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By David Pendered

The Chattahoochee, Flint and Savannah rivers have made the 2011 Dirty Dozen, a list of the worst offenses against the state’s waterways, according to the Georgia Water Coalition.

“This is more than a list,” Jerry McCollum, president of the Georgia Wildlife Federation and a founding member of the Coalition, said in a statement released Monday. “This is a call to action for Georgia’s citizens and its leaders. The sites populating this list are only poster children for the larger problem of a system that is failing to protect our water, our fish and wildlife and our communities.”

The Chattahoochee ranked fourth, the Savannah ranked third and the Flint River ranked seventh on the list.

The basin of the Chattahoochee River is threatened by stormwater runoff that carries hazardous materials from industrial sites into the water system, a new report shows.

This situation prompted the Georgia Water Coalition to include the Chattahoochee River in its 2014 edition of Georgia’s Dirty Dozen, a list of water pollution problems across the state that was released Wednesday. The Chattahoochee has made the list since the first edition, in 2011.

The release of Georgia’s Dirty Dozen also served as a changing of the guard for the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. Sally Bethea, founding executive director, monitored a conference call to discuss the report. But it was Jason Ulseth, the incoming riverkeeper, who fielded questions from reporters.

The Flint River ranks second on the list of the country’s most-endangered rivers, according to the latest ranking by American Rivers, a 40-year-old organization that works to protect waterways.

The Flint made the list for the same reason cited when it was included on the “Dirty Dozen” list compiled last year by the Georgia Water Coalition – poor water management.

The two reports essentially oppose the state’s plans for the Flint River, which have the stated aim of providing water at affordable prices. The river groups contend the plans will further reduce water flow in the Flint, harming living creatures and threatening the recreation-based economy of regions that rely on the river and its tributaries.

Waters in north Georgia are cited in half the entries in “Georgia’s Dirty Dozen,” a list of 12 offenses to the state’s waters compiled by the Georgia Water Coalition.

The report cites five specific waters in north Georgia that are troubled, and includes a sixth, which is a project in Gov. Nathan Deal’s Governor’s Water Supply Program.

Water advocates used the report’s release to criticize Georgia for environmental protection efforts it characterized as weak. The comments echo some made of President Obama’s interest and current focus on the environment.