Savannah River

For the Department of Energy facility, see Savannah River Site

Savannah River
Tugaloo River
River
Savannah River at Augusta (Augusta Canal running alongside)
Country	United States
States	South Carolina, Georgia
Tributaries
- left	Seneca River
- right	Tugaloo River
Cities	Savannah, Augusta
Source	Lake Hartwell
- elevation	655 ft (200 m)
- coordinates	34°26′37″N 82°51′22″W
Mouth	Atlantic Ocean
- location	Tybee Roads
- elevation	0 ft (0 m)
- coordinates	32°2′16″N 80°51′0″W
Length	301 mi (484 km)
Basin	9,850 sq mi (25,511 km2)
Discharge	for near Clyo, GA
- average	11,720 cu ft/s (332 m3/s)
Map of the Savannah River watershed

A cargo ship navigates the narrow Savannah River channel at Savannah

Savannah River at Riverwalk Augusta

The Savannah River at Fort James Jackson near Savannah

The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border. The Savannah River drainage basin extends into the southeastern side of the Appalachian Mountains just inside North Carolina, bounded by the Eastern Continental Divide. The river is around 301 miles (484 km) long. It is formed by the confluence of the Tugaloo River and the Seneca River. Today this confluence is submerged beneath Lake Hartwell. The Tallulah Gorge is located on the Tallulah River, a tributary of the Tugaloo River that forms the northwest branch of the Savannah River.

Two major cities are located along the Savannah River: Savannah, and Augusta, Georgia. They were nuclei of early English settlements during the Colonial period of American history.

Through the building of several locks and dams, and upstream reservoirs like Lake Hartwell, also, the Savannah River was once navigable by freight barges between Augusta, Georgia (on the Fall Line) and the Atlantic Ocean; maintenance of this channel for commercial shipping ended in 1979, and the one lock below Augusta has been deactivated.

The Savannah River is tidal at Savannah. Downstream from there, the river broadens into an estuary before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. The area where the river's estuary meets the ocean is known as "Tybee Roads". The Intracoastal Waterway flows through a section of the Savannah River near the city of Savannah.

Name

The name "Savannah" comes from a group of Shawnee who migrated to region in the 1680s, destroyed the Westo and occupied the former Westo lands at the Savannah River's head of navigation on the fall line, near present day Augusta. These Shawnee were called by several variant names such as Shawano, Savano, Savana, and Savannah. The origin and meaning of the name savana for these Shawnee is uncertain. One theory is that the name was derived from the English term "savanna", a kind of tropical grassland, which was borrowed by the English from Spanish sabana and used in the colonial southeast. The Spanish word was in turn borrowed from the Taino word zabana. Other theories interpret the name Savannah to come from Algonquian terms meaning "southerner" or perhaps "salt".

History

The Savannah River was influential in the economic development of Georgia, and two major cities were founded on the river in the 18th century. Savannah was established in 1733 as a seaport on the Atlantic Ocean, and Augusta is positioned where the river meets the fall line. The two large cities on the Savannah served as Georgia's first two state capitals. In the nineteenth century, the sandy river bottom changed frequently, causing numerous steamboat accidents. Navigation improvements such as the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam constructed in 1937 were intended to facilitate commercial shipping as far as Augusta. The Savannah River became significant in the 1950s when development commenced on the Savannah River Plant for making nuclear-weapons materials.

During the American Civil War Lincoln had proclaimed a blockade around the Confederate states, forcing suppliers to use specific ports along the coast best suited for this purpose. The harbor at Savannah became one of the busiest ports for blockade runners bringing in supplies for the Confederacy.

Historical and variant names of the Savannah River, as listed by the USGS, include May River, Westobou River (for the Westo tribe), Kosalu River, Isundiga River and Girande River, among others.

Between 1946 and 1985, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built three major dams on the Savannah for hydroelectricity, flood control and navigation. The J. Strom Thurmond Dam (1954), the Hartwell Dam (1962) and the Richard B. Russell Dam (1985) and their reservoirs combine in order to form over 120 miles (190 km) of lakes.

The Westobou River was the former name of the Savannah River that was derived from the Westo (also known as Westoe) native American Indians. The Westo were thought to have originally came from the northeast as result of the Iroquiocs tribe that had forced many native American groups out of the northeast through advanced weapons acquired through trade. This migration in the late landed the Westo Indians in the present area of Augusta, Georgia in what was likely to be the 1660s.

The Westobou River was large part of the life of the Westo, it supplied food sources and trade routes. The Westo were strong enough to hold off the Spanish, and this was greatly needed by the Carolina Colony. When Carolinians desired to expand its trade to Charleston, they viewed the Westo tribe as an obstacle. In order to remove the tribe, they sent a group called the Goose Creek Men to arm the Savanna (also known as the Savannah) Indians, a Shawnee tribe, who defeated the Westo in the Westo War of 1680 giving the Westo a time period of about 20 years in the area of Augusta, Georgia. As of today, the name of the river remains named after the Savanna Indians, and is called the Savannah River.

Donnie Thompson researched and named a small subdivision "Westobou Crossing" which is located in North Augusta, South Carolina. The area of the subdivision is located marks the first natural bridge that crosses the Savannah River, thus promoting trade and allowing travel. Many native artifacts were found in the area and now belong to private collections.

