Apalachicola River
{{Short description|River in Florida, US}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Apalachicola River
| image = Apalachicola watershed.png
| image_caption = Map of the Apalachicola River watershed showing the two main tributaries, the Chattahoochee River (left) and the Flint River (right).
| source1 = Lake Seminole
| source1_location = Chattahoochee, Florida
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|30.7086|-84.8639|format=dms|type:river_region:US-FL|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{Convert|75|ft|abbr=on}}
| mouth = Gulf of Mexico
| mouth_location = Apalachicola, Florida
| mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|29.7243|-84.9776|format=dms|region:US-FL|display=it}}
| mouth_elevation = {{Convert|0|ft|abbr=on}}
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = United States
| subdivision_type2 = State
| subdivision_name2 = Florida
|length_mi=160
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|19602|cuft/s|m3/s|abbr=on}}
|basin_size_mi2=19500
}}
The Apalachicola River {{IPAc-en|æ|p|əl|æ|tʃ|ᵻ|ˈ|k|oʊ|l|ə}} is a river, approximately {{convert|160|mi|km}} long, in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately {{convert|19500|sqmi|km2|sigfig=4}} into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its farthest head waters (as the Chattahoochee River) in northeast Georgia is approximately {{convert|500|mi|km}}. Its name comes from Apalachicola Province, an association of Native American towns located on what is now the Chattahoochee River. The Spanish included what is now called the Chattahoochee River as part of one river, calling all of it from its origins in the southern Appalachian foothills down to the Gulf of Mexico the Apalachicola.{{Cite book |last=Hann |first=John H. |title=The Native American World Beyond Apalachee |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8130-2982-5 |page=5}}
Description
The river is formed on the state line between Florida and Georgia, near the town of Chattahoochee, Florida, approximately {{convert|60|mi}} northeast of Panama City, by the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers. The actual confluence is contained within the Lake Seminole reservoir formed by the Jim Woodruff Dam. It flows generally south through the forests of the Florida Panhandle, past Bristol. In northern Gulf County, it receives the Chipola River from the west. It flows into Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, at Apalachicola, Florida. The lower {{cvt|30|mi}} of the river is surrounded by extensive swamps and wetlands, except at the coast.
The watershed contains nationally significant forests, with some of the highest biological diversity east of the Mississippi River{{cite book| last1= White| first1= P.S.| first2= S.P. |last2= Wilds| first3= G.A.| last3= Thunhorst| year= 1998| chapter= Southeast| pages= 255–314| editor1= M.J. Mac| editor2= P.A. Opler| editor3= C.E. Puckett Haecker| editor4= P.D. Doran | title= Status and Trends of the Nation's Biological Resources| department= 2 volumes| publisher= US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey| place= Reston, Virginia}}{{cite journal|last=Keddy|first=Paul A.|title=Thinking Big: A Conservation Vision for the Southeastern Coastal Plain of North America |journal= Southeastern Naturalist |date=1 July 2009|volume=8|issue=2|pages=213–226|doi=10.1656/058.008.0202|s2cid=73678050}} and rivaling that of the Great Smoky Mountains. It has significant areas of temperate deciduous forest as well as longleaf pine landscapes and flatwoods. Flooded areas have significant tracts of floodplain forest.{{cite book| editor-last1= Messina| editor-first1= M.G. |editor-first2= W. H. |editor-last2= Conner| year= 1998| title= Southern Forested Wetlands: Ecology and Management| publisher= Lewis Publishers| place= Boca Raton, Florida| isbn= }} All of these southeastern forest types were devastated by logging between 1880 and 1920,{{cite book| authorlink= Michael Williams (geographer)| last= Williams| first= Michael| year= 1989| title= The lumberman's assault on the southern forest, 1880–1920| pages= 238–288| editor= M. Williams | work= Americans and Their Forests: A Historical Geography| publisher= Cambridge University Press| place= Cambridge, UK| isbn= }} and the Apalachicola contains some of the finest remaining examples of old growth forest in the southeast. The endangered tree species Florida torreya is endemic to the region; it clings to forested slopes and bluffs in Torreya State Park along the east bank of the river. The highest point within the watershed is Blood Mountain at {{convert|4458|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}, near the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River.
Where the river enters the Gulf of Mexico, it creates a rich array of wetlands varying in salinity. These include tidal marshes and seagrass meadows. Over {{cvt|230,000|acre}} of this diverse delta complex are included within the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.{{cite web| title= National Estuarine Research Reserves - Apalachicola| url= https://floridadep.gov/ANERR | website= floridadep.gov| publisher= Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection, Florida Department of Environmental Protection |access-date= October 9, 2021}} There are also dunes with coastal grasslands and interdunal swales.
