Basin is responsible for supplying domestic water to the Atlanta Metropolitan Region, which has a

population of more than 4.5 million and is vital water not only to Atlanta but most of the tri-state

area. (Rose, 2007)

governments for control and access to the water provided by the watershed

bio-diverse estuary, considered “one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots.” (Stevens & Ruscher,

2014)

several climatic oscillations, the most notable being the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. The AMO is a “60-86 year cycle of warming and cooling of sea surface temperatures in the North

Atlantic Ocean.

day (Rose, 2007) over the next 20 years, and agricultural demand by about 35 MGD for the same period.” (Wenger, 2020) 

wellbeing, there are significant drawbacks as well. “management introduces water-usage agendas and technology that may generate long-term unintended consequences for the environment, exacerbating initial conflicts and or leading to worsening conditions.” (Stevens & Ruscher, 2014) dams and irrigation systems created for irrigation outside of the Atlanta area especially, draws a substantial amount of water away from the Apalachicola Bay

for fecal coliform bacteria as a result of nonpoint source pollution. These bacteria enter the stream

from both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic sources, including SSOs, leaking sewer lines, failing septic systems and pet/ wildlife waste.” (Rose, 2007)

pollution from the Atlanta area. However, the Atlanta Metro area has many septic tanks still in use and “septic tank effluent is also known to have a significant deleterious effect upon the quality of

both groundwater and stream runoff in urban and suburban basins” (Rose, 2007)

Frick, E. A., Hiipe, D. J., Buell, G. R., Couch, C. A., Hopkins, E. H., Wangsness, D. J., & Garrett, J. W. (1998). Water quality in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River basin, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, 1992-95. Circular. https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1164 

Home - North Georgia Water Planning District. Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. (2019, May 6). https://northgeorgiawater.org/. 

Rose, S. (2007). The effects of urbanization on the hydrochemistry of base flow within the Chattahoochee River Basin (Georgia, USA). Journal of Hydrology, 341(1-2), 42–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.04.019 

Stevens, K. A., & Ruscher, P. H. (2014). Large scale climate oscillations and mesoscale surface meteorological variability in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. Journal of Hydrology, 517, 700–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.06.002 

Stripling , M. (2018). Welcome to SherpaGuides.com. Sherpa Guides | Welcome to SherpaGuides.com. https://sherpaguides.com/. 

Wenger , S. (2020, April 7). PROVIDING THE TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF AQUATIC RESOURCES AND ECOSYSTEMS. The River Basin Center. https://rivercenter.uga.edu/.