Buttahatchee River Watershed

Flowing southwest into Mississippi, the Buttahatchee River joins the Tombigbee River north of Columbus. Approximately 40,000 people live in the river’s watershed, one-third of whom reside in Mississippi. The Buttahatchee River watershed is a varied landscape with diverse ecosystems. Upland pine-oak forests, bottomland hardwoods and extensive wetlands are present along the course of the river. Today 22 mussel species can be found here, but in a survey done in 1978 the count was 40 species. The Buttahatchee River has 30 fish species of which seven are listed as species of concern in Mississippi.

The Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund and other groups have determined that protecting the Buttahatchee River is essential for preserving Mississippi’s freshwater biodiversity. The Conservancy has just completed its first phase of a three-year effort to develop a comprehensive conservation area plan for the river’s watershed in Mississippi and Alabama. Funding for this important project has been made possible by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and private organizations, including Weyerhaeuser, BancorpSouth, Mississippi Lignite Mining, Tennessee Valley Authority, Self Foundation and Charity Trust, M. W. Murphy Foundation and individual members from the communities in this region. Work on this project will continue through 2007 and will include community education and outreach programs to stakeholder groups, landowners and municipal officials.

For more information on the Buttahatchee River Watershed, please contact Matthew Miller, Northeast Mississippi Conservation Program Manager.

Northeast Mississippi Conservation Program
P.O. Box 3477
Tupelo, MS 38803
(662) 844-1885