State Department Of Natural Resources Sampled Fish In Calls Creek In Advance Of Oconee County Expansion Of Wastewater Plant

A nine-person team from the Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources walked 250 yards of Calls Creek last Thursday looking for fish.

Thirty species would be a good number from such a sampling, according to Patti Lanford, team leader and Stream Survey Program Manager for the Wildlife Resources Division in Social Circle.

“We didn’t get that far,” she said.

The Stream Collection Report filed by the team lists 17 species, from Bluehead Chub to Snail Bullhead, with Redbreast Sunfish, Northern Hogsucker, Bluegill, and Large Mouth Bass in between.

The sampling was part of an assessment of the stream before the county increases the discharge of wastewater from its Calls Creek plant into the waterway.

Lanford said the Division will return to the stream after the county upgrades its sewage treatment plant off North Main Street on the northeast of the city at some point in the future.

For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Team in creek.