Lazy rivers braided through swamps and salt marshes. Spanish moss and pecan trees veiling the full might of the Atlantic. Fat alligators and Blackbeard’s ghost. These are Georgia’s waters.

We absolutely love having Georgia on Swim Guide.

Thanks to the Satilla Riverkeeper’s water quality monitoring program we are now able to offer Swim Guide users water quality information for the Satilla River system.

The Satilla River is a blackwater river. Born from swamps, its coffee coloured waters careen their way through forests and marshes where the river becomes salty as it joins the estuarine system on the Atlantic coast. The Satilla is an exciting river, with unusual and mysterious characteristics. It has striking white sand banks, awesome against its black waters. Journeying past cypress and peat moss swamps, including Okefenokee, the life supported by river’s ecosystems is varied and rare.

The Satilla River also boasts a litter trap, one of two in the entire U.S.A. The trap was installed to prevent Georgia’s trash from running into the Atlantic.

Satilla Riverkeeper

Satilla Riverkeeper is a busy organization, working hard for a swimmable, drinkable, fishable Satilla River.

Satilla Riverkeeper’s work, like the river, weaves its way through the state, from the coastal plains of Fitzgerald to Cumberland Island on the Atlantic Coast. They care for the waters from Seventeen Mile River to Douglas, the Hurricanes to Alma and Hazlehurst, the Big Satilla Creek to Jesup, both of the Little Satilla Rivers and the main run of the Satilla River, from Waycross to Woodbine.

Satilla Riverkeeper’s brand new monitoring program is part of Georgia’s Adopt-A-Stream program.Adopt-A-Stream is a volunteer water quality monitoring program run by the state’s Environmental Protection Division. It’s an impressive initiative, encouraging Georgians to learn about pollution sources in their waterways and the quality of their waters, and take action to protect and restore their homewaters.

Satilla Riverkeeper Ashby Nix doubles as the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream local coordinator and trainer. Mary Freund is a Georgia Adopt-A-Stream trainer and field technician.

Satilla Riverkeeper monitors 9 swim spots on the Satilla River on a monthly basis. Their test results are now available on Swim Guide, as well as on their own website and facebook page. Results are also available on the Adopt-A-Stream website.

Goals for Satilla Riverkeeper Water Quality program

• Get more people involved with the Adopt-A-Stream program through hosting workshops and inviting them to field sampling days
• Get more sites adopted throughout the Satilla Basin for monthly water quality monitoring, especially in the Douglas area
• Use Adopt-A-Stream along with Swim Guide to educate the local community about the impacts of non-point source pollutants on water quality in the Satilla Watershed and how this is directly related to our health
• Provide our volunteers with the tools and training they need to be successful Adopt-A-Stream volunteers
• Get local community to understand the importance of water quality, which dictates the health of the River, and take initiative/ownership on protecting their Satilla River