Savannah River - Natural History

Natural History

The Savannah River flows through a variety of climates and ecosystems throughout its course. It is considered an alluvial river, draining a 10,577-square-mile (27,390 km2) drainage basin and carrying large amounts of sediment to the ocean. At its headwaters in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the climate is quite temperate. The river's tributaries receive a small amount of snow-melt runoff in the winter. The majority of the river's flow through the Piedmont region is dominated by large reservoirs. Below the Fall Line, the river slows, and is surrounded by large blackwater bald cypress swamps. Numerous oxbow lakes mark the locations of old river channels, which have been moved by earthquakes and silting. Another prominent feature is the numerous large bluffs that line the river in some locations, most notably Yamacraw Bluff, the location selected to build the city of Savannah. The river becomes a large estuary at the coast, where fresh- and saltwater mix. River dredging operations to maintain the Port of Savannah have caused the estuary zone to move further upstream than its historical home. This is causing the transition of rare freshwater marshland into saltwater spartina marsh.

The river supports a large variety of native and introduced aquatic species:

• Upper Section - Yellow perch, Brook trout, Brown trout, Rainbow trout, Smallmouth bass, Largemouth bass, Crappie, Striped Bass, Hybrid striped bass, White bass, Bluegill, North American River Otter, American Mink, North American Beaver, catfish

• Middle Section - Largemouth bass, Crappie, Striped bass, Spotted bass, Bluegill, Redbreast sunfish, catfish, American eel, North American River Otter, American Mink, North American Beaver, Shortnose sturgeon, Chain pickerel, Bowfin, Longnose gar, snapping turtles, American Alligator, Water Moccasin

• Lower Section, estuary - Largemouth bass, Crappie, Striped bass, Spotted bass, Bluegill, Redbreast sunfish, catfish, American eel, North American River Otter, American Mink, North American Beaver, Shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, Chain pickerel, Bowfin, Longnose gar, snapping turtles, American Alligator, snakes, Red drum, flounder, Spotted seatrout, Bull shark, Tarpon, Common Bottlenose Dolphin, West Indian Manatee, Diamondback terrapin

Additionally, the river is one of only four left in the southeast with significant populations of Hymenocallis coronaria, the Shoals spider-lily. It has three populations in the primary river basin and one each in the tributaries of Stevens Creek in South Carolina and the Broad River in Georgia.