current Water conditions IN roswell, above ga-400 bridge

NOTES

• If a coach is present in a safety launch,  these criteria up to 8,000 cfs serve as guidelines and coaches retain full discretion to determine safe rowing conditions for their programs, taking into account crew experience and fitness, weather and water conditions, and shell size. No club programs or equipment are allowed on the river above 8,000 cfs.
• Indicated level means that AT LEAST HALF of the rowers in a shell meet the Safety & Skills Level requirement.
• In doubles and quads the rower with the highest Safety & Skills Checkout Level MUST be in bow seat.
• There are no Level 1 Quads, Fours, or Eights in the ARC fleet, these boats are only allowed under coached supervision.

flow Rate above Roswell Rd

This river flow rate is measured upriver of the Roswell Rd. bridge above the Big Creek inlet.

water depth above ga-400 bridge

This river gauge height is measured upriver of the GA-400 bridge near Old Riverside Rd.

< 7.0 ft - Water level is below dock ramp

7.0 ft is the point at which the water level is even with dock ramp

> 7.0 ft - Water level is above dock ramp

We recently added this graph and are watching water levels to determine how the gauge height above Roswell correlates to our ability to row. If you have any observations, please let us know!

water Temperature above ga-400 bridge

This river temperature is measured upriver of the GA-400 bridge near Old Riverside Rd.

Morgan Falls Dam

(Current Conditions)

Water level Safety

Air Temperature at morgan falls dam

This site is at Morgan Falls Dam -- the downstream endpoint of our rowable stretch of river. It provides us with the most accurate temperature reading. If the weather station is unavailable, go back to the summary tab and click on the link to use the NOAA air temperature at Peachtree-Dekalb Airport. You may also use your own local weather app.

Wind Speed Safety

Wind Direction Safety

MORGAN FALLS Dam (DOWNSTREAM release)

The discharge rate at Morgan Falls Dam determines how quickly our section of the Chattahoochee is draining. If the discharge rate is greater than the rate of inflows from Buford Dam and other tributaries then the river depth will decrease. If the discharge is less than the rate of inflows then the depth will increase.

Release rates affect river depth within the hour and also affect water speed, but to a lesser degree.

Water Speed Forecasts

BIG CREEK (TRIBUTARY)

The Big Creek site discharges into the Chattahoochee River just upstream of the Roswell Rd. bridge.

This site provides an indication of rainfall affect that is additive to the releases at Buford Dam.

Norcross (3 hours)

The Norcross site discharge rate will affect the rowing venue about 3 hours after leaving Norcross.

This site provides an indication of rainfall affect in addition to the Buford Dam releases.

Buford Dam (12 hours)

The Buford Dam discharge rate usually varies between 600 cu.ft./sec and 5,000 to 10,000.

It will affect the rowing venue about 12 hours after it leaves Buford Dam.

Water depth at Lake Lanier

The water depth of Lake Lanier usually varies around 1065 ft. Water depth values between 1069 to 1072 ft mean that our river depth will likely be higher than usual. Water depths at Lake Lanier above 1072 ft mean that our stretch of river is likely to be flooded.

Generally the E. coli count is higher for heavy flows, especially after heavy rains (an E.coli count above 235 is regarded as potentially unsafe).

The Chattahoochee Riverkeepers track E. coli and other data for several river locations listed alphabetically at https://nww.chattahoochee.org/DataPage.  The ARC team’s 3 testing locations are listed at this page as Big Creek at Riverside Park, Chattahoochee River at Roswell Road and Willeo Creek at Willeo Road.
The NPS data and estimates for Medlock Bridge and Paces Ferry are here.