Chattooga River

For years, the ACA has partnered with local paddlers and other organizations to remove the ban on paddling the upper sections of the Wild and Scenic Chattooga River on the Georgia / South Carolina border.

Along with AW, we sued the U.S. Forest Service seeking to overturn a 2009 rule continuing the boating ban.

On December 2, 2010 a judge in South Carolina issued a decision that rejected the USFS's motion to dismiss the case. This will allow the case to move forward and AW and ACA will have the opportunity to present evidence of why the ban is unjustified.

Both ACA Executive Director Wade Blackwood and AW Executive Director Mark Singleton attended the hearing in South Carolina.

"The paddlers had their day in court, presented a strong case, which hopefully will set a good precedent for the future." - Respectfully submitted by ACA Board member Sam Fowlkes.

In August of 2011, the ACA signed a letter to the United States Forest Service opposing the environmental assessment (EA) of the titled "Managing Recreation Uses in the Upper Segment of the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River Corridor.” The EA violates many basic laws, regulations, and policies regarding land and resource management, and "transparently aims to reach a predetermined goal of limiting paddling." We will continue to work with AW to try to bring equity to the recreational use of the Chattooga and open its waters to boaters.  

• Learn more about the ACA's role in the ongoing access issues for the Chattooga River.

Opposing Waste Water on the Edisto River - 2012

The ACA has been working in conjunction with the South Carolina Audubon Society, Sierra Club, Friends of the Edisto, and the Palmetto Paddlers to oppose an agreement between Saluda County Water and Sewer Authority (SCWSA) and the town of Batesburg-Leesville (BL) that would allow for an additional 1 million gallons per day (MGD) of wastewater be transferred to the BL Wastewater Treatment Plant and discharged into Duncan Creek, a tributary of the Edisto River.

Combined with the current discharge rates, this additional 1 MGD would exceed the permitted discharge capacity of the plant in during the wet season, making the Edisto vulnerable to raw sewage in times of overflow. The Edisto, reported to be the longest free-flowing blackwater river in the United States, is an iconic river of the South Carolina Lowcountry, both unique for its ecological traits and it recreational value. Combining with the Ashepoo and Combahee, the Edisto forms the ACE Basin, one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the east coast of the United States and stands as a prime model for cooperation in conservation through the ACE Basin Project. The BL-SCWSA agreement jeopardizes both the ecology and recreational values that make the Edisto such a valuable river system.

• Batesburg-Leesville Council Letter (PDF)