NERA Hosts Paddle Trip Down Oostanaula
The New Echota Rivers Alliance will host a seven-mile paddle trip down the Oostanaula River in Calhoun on Saturday September 27th.
The trip is free to NERA members and members of the Coosa River Basin Initiative. $35 annual membership dues will be charged to non-members. The trip begins at Ga.136 in Calhoun and ends at Ga. 156. Paddlers will be on the water about four hours.
This stretch of river is best known for its tremendous diversity of freshwater mussels. The Oostanaula is critical habitat for seven federally protected mussel species, and the shells of the more common species are usually found on sandbars and gravel bars along this paddle route.
The Oostanaula recently made news as a result of a large algae bloom that drifted through Calhoun and on down river to the Oostanaula in Rome. The bloom of the algae Euglena stretched for several miles down the river. Euglena are single-celled animals with a single flagella. They can be common in very nutrient-rich waters like stock ponds and sewage lagoons.
The bloom suggests that high levels of nutrients are entering the Oostanaula or one of its tributaries, the Conasauga or Coosawattee. NERA and CRBI are currently attempting to track potential pollution sources that may have contributed to the bloom.
“Getting people out on our rivers is one way that we’re trying to protect our rivers,” said David Harrison, NERA president. “The algae bloom on the Oostanaula was reported to authorities by a fisherman. The more people that we have using the river for recreation, the more likely we are to identify pollution problems and find solutions to those problems.”
For more information or to sign up, contact David L. Harrison at 770-547-2275 or by email at dlbharrison@yahoo.com.
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