamaha River 

basin above the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee 

Rivers, the Chattahoochee River basin from Norcross to 

West Point, and the Tallapoosa River basin), it was the most 

severe drought in 70 years. In area D (Savannah River basin

73
below Augusta, Altamaha River basin below the confluence 

of the Ocmulgee and Oconee, and the Ogeechee, Satilla. 

Suwannee and Ochlockonee Rivers), the drought was the 

most severe in at least 38 years. In area E (Chattahoochee 

River basin below West Point, and Flint River basin), the 

1954 drought was the second most severe in 66 years.

Even within these areas there is still a wide range of flow. 

In order to make reliable drought estimates for any practical 

purpose, such as locating a factory site, additional streamflow 

measurements at or near the site are needed.

There are ready, but not always easy, answers to the problem that a user faces of assuring an adequate supply of water 

during droughts. He may turn to an alternate source of 

supply a larger stream or additional wells or he may 

build dams to provide storage facilities to increase the dependable supply. Whatever measures taken to bolster the 

dependable supply of water are likely to be costly. It is, 

therefore, important that decisions be based on the best 

available hydrologic information about the possible sources 

of supply. If a stream is considered for additional development, its low-flow behavior most certainly needs to be taken 

into account. If a ground-water supply is considered, information about the yield of wells of a given size and spacing 

and about their long-term dependability should be sought. 

After considering all the hydrologic data, a community or 

industry can decide whether to accept the possibility of 

deficiency and can plan for the use of water on the basis of 

the minimum flow, or can arrange for additional water from 

some other source.

Legal Problems in Competition for Water

Competition for available water creates legal problems. 

Water rights have been of the utmost importance in the arid 

parts of the United States. Each State has water laws that 

control the priority of water use. Furthermore, the use of 

interstate waters is subject to le^al control by interstate compacts or United States Court Decrees. Georgia's courts have 

settled many water cases although water laws are not always 

clearly defined.

74
The right to use water on a priority basis may become a 

legal question in Georgia and other humid eastern States, and 

the lawmakers will have to enact water laws that clearly spell 

out priorities to use water. The conflicting points of view of 

the industrialists, the farmer, and the city dweller must all 

be reconciled. Will farmers have the right to pump water 

from rivers to irrigate crops when this might deprive the 

cities downstream of adequate water supplies? Will excessive pumpage from an artesian aquifer be allowed to cause 

saltwater invasion of the water supply of a nearby city? 

These are examples of the problems faced by legislators.

Savannah and Chatham County already face the problem 

of salt-water invasion. The city and county have adopted 

regulations to protect their ground-water supply from saltwater contamination, but neighboring counties in Georgia 

and South Carolina can permit unlimited well development 

and completely void all their precautions. Local ordinances 

cannot control the situation. State and interstate regulations are required for effective control.

The Problem of Water Quality

Water-pollution problems are becoming more and more 

complex. Cities and industries dispose of waste in the 

streams but, at the same time, want streams to be clear and 

clean. The technical problems involved in treating pollution are numerous and varied. City sewage requires a certain type of treatment, industrial waste another. Some 

treatments are bacterial, others chemical. No single treatment can be applied to all waste, and any treatment costs 

money.

The costs of treatment must be borne by the taxpayer and 

the consumer. Georgia's streams are not nearly as polluted 

as those of some States where much of the aquatic life has 

disappeared from the rivers. But if the people want cleaner 

streams, they must legislate and pay for them. The job 

is difficult and complex. It will require the cooperation of 

all cities, industries, lawmakers, and interested citizens.

Sometimes ground water is polluted, but not as often nor 

as seriously as is stream water. In highly settled areas like

75

763-750 O 65 6
Atlanta, some shallow wells may be polluted. Chlorination 

is the simplest way to treat this water, but relatively few 

private systems are treated in Georgia.

In addition to chemicals and bacteria, certain physical 

properties affect the use of water. Sediment in streams, for 

instance, is so common that it has become an accepted part 

of Georgia life. Removal of such material is troublesome 

and costly. Proper land-use and water-control practices may 

do much to lessen this condition.

