Land and Water
July/August 2007•41
by Julie A. Best and Randall East,
Natural Resources Conservation Service
CLARKE County, Alabama, has a
history as rich as the soil along the banks
of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers
which form its boundaries. Jackson,
Alabama, which was named after
President Andrew Jackson, is one of five
municipalities in the county. Jackson is a
quaint southern town perched on the
banks of the Tombigbee River.
Originating in Mississippi, the
Tombigbee River enters Alabama at
Aliceville Lake in Pickens County. From
there, it flows to the southeast and joins
forces with the Black Warrior River, its
largest tributary. The upper portion of the
Tombigbee Basin encompasses about
9,000 square miles. Below the confluence
with the Black Warrior River near
Demopolis, Alabama, is the lower portion
of the basin. Here, the river flows 175
miles and drains 4,659 square miles in
seven Alabama counties before the
Tombigbee merges with the Alabama
River and becomes the Mobile River,
which flows into the Mobile Bay.
The Tombigbee River, and all that
goes with this mighty body of water, has
a major influence on the City of Jackson.
The river influences the industry of the
town. Barges transport coal, ores, crude
and fuel oils, chemicals, aggregates, and
forest products up and down the river.
While the river has a major economic
influence on the town, it also plays a sig-
nificant role in other ways. However, the
City of Jackson has struggled for years
with soil erosion along the banks of the
Tombigbee River.
The soil along the river basin is sand
E R O S I O N & S E D I M E N T C O N T R O L
www.escn.tv
EWP Funds Help the
City of Jackson
Repair Infrastructure
Stormwater from Hurricane Katrina caused erosion problems along several streets in the City of Jackson, Alabama. With financial and tech-
nical assistance from the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, which is administered by USDA-Natural Resources Conservation
Service, several of these sites were repaired.
Land and Water
42•July/August 2007
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