What is this site?

The Middle Oconee is a beautiful mid-sized river near Athens, Georgia. The river has been the subject of many scientific studies for a variety of reasons. Multiple communities withdraw water from the river, and it is an important location for community recreation. The watershed size and hydrology are such that the river can feasibility be studied using common scientific methods for wadeable rivers. The University of Georgia is just a few miles away, and the river has been a convenient ecological system for asking a variety of research questions. Collectively, these factors put the river in a “Sweet spot” of being complex enough from a socio-ecological lens, but manageable enough relative to the logistics of conducting river investigations. This website compiles published scientific studies and data sets collected on this unique and important river. The goal is to create a repository of knowledge developed in this system for future researchers.

Copyright Notice: Some of the documents listed are available for downloading. They are provided as a means to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work on a noncommercial basis. Copyright and all rights therein are maintained by the authors or by other copyright holders, notwithstanding that they have offered their works here electronically. It is understood that all persons copying this information will adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author’s copyright. These works may not be re-posted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Scientific Literature

Ahmed E.A. 2019. Resilience of the Middle Oconee River to anthropomorphic watershed impacts and precipitation extremes. Master’s Thesis. University of Georgia. pdf

Barnes H.H. 1967. Roughness characteristics of natural channels. Water Supply Paper 1849. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado. pdf

Bhattacharjee N.V., Willis J., Tollner E.W., and McKay S.K. 2019. Habitat provision under alternative environmental flow regimes. ERDC TN-EMRRP-SR-85. U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Mississippi. pdf

Campana P., Knox J., Grundstein A., and Dowd J. 2012. The 2007-2009 drought in Athens, Georgia, United States: A climatological analysis and an assessment of future water availability. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 48 (2), 379-390. link

Carter R.F. and Putnam S.A. 1978. Low flow frequency of Georgia streams. Water-Resources Investigations Report 77-127. U.S. Geological Survey. pdf

Cho, S., Hiott, L.M., Barrett, J.B., McMillan, E.A., House, S.L., Humayoun, S.B., Adams, E.S., Jackson, C.R. and Frye, J.G., 2018. Prevalence and characterization of Escherichia coli isolated from the Upper Oconee Watershed in Northeast Georgia. PloS one, 13(5), p.e0197005. pdf

Evans J.W. and England R.H. 1995. A recommended method to protect instream flows in Georgia. Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Fields L. 2018. The practicality of metabolic modeling to predict ecosystem properties in the middle Oconee river. Master’s Thesis. University of Georgia. pdf

Fisher D.S., Steiner J.L., Endale D.M., Stuedemann J.A., Schomber H.H., Franzluebbers A.J., and Wilkinson S.R. 2000. The relationship of land use practices to surface water quality in the Upper Oconee Watershed of Georgia. Forest Ecology and Management, 128, 39-48. link

Freeman M.C. and Marcinek P.A. 2006. Fish assemblage responses to water withdrawals and water supply reservoirs in Piedmont streams. Environmental Management, 38 (3), 435-450. link

Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR). 2001. Interim instream flow protection strategy. Appendix B of the Water Issues White Paper. www.gaepd.org/. pdf

Georgia Water Plan (GAWP). 2011. Upper Oconee: Regional water plan. September 2011. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Atlanta, Georgia.

Grubaugh J.W. 1994. Influences of elevation, stream size, and land use on structure, function, and production of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in two southern river ecosystems. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Georgia.

Grubaugh J.W. and Wallace J.B. 1995. Functional structure and production of the benthic community in a Piedmont river: 1956-1957 and 1991-1992. Limnology and Oceanography, 40 (3), 490-501. pdf

Ignatius, A.R. and Rasmussen, T.C., 2016. Small reservoir effects on headwater water quality in the rural-urban fringe, Georgia Piedmont, USA. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 8, pp.145-161. pdf

Katz R.A. 2009. Abundance and survival of common benthic biota in a river affected by water diversion during an historic drought. Master’s Thesis. University of Georgia. pdf

