High-Definition Stream Survey of the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Georgia

Parham, James; Connell, James

The Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (HOBE) was established in 1959 and is located along the Tallapoosa River flowing near Daviston, AL. To help better manage the river, the National Park Service was interested in documenting the streambank and channel conditions on the river associated with HOBE. The Tallapoosa River has highly regulated discharge at HOBE as it is downstream of R.L. Harris Dam which is approximately 40 miles upstream. To document the river conditions, TRUTTA was contracted to gather data on water depth, habitat type (riffle, shoal, run, pool) and the condition of the left and right streambank on 5.8 continuous kilometers (3.6 miles) of the Tallapoosa River. A longitudinal High Definition Stream Survey (HDSS) was conducted on 17 May 2019 to collect data on water depth, habitat types, and streambank condition. We surveyed toward the middle of a descending limb of the release pulse to try to have both good conditions for imagery and for downstream passage. A standard set of classification criteria was applied to all three parameters. Additionally, a StreamView video for the entire section, a spreadsheet with results for water depth, habitat type, and streambank condition and a list of the most degraded stream segments were created.