Flint River (Georgia) - Natural History

Natural History

The river is considered to have three distinct sections as it flows southward through western Georgia. In its upper reaches in the red hills of the Piedmont, it flows through a deeply incised channel etched into crystalline rocks. South of its fall line near Culloden, the channel transforms to a broad, forested swampy flood plain. South of Lake Blackshear, it transforms again, flowing through a channel in limestone rock above the Upper Floridan Aquifer below southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida.

The river has been prone to floods throughout its history. In 1994, during flooding from Tropical Storm Alberto, the river crested at 43 feet (13 m) in Albany, resulting in the emergency evacuation of over 23,000 residents, and creating one of the worst natural disasters in the state's history. Interstate 75 was closed in Macon, and Albany State University was also seriously flooded, as the river became a few miles or several kilometers wide in some places. The water lifted caskets from cemeteries and left them along with drowned cattle and other livestock stuck in trees and other places. In 1998 another serious flood occurred in Albany, but was not as serious as the one of 1994. Other significant floods occurred in 1841 and 1925.

In January 2002, a winter storm blew through Atlanta the day after New Year's Day, and deicing fluid leaked into the river when the airport's drainage system overflowed. Nobody became seriously ill from the antifreeze, which made it into drinking water for some, but the airport changed the system to avoid the problem in the future. This was not well-tested for several years since it was the last major snow event the city had seen due to several warm or dry winters. However there were no reports of problems after an unusually-heavy 4 inches (10 cm) officially fell at the airport at the beginning of March 2009.

In October 2009, American Rivers declared the Flint to be on the most endangered rivers in the country, mainly due to plans to put a dam on it.

In May 2009, the National Fish Habitat Action Plan named the Lower Flint River one of its "10 Waters to Watch" for 2009 for its habitat restoration work.

The Flint is one of four rivers in the southeast with significant remaining populations of Hymenocallis coronaria, the Shoals spider-lily. Four separate stands of the plant have been studied and documented in the river, ranging from Yellow Jacket Shoals to Hightower Shoals.