Looking at the Big Picture

Apalachicola 

River and Bay
The threatened Gulf 

sturgeon (a prehistoric 

species) spawns and 

finds critical habitat 

in the Apalachicola 

system (University of 

Florida-USFWS study). 

Gabby Saluta, USFWS

Wild Treasure

 The Apalachicola River, Florida’s first in flow, has been 

described as the lifeblood of many basin communities. It 

has conveyed plants, animals and people along its course 

from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains to the Gulf 

of Mexico. For centuries it has provided sustenance to 

river societies and connected them to the outside world. 

 Its vast floodplains, tributaries and upper river spawn a 

diversity of aquatic life. Its ravines harbor botanical Edens 

that intermix northern plants with 

southern plants moving in during 

climate shifts. Indian traders and 

Spanish explorers embarked from 

the Apalachicola on journeys to 

the Mississippi River and beyond. 

The river became a frontier of 

Indian-settler battles and botanists 

traveled these woods intrepidly, 

discovering plants new to science. 

 Steamboats arrived in the 1820s 

and ran the river for a century 

carrying cotton, plow points, gro-

ceries and cordwood. However, 

recurring drought shifted cotton 

transport ever more to rail and 

road by the 1850s, and cotton was 

surpassed by logging, turpentining 

and fishing from the mid-river to the 

bay. By century’s turn, shopping 

parties to Apalachicola danced on 

gilded steamboats lit by tungsten that was mined in Liberty 

County decades before rural electrification lit its first bulbs.

 Forests throughout the basin were clear cut and the 

flood of 1929 devastated towns from Atlanta to Apalachi-

cola. Yet adding more dams could not control the floods 

of 1936, ‘48 and ‘61. Cars, pavement and bridges arrived 

by the 1920s and ‘30s and extended commerce ever fur-

ther, creating international markets for oysters, shellfish and 

lumber. Shipping interests continued to channelize the 

river, building more dams and dredging deeper channels 

until dredge spoil covered a quarter of Apalachicola’s 

banks and spoil dammed productive floodplains. Finally in 

the early 2000s Florida moved to end dredging and restore 

the alluvial river’s rich bottomlands. 

The ApalachicolaChattahoocheeFlint (ACF) 

interstate basin 

drains 21,794 

square miles in 

three states. The 

Chattahoochee 

flows through 

numerous dams, 

before reaching 

Lake Seminole 

where it is joined 

by the Flint River, 

which has two 

dams. The last 

dam on the 

system creates 

Lake Seminole. 

From there the 

Apalachicola 

River flows free 

to the bay. 

Torreya taxifolia. 

Florida Archives
Wetland Mitigation and Restoration

 To facilitate wetland mitigation and restoration opportunities in the Apalachicola watershed, the District has entered an agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers 

to employ regionally significant mitigation for unavoidable 

wetland impacts caused by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) projects. Wetland functions are critical for 

improving surface water quality, attenuating floods that 

threaten life and property and providing habitat for fish 

and wildlife. The District has four mitigation areas in 

the basin:

Cat Point Marsh Restoration created and restored 

salt marsh habitat in Apalachicola Bay through 

shoreline and shallow water plantings, and 

established a breakwater to shelter the salt marsh.

Dead Lakes Park Mitigation Site will restore native 

wetland species at ponds in Dead Lakes Park.

Doyle Creek Mitigation has restored and enhanced 

wetlands in the Doyle Creek drainage of western 

Tate’s Hell State Forest.

Site 39, Apalachicola River will remove spoil 

material and replant a sterile dredge spoil site along 

the Apalachicola River. Partnering with Gulf County, 

the District will restore native hardwood bottomland 

floodplain forest after the county removes dredge 

spoil for beneficial uses. 

District studies led to transfers of dredge spoil 

(sand) for beneficial uses. John Crowe

Content by Faith Eidse. Editorial 

review by Paul Thorpe, Duncan 

Cairns, Graham Lewis, Georgann 

Penson, Lucinda Scott. Photos by 

James Valentine, John Crowe, 

Georgann Penson, Faith Eidse, 

Kris Barrios, Gabby Saluta, 

Michael Orlando and the Florida 

Archives. Maps by Ferdouse 

Sultana. Graphics by Graphic 

Edge. 

Printed by Northwest Florida 

Water Management District at an 

approximate cost of $.33 each. 

Public Information Bulletin 07-04. 

