THE IMPORTANCE OF GEORGIA’S WATERWAYS BY STEWART OSER FAST FACTS • Georgia has 14 rivers, including the Savannah, Chattahoochee, Coosa, Flint, St. Mary’s, Tennessee, and Oconee Rivers. • “Georgia has 4.8 million acres of wetlands, 425,382 acres of public lakes and reservoirs, 854 square miles of estuaries, and 100 miles of coastline.” • The Environmental Protection Agency says that Georgia has 44,056 miles of perennial streams, 23,906 miles of intermittent streams, and 603 miles of ditches and canals. HISTORICAL FACTS • The Savannah River was discovered by De Soto in 1540. At the time, it was 314 miles long and well traveled. • Natives used this river for settlement, food, drinking water, and transportation and they called it Isondega, meaning “blue waters.” • The Chattahoochee River’s name means “river of painted rocks”, and the Natives used this river for transportation. GEORGIA’S WATERWAYS • Georgia has several different types of waterways. • These include: • Rivers • There are many different rivers in Georgia, and they all mainly serve for drinking water, transportation, and hydroelectric power. • The Atlantic Ocean • Georgia has 100 miles of Atlantic coastline. This is used for international trade. • and Coastal Waterways. • One such waterway is the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which is used for transportation. THE INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY • The Atlantic Intracoastal waterway is a partially man-made waterway that allows safe travel through the entire U.S. east coast. • It is mainly man-dug canals, however it does utilize some natural lakes and rivers. • The lowest controlling depth of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is 6.1 feet. VIDEO SUMMARY: DEVELOPMENT OF GEORGIA Once upon a time, Georgia ran on water. People used mills and waterwheels on farms to grind corn and other products, but this could take hours. Some of these mills still exist and are still in use. There were many kinds, including waterwheelpowered mills, river water-powered mills, and waterfall powered mills. These are all wonderful sites around Georgia. “When Georgia’s settlers learned to control water, it changed everything.” Different kinds of mills, such as paper and textiles, were created as a result of this wet epidemic. Most Georgia mills were burned down by Union soldiers. They got to Georgia by traveling the Chattahoochee. Mills were very common wherever water had a steep drop against rocks, because they produced better power. Georgia made sure that they controlled the waters, even giving up Alabama and Mississippi to the federal government, drawing the boundary. Water and mills helped shape our country, and they continue to play a role in the state. They were simple machines that served a huge purpose: to provide a method of grinding food and rock and they also provided power. These mills were very important to Georgia. They provided food and power to us, and put people into jobs. Without the mills, there would have been a lot less socializing in Georgia. Without mills, Georgia would not be the same today. EQ: HOW DID WATER AFFECT GEORGIA’S DEVELOPMENT Water affected Georgia’s development because without water, Georgia would have never created the many mills that it did which led to an increase in food, power, and more. Water served as a great source of transportation, and it still does. In summary, without water, Georgia would not be at the same place that it is today. WHAT I TAKE FROM THIS: While creating this PowerPoint, I learned many things about Georgia’s water, waterways, and how and why we use them. For example, I learned about the many different Georgian mills and how they benefited our early society. They provided power, food, and more for all of us. I learned that some of these mills still exist today. Another thing that I learned was that our rivers have many historical backgrounds to them. For example, the Savannah river was used for food, water, and transportation even by Native Americans. RESOURCES • Administrator. “Georgia Rivers.” Ocmulgee River Water Trail, www.garivers.org/news/470-georgia-rivers.html. • https://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/images/uploads/gallery/garivers.jpg • https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/sites/default/files/styles/article-top/public/chattooga%20river_002.jpg?itok=6coyN0Ah • http://northgeorgiaphotos.com/images/Chattooga_river_bulls_sluice.jpg • https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Chesapeake_and_Delaware_Canal_eastern_entrance.jpg/1200pxChesapeake_and_Delaware_Canal_eastern_entrance.jpg • Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Intracoastal Waterway.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 June 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Intracoastal-Waterway. • https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Water_drop_001.jpg • https://media1.tenor.com/images/1cf847ae1ccd4c7e4eecdc62879509b5/tenor.gif?itemid=9718895 • Previous Knowledge and from notes and video and Mrs. Imbert and textbook, and the video.