Another physical-quality problem occurs in both surface 

and ground water but is not as obvious as sediment. Increased water temperatures resulting from various uses may 

reduce the cooling potential of many water supplies and, in 

some instances, increase the ability of the water to dissolve 

material. This factor applies particularly where large volumes of heated water are returned to ground-water supplies.

Color in the water of many Georgia streams comes from 

dissolved or colloidal particles which are derived primarily 

from decomposition of vegetation. Studies are still being 

made to learn what these substances are. When ways are 

determined to remove the substances, more good water will 

be available for Georgia users.

Minor problems of chemical quality of ground water occur 

in various parts of the State. Dissolved iron is a problem 

in many places. Nearly all shallow water in sand and weathered rocks contains dissolved iron. When the water is 

exposed to air, chemical reactions take place in the water; 

the iron is converted to a solid form that stains clothes and 

enamelware red and deposits a red sludge in water heaters 

and boilers. Dissolved carbon dioxide creates problems because it corrodes iron pipes. The iron later precipitates from 

solution and causes red stains. Iron pipes rust through 

rather quickly and must be replaced.

At Valdosta, dissolved sulfate makes the water bitter and 

caused the abandonment of one city well. The cause and 

the extent of the high-sulfate water need to be determined 

so that the city can make long-range plans for its management and for use of water.

Cloudy water is a common problem for well and spring 

owners in limestone country. At times, usually following

76
wet weather, cloudy or muddy water is pumped from wells 

and flows from springs. If this happens after every rain, a 

direct path between the land surface and the water source 

is probable, and the water supply would be much safer if it 

were chlorinated before use by humans. In the area surrounding Albany and along the rivers of northwest Georgia, 

known open connections exist between the land surface and 

the water table. Cloudiness in deep wells may indicate a 

local movement of sediment in the deep rocks and not an 

open connection with the land surface.

Atomic powerplants and reactors have a tremendous contamination potential. Numerous safeguards are built into 

such plants to prevent contamination. The location of 

atomic powerplants and reactors is very carefully studied 

to protect the environment against accidental contamination. 

Elaborate monitoring apparatus continually checks the waste 

cooling water coming from a plant to detect any sudden rise 

in radioactivity, which could mean serious trouble. A welloperated atomic powerplant or reactor has no more effect on 

a stream into which it discharges cooling water than does a 

conventional steam-electric plant, but continual vigilance is 

necessarily exercised to prevent accidental release of radioactivity.

Declining Water Levels

Most ground-water problems that have been minor in the 

past will become more important in future years, especially 

with respect to water rights. The many misconceptions 

about ground-water movement and about the relation of 

surface water to ground water need to be dispelled in order to 

have fair and equitable water laws.

Ground-water levels fluctuate up and down with the season and with variations in the amount of water pumped 

from wells. Normally, the water table is highest in the early 

spring and lowest in the fall. The aquifer is recharged by 

winter rains, which restore the water table to its normal 

level. If a dry winter occurs, the water table does not return 

to its normal high level, and decline during the following 

summer causes a drop to lower levels than the previous sum77
FIGUEE 19. Level of water in a water-table well in East Point, Ga., in 

relation to rainfall.

mer. The levels will rise during the following winter, but not 

as high as previously. Thus, deficient rainfall-for several 

years in succession will cause the progressive lowering of the 

water table. During such periods, wells and springs become 

dry. When conditions are reversed and rainfall is greater 

than normal, the water table rises progressively, to the point 

that several years of excessive rainfall may bring the water 

table to land surface in the lowlands and may create swamps. 

Such a relation is shown in figure 19.

The overdevelopment of an aquifer takes place when recharge cannot keep pace with pumpage, as has happened 

in some of the cities of the Piedmont. Water is pumped 

from wells at a greater rate than it can flow through the 

rocks, the water table drops progressively, and, finally, the 

wells fail to yield water.

A parallel situation exists when the water-distribution system of an expanding city is overtaxed. The size of the mains 

limits the amount of water that will flow through them and 

the number of customers that can be served. When the capacity of the mains is exceeded, the customers who live 

farthest from the storage tank get water only when others 

are not using it. In rocks, the size of the cracks and their 

distribution limit the amount of water that will flow through 

them. If the capacity of the rocks to yield water is exceeded,

78
the water table drops and the yield of individual wells decreases to the point where some wells dry up or yield water 

only when other wells are not pumping.