Printed on recycled paper. District employees assess the sterile acreage of Site 39 dredge 

spoil area to determine how many tons of sand to remove to 

reach rich bottomland for replanting hardwood forests.

Replanted marsh at Cat Point.
Biodiversity

 One of the nation’s most ecologically diverse and 

significant natural areas, the Apalachicola River basin 

covers about 2,400 square miles within Florida. Habitats 

vary from rare steephead ravines with the only remaining native Torreya taxifolia, to towering limestone 

bluffs, the state’s largest forested floodplain, a vast 

productive estuary and many miles of barrier islands. 

 Research indicates that the Apalachicola region of 

steephead ravines is home to the highest species density of amphibians and reptiles north of Mexico. The 

region is home to eight plants found nowhere else (the 

Torreya, Florida skullcap, waxweed and yew, Godfrey’s 

blazing star and spiderlily, Apalachicola rosemary and 

Harper’s beauty), as well as 34 rare plants, 16 rare 

animals and 135 listed species tracked by the Florida 

Natural Areas Inventory. Among them is the protected 

Florida black bear. 

 The eastern watershed from Bristol to Chattahoochee 

shelters many rare and endangered plants, its steepheads protecting Croomia and Torreya from climate 

extremes. Cool ground water vents from the bases of 

steephead seepage slopes, carrying away sand and 

carving steep valleys that contain four ecosystems—

streams, wetlands, hardwood forests and dry upperslope forests. Torreya, also known as gopher wood, the 

timber used in Noah’s ark, is blighted and no longer 

blooms or reaches maturity in these steepheads. 

 The Apalachicola borders Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jackson and Liberty counties and is joined 

by the spring-fed Chipola River, its major tributary, 

before entering Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of 

Mexico. An alluvial river, it lies in the coastal plain and 

features floodplain lakes, such as Wimico and Iamonia. 

It is characterized by variable flow, annual flooding 

and heavy sediment loads.

Florida Black Bear. 

Michael Orlando

A shrimp boat leaves 

Apalachicola for offshore 

waters. John Crowe 

Natural Resources

 The natural resources of the Apalachicola watershed 

are vital to the region’s economy, yet 85 percent of the 

watershed lies outside Florida’s borders. Upstream activities and land uses help define the physical and biological characteristics of the Apalachicola River, home to 

131 fish, 315 bird and 52 mammal species, which have 

been largely protected by the state’s forested and rural 

nature. In Florida, the northern portion of the Apalachicola basin is mainly cropland and pasture, most of it in 

Jackson and Calhoun counties. The southern portion is 

forested floodplain where tupelo swamps flourish and 

beekeepers seasonally set their hives to guarantee the 

highest grade, non-crystallizing honey. 

 However, out-of-state land and water use also affects 

river health, and Alabama and Georgia farms draw 

large quantities daily from the river system and underground aquifers, returning only small portions. Studies 

show that these demands, together with metro Atlanta’s increased use, plus four large Chattahoochee 

dams holding 3-4 months rain, deplete the Apalachicola of a third of its flow during low cycles and disconnect floodplains needed for spawning (U.S. Geological 

Survey).

 The river and bay also support a substantial seafood 

harvest, including oyster, shrimp and numerous finfish. 

Many species of freshwater fish require inundated 

floodplains to spawn and survive, studies show, including the Gulf sturgeon and Gulf 

striped bass. More than 10 

percent of the nation’s oysters and almost 90 percent of 

Florida’s oysters are harvested 

from the bay. It is the third largest shrimp harvesting area in 

Florida, and is used for spawning by many species. The river 

supports three endangered 

mussels (the purple bank 

climber, Chipola slabshell and 

fat threeridge) and the fireback crayfish. 
 In 

recent years, fishermen have contended with diminished river flows, red tide events, development pressure, 

hurricanes and commercial waterfront losses. The 1994 Florida constitutional amendment banning gill nets within three miles 

of shore was enacted to protect fishing 

resources for the public. However, a Florida 

State University study found that recreational catches in 2002 outstripped commercial 

landings among populations of concern 

(red snapper, red drum and others) by 64 

percent in the Gulf of Mexico. 

 A portion of the annual oyster harvest was 

reportedly threatened by reduced freshwater 

flows, caused by drought, during the late 1990s 

and 2000s. Government efforts to safeguard 

natural floodplain and marine habitats have 

helped preserve these natural resources. 