Katz R.A. 2014. Evaluating the relations between fish population dynamics, streamflow, and geomorphic characteristics at multiple spatial scales. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Georgia. pdf

Katz, R. A., and M. C. Freeman. 2015. Evidence of population resistance to extreme low flows in a fluvial-dependent fish species. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 72:1776-1787. link

Katz R.A. and McKay S.K. 2011. Evaluating effects of pump-storage water withdrawals using an individual-based metapopulation model of a benthic fish species. 2011 Georgia Water Resources Conference, Athens, Georgia. pdf

McDowell W.G. 2014. Assessing the ecological role of the invasive clam Corbicula fluminea in southeastern rivers and nationwide. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Georgia. pdf

McKay S.K. 2014. Informing flow management decisions in the Middle Oconee River. Doctoral Dissertation. Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. pdf

McKay, S. K. (2015). Quantifying Tradeoffs Associated with Hydrologic Environmental Flow Methods. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 51(6), 1508–1518. pdf

McKay, S. K., Freeman, M. C., & Covich, A. P. (2016). Application of Effective Discharge Analysis to Environmental Flow Decision-Making. Environmental Management, 57(6), 1153–1165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0684-4. pdf

McKay S.K. and Rasmussen T.C. 2013. Declaring drought for effective water management. 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference, Athens, Georgia. 4 pp. pdf

Merril M.D. 2001. Local and watershed influences on stream fish biotic integrity in the upper Oconee watershed, Georgia, USA. Master’s Thesis. University of Georgia. pdf

Nelson D.J. 1957. The standing crop and productivity of a rock outcrop in the Middle Oconee River, Georgia. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Georgia. pdf

Nelson D.J. and Scott D.C. 1962. Role of detritus in the productivity of a rock-outcrop community in a Piedmont stream. Limnology and Oceanography, 7, 396-413. pdf

Pahl J.P. 2009. Effects of flow alteration on the aquatic macrophyte Podostemum ceratophyllum (riverweed): Local recovery potential and regional monitoring strategy. Master’s Thesis. University of Georgia. pdf

Rack L. 2024. Evaluating low streamflow effects on biota to support management in perennial systems. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Georgia. pdf

Ruhiman, M.B. and Nutter, W.L., 1999. Channel morphology evolution and overbank flow in the Georgia Piedmont. JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 35(2), pp.277-290. link

Shrestha S., Dwivedi P., McKay S.K., and Radcliffe D. 2019. Assessing the potential impact of rising production of industrial wood pellets on streamflow in the presence of projected changes in land use and climate: A case study from the Oconee River Basin in Georgia, United States. Water, 11(1), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010142. pdf

Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority (UOBWA). 2005. Drought contingency plan. www.bearcreekwtp.com. pdf

Upper Oconee Basin Water Authority (UOBWA). 2014. Reservoir management plan. www.bearcreekwtp.com. pdf

Ward, R.W., 2002. Extent and dispersal rates of Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense) invasion on the upper Oconee River floodplain, North Georgia. Southeastern Geographer, 42(1), pp.29-48. link

Wood J.L. 2017. Using multiple lenses to investigate trophic interactions and responses to ecological stressors in lotic ecosystems. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Georgia. pdf

Wood, J., Pattillo, M. and Freeman, M., 2016. Organic-matter retention and macroinvertebrate utilization of seasonally inundated bryophytes in a mid-order piedmont river. Southeastern Naturalist, 15(3), pp.403-414. link

Wood, J.L., Skaggs, J.W., Conn, C. and Freeman, M.C., 2019. Water velocity regulates macro‐consumer herbivory on the benthic macrophyte Podostemum ceratophyllum Michx. Freshwater Biology, 64(11), pp.2037-2045. link

Data Sets

Conn C., Bumpers P., Rosemond A., McKay S.K., Wenger S., and Freeman M. 2024. Antecedent flow conditions drive patterns of primary producer biomass in a mid-sized temperate river. Zenodo. https://zenodo.org/records/16422070.

Dietterich L. and Hallmark M. 2023. Known and prospective rocky shoal locations in three rivers in Georgia, USA. Data Dryad. link