One of the most common problems of the rural dweller 

of the Piedmont is the fluctuating water table. This fluctuation is normal, but individual problems are created if the 

water table drops below the bottom of a well. Then the well 

owner is out of water and must take immediate action to 

obtain a supply. He must either deepen the existing well, 

drill a new well, or haul water from another place.

Wild-flowing wells in the coastal areas have caused a loss 

in pressure and waste of millions of gallons of water every 

day. Actually, the pumping of water by the cities is a kind 

of conservation measure, because by lowering the artesian 

head, the waste of water from wild-flowing wells has been 

reduced.

Heavy pumping from the principal artesian aquifer has 

caused a progressive lowering of the artesian head, or pressure, over a large area, and has decreased the flow from wells. 

Fifty years ago wells flowed at the land surface in all the 

coastal counties. At present, wells close to the centers of 

pumpage have stopped flowing completely. Not a single 

flowing well is left in Chatham County. There has been a 

serious loss of head at Brunswick and Savannah. Water 

levels have declined slightly at Albany and Valdosta. 

Though the ground-water situation is not nearly as critical 

in Georgia as it is in some of the Western States, it will bear 

watching and will need good management practices to prevent depletion of ground-water reserves.

79
Water and

Georgia's

Future

Georgia is endowed with abundant high-quality water. 

The supply available to all users is so great during normal 

years that, when rare droughts occur, many water users are 

unprepared for such extreme conditions. These rare shortages could be remedied at low cost by storing surface water 

or, in the coastal plain, by developing additional groundwater supplies.

Georgia is divided into two major parts by the Fall Line. 

North of the Fall Line abundant water is available almost 

everywhere in streams, and small but dependable supplies 

can be taken from properly located wells. South of the Fall 

Line, the supply is abundant in large rivers, and the supply 

underground is phenomenal.

However, water needs are increasing in Georgia as elsewhere, and for the same reasons: increase of population and 

increase in manufacturing. The population of the State 

increased by 14.5 percent between 1950 and 1960 (fig. 20). 

And although Georgia is historically an agricultural State, 

its economy has gradually shifted since 1950 away from an 

agricultural toward an industrial base.

Several factors make industrial development natural for 

Georgia. It has ample supplies of water, fuel, and electric

80
power. Construction costs are 11 percent lower than the 

national average. Time losses due to weather conditions 

are negligible. Many construction materials clay, brick, 

cement, lumber are produced locally. An ample supply 

of unskilled labor moves out of the rural areas into the cities, 

and Georgia's new system of vocational-technical schools 

will soon produce a larger supply of skilled workers.

Finally, Georgia's central location in the Southeast gives it 

access to a regional market which is steadily growing in population and buying power. Alabama, Tennessee, North 

Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida all increased in population in the last decade.

0.5

Year 1850 60 70 80 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 

FIGURE 20. Population trend in Georgia, 1850-1960.

From the beginning of its history, Georgia has been an 

agricultural state having diversified crops and a long growing 

season. The present emphasis on industry has meant no 

decrease in agricultural production. On the contrary, agricultural income has increased 46 percent over the last 1Q 

years, while the national average has increased less than 19 

percent. The chief products are cotton, tobacco, watermellons, peaches, pecans, peanuts, hogs, and broilers. Georgia 

leads the South in production of pulpwood.

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As we have seen, modernization of agricultural methods 

demands more water for irrigation. Irrigation specialists of 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate that about 10 

percent of the present acreage in cotton, corn, and pasture, 

and about 50 percent of the present acreage in legumes, tobacco, and truck crops, could be irrigated economically. If 

irrigation were to reach this level, 1.3 million acres would be 

irrigated and average annual water use during a dry year 

would exhaust the flow of the streams. However, individual 

farm ponds filled during the nongrowing season would not 

noticeably deplete streamflow. Some conflicts between irrigators and other water users may develop during severe 

droughts unless surface-water storage is developed in advance 

of the drought. Farm ponds filled from the normal winter 

surplus runoff could largely alleviate conflicts.

