For decades, the Chattahoochee River was essentially off-limits. Running 430 miles through Alabama and Georgia and past the heart of metro Atlanta, the waterway carried so much raw sewage and stormwater overflow that Georgia's own environmental regulators refused to allow direct water withdrawals from it between Atlanta and West Point, 67 miles downstream. Today, the same river is lined with new parks, boat ramps, kayak access points, and trail systems, drawing families and outdoor enthusiasts from across the Atlanta metro region. The transformation is the product of an unlikely combination: a landmark federal lawsuit, a multibillion-dollar infrastructure overhaul, and years of sustained effort by conservation nonprofits that refused to give up on a river most of the city had written off.
How Atlanta's sewage turned the Chattahoochee into one of America's most polluted urban rivers
