Photo Op + Presentation Wall

• Concept ideas via hand sketches, 3D models, & fabrication detailing

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From whence the spring sprang...

By viewing the slope of the land beneath Athens it is easy to start to understand the flow of water from the highest point, City Hall, to the adjacent North Oconee River. Highlighted in blue is the WATERSHED or DRAINAGE BASIN for the spring and its subsequent stream. This area is essentially a sloping bowl of land that funnels the water downward forming streams and eventually rivers. This spring, like the rest of UGA and Athens, lies in the Oconee River Basin, which is part of the Altamaha River Basin. The water from this spring flows down the hill and into the North Oconee River, which joins the Oconee River, which in turn flows into the Altamaha. Eventually this long-journeying water empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Darien, GA. This stream is one of the many that flow through the UGA campus, each with a unique aquatic ecosystem.

Map, 1805

The town spring is shown just east of Old College and the President’s house.

WATERSHED

The function and wellbeing of society is intricately linked with the form and health of our watersheds

Watersheds, of which this spring is a part, provide “ecosystem services” crucial to society. These services include drinking water, food production, stormwater drainage, waste disposal, transportation, aesthetics, and recreation. Georgia’s streams and rivers support a global biodiversity hotspot of fish, mussels, and amphibians, many of which are found nowhere else on earth. By understanding and studying our waterways we are better able to both appreciate and safeguard their unique beauty, health, and important functions for our society and surrounding environments.

From whence the spring sprang...

Every location on earth is a part of a watershed

By viewing the slope of the land beneath Athens it is easy to start to understand the flow of water from the highest point, City Hall, to the adjacent North Oconee River.

Highlighted in blue is the WATERSHED or DRAINAGE BASIN for the spring and its subsequent stream. This area is essentially a sloping bowl of land that funnels the water downward forming streams and eventually rivers. This spring, like the rest of UGA and Athens, lies in the Oconee River Basin, which is part of the Altamaha River Basin. The water from this spring flows down the hill and into the North Oconee River, which joins the Oconee River, which in turn flows into the Altamaha. Eventually this long-journeying water empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Darien, GA. This stream is one of the many that flow through the UGA campus, each with a unique aquatic ecosystem.

Documents from the early to mid 1800s describe the town’s protection of the spring and its adjacent land. The spring was regarded as an important resource to be utilized and celebrated. However, as water infrastructure advanced, the spring’s use and significance started to wane. By the end of the 1860s it was paved over by the expansion of downtown businesses.

As lamented by A.L. Hull in the late 1800s, “Alas, that bold spring where thousands have quenched their thirst, shaded by grand old oaks under which great men in Georgia used to loll, is covered up by Dozier’s lumber yard and its once limpid waters seep