File:Torreya Park Apalachicola River pano02.jpg]]
Image:Apalachicola River.jpg, Florida]]
The basin of the Apalachicola River is also noted for its Tupelo honey, a high-quality monofloral honey, which is produced wherever the tupelo trees bloom in the southeastern United States. In a good harvest year, the value of the tupelo honey crop produced by a group of specialized Florida beekeepers approaches $900,000 each spring.{{cite journal| url= http://impact.ifas.ufl.edu/impact_sum_2001.pdf| url-status= dead| title= Gulf County| journal= Impact| first= Paul| last= Kimpel| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090319130345/http://impact.ifas.ufl.edu/impact_sum_2001.pdf| publisher= University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences| volume= 17| number= 2 |page= 19| archivedate= March 19, 2009| access-date= October 9, 2021}}
During Florida's British colonial period, the river formed the boundary between East Florida and West Florida. Geologically, the river links the coastal plain and Gulf Coast with the Appalachian Mountains.{{cite book| last1= Delcourt| first1= H. R. | first2= P. A.| last2= Delcourt| year= 1991| title= Quaternary Ecology: A Paleoecological Perspective| place= London| publisher= Chapman and Hall| isbn= }}
Some of the remaining important areas of natural habitat along the river include Apalachicola National Forest, Torreya State Park, The Nature Conservancy Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve, Tates Hell State Forest, and Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area, as well as the Apalachicola River Water Management Area. It has been suggested that this watershed should be nationally ranked and appreciated as being as significant as the Everglades or Great Smoky Mountains. To raise awareness about the importance of preserving the natural state of the river and its inhabitants, Florida film producer Elam Stoltzfus highlighted this system in a 2006 documentary{{cite web| url= http://www.apalachicolaamericantreasure.com| title= Apalachicola River: An American Treasure| website= apalachicolaamericantreasure.com | publisher= Elam S. Stoltzfus| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070808014724/http://www.apalachicolaamericantreasure.com/| archivedate= August 8, 2007| url-status= dead| access-date= October 9, 2021}} broadcast on PBS.
The river forms the boundary between the Eastern and Central time zones in Florida, until it reaches the Jackson River. Thereafter, the Jackson River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico, is the time zone boundary.49 C.F.R. § 71.5(f).
List of crossings
File:Florida I10wb Apalachicola River.jpg
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|Rail bridge |Apalachicola Northern Railway | |
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See also
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Boyce, S.G., and W.M. Martin. 1993. The future of the terrestrial communities of the southeastern United States. Pp. 339–366, In W.H. Martin, S.G. Boyce, and A.C. Echternacht (Eds.). Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States, Lowland Terrestrial Communities. Wiley, New York, NY.
- Light, H.M., M.R. Darst, and J.W. Grubbs. (1998). Aquatic habitats in relation to river flow in the Apalachicola River floodplain, Florida [U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1594]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
External links
{{Commons category|Apalachicola River}}
- [http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/apalachicola/ National Estuarine Research Reserve]
- [https://water.sam.usace.army.mil/acfframe.htm Flint-Chattahoochee-Apalachicola basin], US Army Corps of Engineers
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040816094223/http://www.pepps.fsu.edu/APALACH/ Apalachicola River Ecological Management Plan] (archived), Florida State University
- {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091005112716/http://www.protectingourwater.org/watersheds/map/apalachicola/ Apalachicola River Watershed]}} (archived), protectingourwater.org
- [http://myfwc.com/viewing/recreation/wmas/lead/Apalachicola-River Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area] at myfwc.com
- [http://www.apalachicolariverkeeper.org Apalachicola Riverkeeper], an organization focused on the protection of the Apalachicola
- [http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/florida/apalachicola-bluffs-and-ravines-preserve.xml Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve] at nature.org
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061002170330/http://www.nwfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/apalachicolariver.html Northwest Florida Water Management District] (archived)
- {{GNIS|305219|Apalachicola River}}
{{Rivers of Florida}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Drainage basins of the Gulf of Mexico
Category:Outstanding Florida Waters
Category:Apalachicola National Forest
Category:Bodies of water of Gulf County, Florida
Category:Bodies of water of Gadsden County, Florida
Category:Bodies of water of Jackson County, Florida