Paddlers on Lake Allatoona. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
This summer, there’s new resources for rivergoers to see if water quality in the Chattahoochee and other Georgia waterways are clean for recreation.
Jess Sterling with the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper tested water in the Chattahoochee River by Paces Ferry Road.
“We made up this special water sampler that we can actually that fits these sterile bags, and we can drop it off of a bridge,” Sterling said.
Sterling said this is one of hundreds of samples Chattahoochee Riverkeeper will process before the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
“It’s a PVC pipe with two eye hooks that we can tie the bag around, and then it’s attached to a rope,” Sterling said. She noted its important to keep the sterile bag totally clean, handling it with medical gloves before lowering it off the bridge down into the water.
Jessica Sterling samples water off a bridge on Paces Ferry Road NW for the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Swim Guide. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
This is the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s first year running a swim guide. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the organization is posting a map of water quality monitoring results at popular swimming and recreation spots every week.
CRK made this tool to make it easy for folks in the area to check if the river is safe to swim in — “with a simple green check mark or red X based on EPA’s recreational water quality criteria for E coli bacteria,” Sterling said.
The map uses data collected from a network of 300 volunteers collecting samples up and down the Chattahoochee every week to check for E. coli.
Sterling said E. coli is found in warm blooded animals’ poop. Dog and wildlife poop can wash into rivers when it rains, and the bacteria can also come from leaks in sewage pipes, which is also more common when it’s raining.
She said the Hooch’s water quality tends to be worse when it’s rained the previous two days, which she said unfortunately for swimmers and innertubers has been more often this summer in comparison to last summer, which was much drier.
But despite what many Atlantans might think, Sterling said when it’s not raining, the Hooch fares pretty well in these tests.
“Water quality in the Chattahoochee River is generally good, and water quality on our lakes is also excellent,” Sterling said.
That’s from up in the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area down south through the city, for example at the new park Riverview Landing.
Sterling said based on CRK’s data the bacteria levels in the river are 80% lower than they were in the 1970s, largely due to major sewer upgrades.
Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s water quality map is available every Friday on their website, although it was released a day early ahead of the Fourth of July.
The Chattahoochee River near Paces Ferry Rd NW. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)
Another group in Georgia also shares up-to-date water quality information.
“Part of our new features that we’ve come out with this week include a really intuitive, interactive user interface,” said Andrea White, the community programs coordinator for Georgia Rivers, a nonprofit that advocates for rivers and recreation throughout the state. She manages paddling guide trainings as well as the Georgia River Guide app.
She said the free tool — available in regular app stores on your phone — reports E. coli and a bunch of other information on several Georgia rivers.
“Every access point in the Georgia river guide is a public access point,” White said.
And details on if you need a permit, dam releases, water flow rates, parking fees, local camping facilities, where to get a shuttle ride, a list of fishing guides — and anything else under the sun for a trip down the river — the app has it all updated.
Georgia River Guide also uses data from the U.S. Geological Survey’s BacteriAlert program, in-stream monitors for water speed, temperature and turbidity that estimate E. coli levels.
Now, White said Georgia Rivers is looking for new grant funding to add new rivers to the guide and more interactive safety features to the app this year.
She said there are lots of places to get out on the water in Georgia this year in the Hooch and beyond — so plan ahead, wear your lifejacket, and safe paddling.
