About the Watershed

The Cahaba River Watershed is 1,870 square miles of interconnecting springs, creeks, and smaller rivers feeding into the Cahaba River. It covers portions of Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, Bibb, Tuscaloosa, Chilton, Perry, and Dallas Counties.
Extending from the lower Appalachian Mountain range, down to the Gulf coastal plain, the Cahaba River Valley is one of the most diverse geological, physiological and ecological regions in North America. The valley holds a tremendous variety of plant and animal life and abundant supplies of coal, iron ore, and limestone.

Cahaba River Facts:

• The Cahaba River is the third largest tributary to the Alabama River.
• It extends 191 miles- from St. Clair County to southwest of Selma.
• The drainage area encompasses approximately 1,818? square miles and includes portions of St. Clair, Jefferson, Bibb, Perry, Shelby, Tuscaloosa, Chilton and Dallas Counties.
• The Cahaba River is noted by the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy as being one of only eight Hotspots of Biodiversity
• The Cahaba River has more fish species per mile than any other river of it’s size in North America, with 69 rare and imperiled species.
• The Cahaba River has 48 muscle species, 24 snail species, and 135 different fish species.

Over 100 miles of the Cahaba River’s 190 mile length has been placed on a list of waters that do not meet water quality standards due to habitat alteration caused by excessive amounts of sediment and nutrients.

The Cahaba shiner (Notropis cahabae) is an endangered species once thought to be endemic (to only occur) in a 76-mile stretch of the main river channel of the Cahaba.