As many of you know, our motto at the Greenwood Project is Invest….Conserve…..Enjoy…… We have always believed that when you blend financial investment with conservation and the pursuit of the outdoor lifestyle, you create a win-win situation.
We couldn’t think of a project that exemplifies this more than 2012: Ready2Raft.
Check out this video!
Hi,
In this video Don Webb says the river will be ‘restored to it’s natural state.’ From a conservation angle, What is its natural state? I mean are you trying to make it as species rich as it may have been 300 years ago or are there just certain criteria to meet e.g. Trout abundance and aesthetics? I say this because I don’t see how it would be possible to restore an urban river to it’s true natural state. I suppose a balance between function as a white water rafting area and what can be achieved with the budget will define the criteria. I am interested to hear what the goals are for this part of the project.
Thanks,
Don Stalker
The Eagle Dam has been around since the late 1800′s, farther up river there are other dams as well. To restore it to its natural state, (1) the Chattahoochee would have to be completely cleared of all dams, (2) sewage and garbage dumping by Atlanta and each city and farm downriver would need to completely cease, (3) Sturgeon and other marine animals which are now non-existent in the river would need to be re-introduced, (4) Humans visiting the river would need to be kept to a minimum – at least to the level Native Americans visited the river, and (5) would need to be cleaned up – removing the pollution and garbage already there.
The river is often green with pollen in the spring, and brown throughout the majority of the rest of the year – by accounts pre-dam, it used to be clear most of the year, as it is at times in the winter when snow melts upriver.
It should also be better for those fish which do exist in the river. When the dam was built, it constricted movement, and when the Columbus Riverwalk was built, it changed the beds that certain fish relied on. I would think that removing the dams should lower the number of catfish hanging around behind the artificial waterfalls, and allow for better water movement for the other types of fish. I’m no fishing expert or marine biologist, however.
I would also expect the greater water movement, and more natural (but definitely not 100% natural) rising and falling of the river would be far better for the foliage and river plants.
I truly doubt that the river will be cleaned up to any great extent by this project, however, more than likely what is more in mind is esthetically making the river flow look similar to how it did before the dams in this stretch of the Chattahoochee river, and of course, to revitalize the uptown Columbus, GA area. A somewhat different kind of invest, conservation, and enjoy, but none the less conservation of a sort.
Does anyone happen to have any real details on the impact to wildlife in the area? I haven’t seen any, but am interested to find out.
Thanks,
Ray