The rural population in many Georgia counties is either 

static or declining people are leaving the farms and moving 

to the city. It is estimated that the rural population depending on home water supplies will be about the same in 

1970 as in 1955. However, by 1970, many more homes will 

have running water and additional water-using appliances; 

total rural water use, therefore, will probably increase as 

much as one-third.

Water requirements increase with industrial growth, and 

Georgia's industries are growing. In the 10-year period 

1946-56, employment in manufacturing increased 33 percent 

and the production of electric energy increased 180 percent. 

The oldest and largest industry in Georgia is the textile industry. Other important industries are food processing, 

transportation equipment, lumber, apparel, pulp-paper, and 

chemicals. Three of these food processing, pulp-paper, 

and chemicals use large amounts of water. We can be 

reasonably certain that industrial demand for water will be 

much greater with each passing year.

Between 1945 and 1955, per-capita municipal water use in 

Georgia increased from 109 to 129 gpd. By 1970, municipal 

water use will be about 140 gpd. More homes will be 

equipped with extra bathrooms, automatic washers, air conditioners, and other water-using appliances. Too, much

82
larger amounts of municipal water will be needed for nonresidential uses such as industry, commerce, and recreation.

Besides an increase in per-capita use, there will be a substantial increase in the population served by water-supply 

systems. Water mains will spread farther out into the suburbs and along the highways leading from the cities. And 

as mains are extended, prospective home builders will seek 

out lots with "city water." By 1970, urban water systems 

in Georgia will distribute an estimated average of 320 mgd, 

44 percent more than in 1955, and in all probability maximum daily use will increase proportionately.

Atlanta's metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing 

areas in the southeast between 1950 and 1958 the population increased 31 percent! Today, the total stands at more 

than 1 million, and the best estimate is that by 1970 it will 

exceed l^ millions. By 1970, the demand on the public 

water-supply systems serving the area will have climbed to 

an estimated 130 mgd. The demand for water by Atlanta's 

industries will increase too. If industrial use, not counting 

powerplant use, increases at the same rate as the expected 

increase in municipal use, it will reach 22 mgd by 1970.

The pumping rate of the Atlanta waterworks is a good 

index of the growth of water use. The graph of figure 21 

shows the average rate of 5-year intervals since 1920, projected to 1970 by waterworks officials. Between 1940 and 

1955, average withdrawals from the Chattahoochee River increased 60 percent because of two factors, a growing population and a i\ increased per-capita use of water.

Other Georgia cities are growing too. It is estimated that 

between 1955 and 1970, the demand for water in Columbus 

will increase at least 50 percent. But even after this increase, total withdrawals will be equal to only about 10 percent of the minimum flow of the Chattahoochee River. Albany depends mainly on ground water, but if the level should 

decline greatly, water from the Flint River could be used to 

supplement ground-water supplies. Augusta is amply supplied by the Savannah River and has supplemental groundwater supplies. How do the largest uses of water in Rome 

compare with the supply? Municipal use is only 2 percent

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100

75

= 50

E

1930 1940 1950 1960

FIGURE 21. Average rate of water use at Atlanta, 1920-60.

1970

of the minimum daily flow of the Oostanaula River that 

might be expected once in 10 years. The largest industrial 

uses at Plant Hammond and the Rome Kraft plant on the 

Coosa River, are about 40 percent of the 10-year minimum. 

Several small tributaries around Rome are largely untapped 

sources of supply, as are several springs in the area. Savannah has water supplies available in the Savannah River for 

almost unlimited expansion. River water must be treated, 

hence it would be more expensive than ground water, but it 

is plentiful. The withdrawals must be made upstream because at Savannah the river is brackish. The source of 

Valdosta's water the limestone aquifer has not been fully 

developed, and much more water can be developed in this 

area. Valdosta has adequate ground-water reserves for the 

foreseeable future.

84
The fact that there are generally adequate water reserves 

in Georgia does not mean, however, that there will be no 

water problems in the future. Many water problems will 

continue to be acute, and new ones will arise. Until the 

planned flood-control projects are built, floods will continue 

to threaten many of Georgia's cities. The problem of saltwater encroachment will continue to be present. Water levels in certain aquifers will continue to decline. Pollution of 

streams will become more objectionable as the waste load 

increases with population and industry. Low streamflow 

during rare droughts will be inadequate to meet all demands 

unless storage is constructed to sustain low flows.