Protection and 

Recreation

 The Apalachicola River and Bay are designated Outstanding Florida Waters and much 

of the bay is protected as the Apalachicola 

National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR) 

and an International Man and the Biosphere 

Reserve. To further preserve these exceptional 

ecosystems, the State of Florida has acquired 

more than 300,000 acres over the last 25 

years, bringing to 744,000 the number of acres 

under conservation ownership, the majority in 

Franklin and Liberty counties.

 The Nature Conservancy’s Apalachicola 

Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, Torreya State 

Park, Apalachicola National Forest, Tate’s 

Hell State Forest, St. Vincent National Wildlife 

Refuge, Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area (ARWEA) and the Apalachicola River Water Management Area (WMA) 

all offer preservation and public access. The 

District-purchased WMA offers hunting, fishing, 

boating, hiking and bird-watching over 36,300 

acres bordering the river for about 19 miles in 

Gulf and Liberty counties. Swallow-tail and Mississippi kites 

and various hawks can be found here. 

 The WMA is also part of a larger 582,000 Wildlife Management Area that takes in the Apalachicola National Forest, 

ARWEA and includes the Florida National Scenic Trail. One 

hundred miles of paddling trails extend through this area 

(brochures available at visitflorida.com). Call the Florida 

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (MyFWC.com), 

850-488-5520, or the District, 850-539-5999, for brochures on 

hunting and recreation that do not harm the resource.

 Additionally, the District has partnered with the Florida 

Division of Forestry (DOF) to restore several tracts in Tate’s 

Hell State Forest to wet savannah and flatwood habitat. 

Morning 

shrouds an 

area fish 

camp. Kris 

Barrios
The District installed baffle boxes at Eastpoint to treat 

stormwater runoff in a limited space and improve 

aquatic habitat in St. George Sound. 

Development Pressure

 Much of the remaining river basin is privately-owned and 

is managed for commercial timber production. Over half 

a million acres, currently undeveloped, is under private 

ownership. This is an area larger than all of the Apalachicola 

National Forest. 

 Many of these remaining acres may be developed in coming 

years. This means that state and federal agencies, citizens and 

local governments are facing numerous planning decisions with 

environmental and socioeconomic consequences.

The District helped save these dwarf cypress by restoring Tate’s Hell hydrology.

Florida Forever Water Resource Improvements

 Local governments have received District grant funds to reduce stormwater 

pollution from unpaved roads leading to the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers 

and their tributaries. Also, Franklin County was awarded funds to restore habitat 

and provide stormwater treatment along Apalachicola Bay on St. George Island. Jackson County received funds to stabilize dirt roads and control sediment 

pollution at tributary crossings. 

 The District has also partnered with local communities, such as Wewahitchka, 

Apalachicola, Eastpoint and Port St. Joe to reduce stormwater runoff and improve surface water quality and water supply. Florida Forever funds helped 

reduce sediment runoff at 

Lamb Eddy Road.

Surface Water Improvement and Management 

 The entire watershed is a priority of the District’s Surface Water Improvement 

and Management (SWIM) program, legislated in 1987 to reduce water resource 

degradation, as well as protect and preserve natural resources. The District has 

participated in tri-state negotiations to protect the natural system, to establish an 

equitable formula for sharing the resource and to sustain the river’s natural flow 

regime. The program has also addressed surface water pollution, restored natural systems, corrected and prevented surface water problems and researched 

better management of surface waters and natural systems. 

 The District has expended substantial funds and effort in restoring portions 

of Tate’s Hell hydrology to encourage the return of natural wetland vegetation similar to the swamp that in the 1880s tormented Cebe Tate. Lost in the 

bog for a week, he was found snake-bitten on the road to Carrabelle, and 

declared, “My name’s Tate and I’ve just been through hell.” 

 

District Mission and Water Supply Planning 

 It is the District’s mission to protect and manage 

water resources to sustain people and natural systems. 

Its goals are to promote sufficient water for natural 

systems and the reasonable benefit of people, to 

maintain natural floodplain functions and minimize flood 

damage, to protect and improve water resource quality 

and to protect and enhance natural systems. 

 Recently, the District identified up to 9 million gallons 

a day of alternative supplies to protect coastal wells 

from saltwater intrusion and to meet projected needs 

in Franklin and Gulf counties through 2025. Preferred 

sources included surface water via the Gulf County 

Fresh Water Canal (which the District helped purchase), 

and inland ground water sources in Franklin County. 

Also recommended were improved infrastructure and 

increased conservation and reclaimed water use (or 

reuse).