The trip will run from Mt. Vernon Mills in Trion six miles downstream along a shady, rural corridor to a take out on private property. The trip is suitable for beginners and free to CRBI members. Pre-registration is required. Canoe and kayak rentals are available.

“The Chattooga has long been viewed as the waste receptacle for the textile mills, but over the past 30 years, great strides have been made in cleaning up the Chattooga,” said Joe Cook, Executive Director & Riverkeeper with CRBI. “Summerville and Trion have an untapped recreational resource in the Chattooga River. It’s a beautiful river that’s worth exploring.”

The Chattooga River, the drinking water source for many in Chattooga County, has been identified by state water planners as a river of concern. Officials with the Coosa-North Georgia Water Planning District predict that by 2050 local water supply demands will exceed the river’s capacity and wastewater discharges from municipal treatment plants could pollute the river to unsafe levels for fish and other aquatic wildlife.

Planning District documents show that Chattooga County’s population will grow by 15,168 residents over the next 40 years to a population of 42,503. Water demand will grow by almost two million gallons a day to a projected need of 5.93 million gallons in 2050. Wastewater flows to the Chattooga will also increase.

CRBI is working to raise awareness about the Chattooga River. With funds made available through the Tillitson-Menlo Foundation, CRBI is hosting two paddle trips this year, organizing a river clean up, presenting education programs in local schools and reviewing water conservation efforts undertaken by Summerville, Trion, Menlo, Lyerly and Chattooga County.

“There’s concern that the Chattooga will not be able to sustain the area’s growing population,” Cook said. “We need to begin now taking steps to fully utilize this resource without damaging it. We need to take less water from it and reduce the amount of pollution we dump into it. This paddle trip is a way of beginning that conversation.” 

For more information and to register, visit www.coosa.org or contact Volunteer CRBI Paddle Trip Coordinator Alan Crawford at 706-237-7268 or via e-mail at ibwheelin2@yahoo.com.

CRBI is a 501c3 non-profit organization and member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance. Its mission is to inform and empower citizens to protect, preserve and restore North America’s most biologically diverse river basin. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT JOE COOK AT 706-232-2724 OR AT JCOOK@COOSA.ORG