Eco-A features the South River for our Where the Water Goes Series in 2017!

This year we partner with the South River Watershed Alliance, highlighting the South River, which is born from Atlanta’s southern and eastern springs and streams, from East Point and Perkerson Park east along the south side of Decatur. When the South River joins the Yellow River at Jackson Lake, it becomes Georgia’s signature Ocmulgee River, which drops down through Macon and then bends east to join the Oconee River, becoming the mighty Altamaha. The Altamaha drains nearly a quarter of the state of Georgia and is one of the largest freshwater systems reaching the eastern coast of North America.

Our series features five outings, including walks and canoe trips, along the South River, from its headwaters in Atlanta neighborhoods to its outfall at the Atlantic Ocean.

June 10 – Trip 1: South River Headwaters, Atlanta

in partnership with the South River Watershed Alliance

Jackie Echols, Director, South River Watershed Alliance

Did you know the South River was used as Atlanta’s first sewer along Whitehall Street in the 1880’s? The South River’s top headwaters today are found in Atlanta’s urban zone with springs often confined in underground pipes, but we’ll find a few “day-lighted” areas, including locations at Langford Park, East Point and Brookdale Park to show that despite its humbled, barely noticed beginnings, the South River flows on to become of the richest and longest rivers in Georgia.

Dr. Jacqueline Echols, Director of South River Watershed Alliance, leads our first outing, sharing a wealth of information about this little-known river that originates in Atlanta neighborhoods. She’ll share the history of this remarkable little river and how various policies have affected the course of its health for the last several decades, and we’ll discover some of the remaining native forest along its corridor.

We’ll end our outing with a picnic lunch at Constitution Lakes, a DeKalb County greenspace that harbors a series of wetlands reclaimed from previous clay-mining excavations from the turn of the 20^th century. We’ll walk from the lakes area, now a haven for birds and wildlife, to an adjacent section of the South River, where it begins to come into its own as a waterway before flowing on to the Panola Mountain area just east of Atlanta.

To register, click HERE.  Details and directions will be sent to registered participants. 

Constitution Lakes, photo by Kathryn Kolb

A donation of $15 or more helps sustain our programs.

Note: For an interesting article about the history of Constitution Lakes, Atlanta’s brick company rivalries & convict labor, and about the recently created restoration trail, see: http://historyatlanta.com/dolls-head-trail-constitution-lakes/

Baby water turtle at Constitution Lakes