Georgia's water promises to be a continuing great asset. 

Industries that require large quantities of pure process water 

are sure to examine Georgia for possible new plant sites. As 

the demands for food, fiber, and wood for the Nation's expanding population become more difficult to supply, the good 

soil and abundant water of the coastal plain will be more 

fully exploited. Finally, by the year 2000 approximately, 

the latent hydropower, navigation, and recreation potential 

of Georgia's water will become fully developed.

85
For More

Information

About . . .

. BASIC WATER FACTS, PRINCIPLES, AND 

PROBLEMS:

A primer on water, by L. B. Leopold and W. B. 

Langbein: U.S. Geological Survey special report, 

50 pages, U.S. Government Printing Office, 

Washington, B.C., 1960.

National water resources and problems, by R. E. 

Oltman and others: U.S. 86th Congress, 2d session, Senate Select Committee on National Water Resources, Committee Print 3, 42 pages, U.S. 

Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 

1960.

GEORGIA'S RESOURCES:

Industrial survey of Georgia: Georgia State Chamber of Commerce, 38 pages, Atlanta, Ga., 1962.

Georgia, by Jouett Davenport, Jr.: Georgia Department of Commerce and Industrial Development, 

48 pages, 1960.

The historic role of the rivers of Georgia, by M. 

T. Thomson: in Georgia Geological Survey Mineral Newsletter; a series of articles beginning in 

v. 3, no. 2, 1950, and running through v. 7, no. 2, 

1954.

86
THE TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC 

BACKGROUND:

Artesian water in southeastern Georgia, with special reference to the coastal area: Georgia Geological Survey Bulletin 49, 140 pages, 1944.

Availability and use of water in Georgia, by M. T. 

Thomson, S. M. Herrick, andE. Brown: Georgia 

Geological Survey Bulletin 65, 316 pages, 1956.

History of the water supply at Albany, Georgia, by 

R. L. Wait: Georgia Geological Survey Mineral 

Newsletter, v. 10, no. 4, pages 143-147, 1957.

Is the water table falling?, by J. T. Callahan: Georgia Geological Survey Mineral Newsletter, v. 

12,no.l, pages 9-11,1959.

Salt-water encroachment, geology and groundwater resources of Savannah area, Georgia and 

South Carolina a summary, by H. B. Counts 

and Ellis Donsky: Georgia Geological Survey 

Mineral Newsletter, v. 12, no 3, pages 96-102, 

1959.

Source and quality of ground water in southwestern 

Georgia, by R. L. Wait: Georgia Geological Survey Information Circular 18, 74 pages, 1960.

Water for Atlanta, by L. E. Newcomb and J. T. 

Callahan: Georgia Geological Survey Mineral 

Newsletter, v. 13, no. 1, pages 1-9, 1960.

Geology and ground-water resources of the Atlanta 

area, Georgia, by S. M. Herrick, and H. W. LeGrand: Georgia Geological Survey Bulletin 55, 

124 pages, 1949.

Floods in Georgia, frequency and magnitude, by 

R. W. Carter: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 

100,127 pages, 1951.

Water resources of the Atlanta area, by R. W. Carter and S. M. Herrick: U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 148,19 pages, 1951.

87
THE TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC 

BACKGROUND Continued

Compilation of records of surface waters of the 

United States through September 1950, Parts 2- 

A, 2-B: U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply 

Papers 1303 and 1304,1958.

Surface water supply of the United States, Parts 

2-A, 2-B: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply 

Papers (published annually).

Surface water records of Georgia: U.S. Geological 

Survey (annual release).

Quality of surface waters of the United States, 

Parts 2-A, 2-B: U.S. Geological Survey WaterSupply Papers (published annually).

Surface water resources of Georgia during the 

drought of 1954-Part 1, Streamflow, by M. T. 

Thomson and R. F. Carter: Georgia Department 

of Mines, Mining and Geology Information Circular 17, 79 pages, 1955.

O

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