The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it joins the

Ocmulgee River The Ocmulgee River () is a western tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi (410 km) long, in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the westernmost major tributary of the Altamaha.

to form the

Altamaha River The Altamaha River is a major river in the U.S. state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles (220 km) from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties ...

near Lumber City at the borders of Montgomery County,

Wheeler County Wheeler County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Wheeler County, Georgia * Wheeler County, Nebraska * Wheeler County, Oregon * Wheeler County, Texas Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of t ...

, and Jeff Davis County. South of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, two forks, known as the Middle Oconee River and North Oconee River, which flow for upstream, converge to form the Oconee River. Milledgeville, the former capital city of Georgia, lies on the Oconee River. The Oconee River Greenway along the Oconee River in Milledgeville opened in 2008; the North Oconee River Greenway is in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the ...

. J.W. McMillan's brick factory was located along the river.

Course

The Oconee River passes through the

Oconee National Forest Oconee may refer to: Places in the United States *Oconee, Georgia * Oconee, Illinois * Oconee, Nebraska *Oconee County, Georgia *Oconee County, South Carolina *Oconee River, Georgia * Oconee Township, Shelby County, Illinois * Oconee Township, Nebr ...

into Lake Oconee, a man made lake, near the towns of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and Greensboro off

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Betwe ...

. From Lake Oconee, the river travels to

Lake Sinclair Lake Sinclair is a man-made lake in central Georgia near Milledgeville. It is operated by Georgia Power. The lake was named after Benjamin W. Sinclair, a Georgia Power official. Location Located in the central region of Georgia, on the Oconee ...

, another manmade lake near Milledgeville, the town founded on Georgia's

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is typically prominent where rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the coa ...

and former state capital. South of Milledgeville, the river flows unobstructed until merging with the Ocmulgee River to form the Altamaha River. Along the river there are many

sandbar In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. ...

s and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s while the forest bottomland

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

surrounding the Oconee extends for miles, creating a very remote setting. Swamps along the Oconee river include

Cow Hell Swamp Cow Hell Swamp (also called Cow Hell) is a swamp in the U.S. state of Georgia. The swamp is located along the eastern bank of the Oconee river near the mouth of Buckeye creek in northern Laurens County, with a small portion of the swamp exten ...

in Laurens County.

Name origin

The river's name derives from the Oconee, a Muskogean people of central Georgia. The Oconee lived in present-day Baldwin County, Georgia at a settlement known as Oconee Old Town, later moving to the

Chattahoochee River The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatt ...

in the early 18th century. The name exists in several variations, including Ocone, Oconi, Ocony, and Ekwoni.

River pollution

One of the main sources of pollution comes from

fecal coliform bacteria A fecal coliform (British: faecal coliform) is a facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacterium. Coliform bacteria generally originate in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Fecal coliforms are capable of growt ...

, several species of bacteria found in human and animal feces. Fecal coliform bacteria enter the river through a number of sources; storm-water runoff leaving farmlands, storm-water runoff carrying pet waste, leaking septic and sewer lines contaminating surface or groundwater, and sewer spills throughout the watershed. Fecal coliform bacteria can be deadly to humans if ingested or acquired through an open wound. Fish caught in the Oconee Basin may be eaten if cooked thoroughly.Georgia Environmental Protective Division; Georgia Department of Natural Resources. ''Fish Consumption Guidelines'' http://gaepd.org/Documents/fish_guide.html The second biggest form of pollution in the river is

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

Nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

in fertilizer in the form of nitrates or ammonia, measured in

parts per million In science and engineering, the parts-per notation is a set of pseudo-units to describe small values of miscellaneous dimensionless quantities, e.g. mole fraction or mass fraction. Since these fractions are quantity-per-quantity measures, th ...

, is found in regularly collected samples. These forms of nitrogen stimulate abundant growth of algae in the water. The third largest source of pollution is

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand ...

ation, typically caused by construction and urbanization.

Crossings

Crossings of the Oconee River include: *Oconee River Bridge, south of Milledgeville, site of

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

resistance of the Fourth Kentucky Regiment, plus a unit of convicts from the Milledgeville penitentiary and a battalion of Georgia Military Institute cadets vs. a Union army corps (part of

Sherman's March to the Sea Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, maj ...

). * The Herschel Lovett Bridge is a

steel girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

over the Oconee River along the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

– East Dublin city line. It carries US 80/ US 319/ SR 26/ SR 29/ SR 31. The bridge was named for Herschel Lovett, a Dublin businessman and politician.Thompson, Scott

References

External links

Oconee River Land Trust
{{authority control Rivers of Baldwin County, Georgia Rivers of Hall County, Georgia Rivers of Montgomery County, Georgia Rivers of Wheeler County, Georgia Rivers of Jeff Davis County, Georgia Rivers of Jackson County, Georgia