The Atlanta Fly Fishing Club (AFFC) has begun a program to help establish new safety measures on the Chattahoochee River tailwater in metro Atlanta.
Project River Rising is a response to the rash of tragedies and close calls on the stream since last spring.
Two anglers and a 9-year-old girl tubing on the river have drowned since March. Rescue teams also have plucked dozens of other people from the river, when water releases from Buford Dam at Lake Lanier have overtaken them.
The Chattahoochee River is heavily used for recreation. Anglers ply the river in search of rainbow and brown trout, while water-sports enthusiasts tube, kayak, canoe, swim and wade the stream.
The river can be a peaceful flow, but that tranquility quickly turns to cold, brutal power when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases water through the turbines at Buford Dam.
The river level can rise up to 11 feet in a matter of minutes, as a flood of 44- to 58-degree water sweeps downstream.
The AFFC is working with the National Park Service and Corps of Engineers on ways to better make people aware of the potential hazards on the Chattahoochee.
“The goal is to inform all users of the river about the dangers of water released from Buford Dam,” AFFC spokesman Mike Williams said.
Scheduled water-release information is broadcast near the dam on radio station 1610 AM and also is available by telephone at 770-945-1466. A siren sounds at the dam just before releases, and warning signs are posted at all NPS access points.
The AFFC is looking at additional measures that could be used, such as flashing “river rising” signs, sirens farther down river, or call boxes at access points linked to the recorded release schedules.
Suggestions or requests for information regarding Project River Rising can be sent to Williams at mikewwex47@gmail.com.
Jimmy Jacobs is the editor of Georgia Sportsman Magazine. He can be contacted at Jimmy.Jacobs@imoutdoors.com
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