Natural history

The Savannah River flows through a variety of climates and ecosystems throughout its course. It is considered an alluvial river, draining a 10,577-square-mile (27,390 km²) drainage basin and carrying large amounts of sediment to the ocean. At its headwaters in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the climate is quite temperate. The river's tributaries receive a small amount of snow-melt runoff in the winter. The majority of the river's flow through the Piedmont region is dominated by large reservoirs. Below the Fall Line, the river slows, and is surrounded by large blackwater bald cypress swamps. Numerous oxbow lakes mark the locations of old river channels, which have been moved by earthquakes and silting. Another prominent feature is the numerous large bluffs that line the river in some locations, most notably Yamacraw Bluff, the location selected to build the city of Savannah. The river becomes a large estuary at the coast, where fresh- and saltwater mix. River dredging operations to maintain the Port of Savannah have caused the estuary zone to move further upstream than its historical home. This is causing the transition of rare freshwater marshland into saltwater spartina marsh.

The river supports a large variety of native and introduced aquatic species:

• Upper Section - Yellow perch, Brook trout, Brown trout, Rainbow trout, Smallmouth bass, Largemouth bass, Crappie, Striped Bass, Hybrid striped bass, White bass, Bluegill, North American River Otter, American Mink, North American Beaver, catfish

• Middle Section - Largemouth bass, Crappie, Striped bass, Spotted bass, Bluegill, Redbreast sunfish, catfish, American eel, North American River Otter, American Mink, North American Beaver, Shortnose sturgeon, Chain pickerel, Bowfin, Longnose gar, snapping turtles, American Alligator, Water Moccasin

• Lower Section, estuary - Largemouth bass, Crappie, Striped bass, Spotted bass, Bluegill, Redbreast sunfish, catfish, American eel, North American River Otter, American Mink, North American Beaver, Shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, Chain pickerel, Bowfin, Longnose gar, snapping turtles, American Alligator, snakes, Red drum, flounder, Spotted seatrout, Bull shark, Tarpon, Common Bottlenose Dolphin, West Indian Manatee, Diamondback terrapin

Additionally, the river is one of only four left in the southeast with significant populations of Hymenocallis coronaria, the Shoals spider-lily. It has three populations in the primary river basin and one each in the tributaries of Stevens Creek in South Carolina and the Broad River in Georgia.

Pollution

The Savannah River has the fourth-highest toxic discharge in the country, according to a 2009 report by Environment America.

Notable tributaries

• Black Creek
• Brier Creek
• Broad River
• Chattooga River
• Ebenezer Creek
• Knoxboro Creek
• Little River (Columbia County, Georgia)
• Little River (McCormick County, South Carolina)
• McBean Creek
• Rocky River
• Seneca River
• Stevens Creek
• Tugaloo River

Crossings

This is a list of crossings of the Savannah River.

Crossing	Carries	Location
Front River
Talmadge Memorial Bridge	U.S. 17	Savannah, Georgia and South Carolina
Houlihan Bridge	S.R. 25	Port Wentworth, Georgia and South Carolina
Back River
Savannah River
Seaboard Coastline Railroad Bridge	CSX Transportation	Savannah, Georgia and South Carolina
Interstate 95 Bridge	I-95	Savannah, Georgia and Hardeeville, South Carolina
Georgia Highway 119 Bridge	GA Highway 119	Clyo, Georgia and Garnett, South Carolina
Burtons Ferry Bridge	US 301	Sylvania, Georgia and Allendale, South Carolina
Sand Bar Ferry Bridge	GA Highway 28	Augusta, Georgia and Beech Island, South Carolina
Bobby Jones Expressway/Palmetto Parkway Bridge	Interstate 520	Augusta, Georgia and North Augusta, South Carolina
James U. Jackson Bridge	U.S. 25	Augusta, Georgia and North Augusta, South Carolina
Jefferson Davis Highway Bridge	U.S. Highway 1	Augusta, Georgia and North Augusta, South Carolina
5th Street Bridge	5th Street	Augusta, Georgia and North Augusta, South Carolina
13th Street Bridge	GA/SC Highway 25	Augusta, Georgia and North Augusta, South Carolina
Interstate 20 Bridge	I-20	Augusta, Georgia and North Augusta, South Carolina
Furys Ferry Bridge	GA/SC Highway 28	Evans, Georgia and South Carolina
J. Strom Thurmond Dam	US 221	Rosemont, Georgia and Clarks Hill, South Carolina
McCormick Highway Dam	US 378	Lincolnton, Georgia and McCormick, South Carolina
Calhoun Falls Highway Bridge over Lake Richard B. Russell	GA/SC Highway 72	Elberton, Georgia and Calhoun Falls, South Carolina
Elberton Highway Bridge over Lake Richard B. Russell	SC Highway 184	Elberton, Georgia and Iva, South Carolina
Smith McGee Bridge	SC Highway 181	Hartwell, Georgia and Iva, South Carolina
Hartwell Dam Bridge	US 29	Hartwell, Georgia and Anderson, South Carolina
Lake Hartwell Bridge	Interstate 85	Lavonia, Georgia and Fair Play, South Carolina
Toccoa Highway Bridge (old and new)	US 123	Toccoa, Georgia and Westminster, South Carolina
Cleveland Pike Bridge	Cleveland Pike Road	Toccoa, Georgia and Westminster, South Carolina

Dams

• Hartwell Dam
• Richard B. Russell Dam
• J. Strom Thurmond Dam (Clarks Hill Dam)
• Stevens Creek Dam
• Augusta City Dam
• New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam

See also

• List of Georgia rivers
• List of South Carolina rivers

References

• Stokes, Thomas, L, The Savannah (Rivers of America Series), Rinehart, 1951

• Wise, Stephen R. (1991). Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War.
  Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 403.  Url