Threats
 
  • Climate Change is a significant threat to the river. The Choctawhatchee system is already subject to severe drought. Specific changes due to climate change are not readily available but some climate models suggest that droughts may be more severe and more frequent. The image is the Pea River at Coles bridge.

         http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/globalwarming/html

         http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

         http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2007/11/arctic_ice_melting_animation_in_goo.html

  • Dams (Existing and Proposed) represent a significant threat. Dams change the hydrology or ebb and flow of a river. They block passage of fish and the juvenile, parasitic forms of mussels that hitch a ride on the fish gills thereby removing species. They alter or destroy ecosystems by changing them from flowing waters to impounded waters. Finally dams create "hungry water" that increases the erosive power of water below dams. The CRK will work to defeat a proposed dam on the Little Choctawhatchee River and also for removal of the dam on the Pea River at Elba. The images to the right are the Pea River dam near Elba and remains of an old power dam on the Little Choctawhatchee River downstream of the proposed dam site (aerial pictures made possible by a flight provided by Southwings, Inc.).

       For alternatives to dams see Beyond Dams: Options and Alternatives:   

         beyonddamsoptionsandalternative.pdf

        For a preliminary assessment of the Little Choctawhatchee River aee:

        Preliminary Assessment

The CRK does not feel that the proposed dam is needed as no measures are in place to conserve or reuse water and other viable alternatives exist. Removal of the Elba dam can increase habitat for the gulf sturgeon.

Excerpted from How to Save a River by David Bolling.

No human development presents as singular and visible a threat to a river as a dam. Dams have the unique capacity to utterly disrupt an entire river ecosystem with one act of construction. And while a dam may not be forever, its monumental presence promises to outlast several human generations and the animal species whose habitat it destroys.

There are so many dams on America's rivers that no one seems to know the precise number, although estimates range from 60,000 to 80,000 and the Environmental Protection Agency suggests the figure of 68,000 major impoundments. When farm ponds are added to the equation, the National Research Council reports a total of "well over" 2.5 million dams in the United States.

Those dams have buried 17 percent of the nation's river miles beneath reservoirs, and they have adversely affected an even larger percentage of river habitat by interrupting flows, altering water temperature, blocking wildlife migration corridors, and imposing numerous other changes on natural systems. By contrast, less than 1 percent of the nation's river miles are protected in their natural state.

While dams have created ecological havoc, it is important for us to acknowledge the good dams have done. We all depend on the power and water produced by dams, as well as the navigation and flood protection they provide. But far too many dams have been built, many for no justifiable reason. Between 1962 and 1968 more than 200 major dams were completed in North America each year and, during the same period, smaller dams were being constructed at the rate of more than 2000 per year. More than 6000 major new dams were proposed in the U.S. between 1984 and 1994. The number may be difficult to grasp, but it is not difficult to imagine the negative impact all those dams have had on rivers and streams.

         

  •  Sedimentation is a natural process but accelerated man-caused sedimentation causes serious impacts in the Choctawhatchee River and its tributaries. Sources include streambank erosion caused by lack of good streamside buffer zones on agricultural and forest land, gullies, unstabilized soil borrow pits, and lack of adequate erosion and sediment control on construction sites. Inappropriate operation of ATVs also creates significant streambank erosion around bridge crossings. Aerial image made possible by Southwings, Inc.

Picture of pasture right up to river is on the Pea River. Sediment-filled tributary (left) is from an unstabilized borrow pit and is on the Choctawhatchee upstream from Waterford. The picture (right) is from a construction site in Troy.

 

 

  • Eutrophication caused by excessive nutrient levels is a threat due to municipal WWTPs, poultry processing plant discharges and nonpoint sources including livestock operations, agricultural fertilizer and excessive fertilizer use on lawns. Image to right is uncovered manure pile - a threat for both surface and groundwater contamination - that remained uncovered for several months and that was eventually covered only to have the cover fail.

Cyanobacteria in Judy Creek at Dale CR 20 (left) and cattle hoof prints in Buckhorn Creek along with algae at U.S. 29 in Pike County. Buckhorm Creek (right) regularly has zero dissolved oxygen at multiple sampling sites but ADEM refused to list the stream as impaired by adding it to the 303d list.

 

Algae in Double Bridges Creek at Coffee CR 682 (left). Nutrients from a poultry processing plant and from livestock operations cause this stream to have one of if not the highest phosphorus concentrations in the watershed. (Right) Poultry processing plant near Baker Hill, Alabama (Barbour County).

 

  • Miscellaneous but certainly not insignificant threats include blocked fish passage at bridges and culverts, poor and threatened access to streams and rivers for recreational users and litter and illegal dumping. The image to the right shows blockage of fish passage on the Pea River by an ALDOT project. Errors in the design and execution of the project were corrected after the CRK made ALDOT aware of the problem.  

(Left) bauxite/clay mining in Barbour and Henry counties is being monitored via aerial and ground patrols (aerial image made possible by a flight provided by Southwings, Inc.). Litter (right) is a problem across the basin as is illegal dumping. Past CRK efforts have had some partial successes addressing disposal of deer carcasses.

 

(Left and Right) Fencing on public property erected by an adjacent landowner has eliminated reasonable access for paddlers to the East Fork of the Choctawhatchee River. The CRK is working with local citizens to attempt to remedy this situation.

 

If you observe anything that you feel is significant pollution in the river, a non-emergency threat to the river or illegal activity that is impacting the river please note the time, location and if possible take photographs and then contact the Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper ChocRivKeeper@gmail.com or call 334-807-1365. The CRK will investigate your report as soon as possible and report back to you.

IN THE CASE OF EMERGENCY SITUATIONS SUCH AS A FISH KILL CONTACT BOTH YOUR LOCAL CONSERVATION OFFICER AND THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT. IF THE ISSUE IS A HAZARDOUS WASTE OR FUEL SPILL CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENT OR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY (STATE TROOPER OFFICE).

Please then, after you have contacted the appropriate emergency response organizations, contact the CRK as soon as possible.

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