Noonday Creek
Encyclopedia
Noonday Creek is a 20.2 miles (32.5 km) stream
in Cobb
and Cherokee
counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The stream begins near Kennesaw Mountain
and ends at Lake Allatoona
.
of the Little River
, joining it within Lake Allatoona just to the north of the Towne Lake development. The confluence
of Little River and Noonday Creek now lies beneath the water of the lake.
At the northern end of Cobb County, Noonday Creek picks up outflow from the Noonday Water Reclamation Facility
, a sewage treatment
plant serving Cobb and Cherokee counties. A large sewer
line is buried along most of the creek south (upstream) of the plant, seen as a treeless kudzu
-covered flood plain, dotted with concrete
mounds topped with manhole
s.
. An unnamed tributary through Lake Latimer extends from the southwest along I-575 to the north end of the park. During heavy rains, the main creek often flood
s the fields at the park, and increasingly so due to excessive runoff from heavy land development
in the area.
Other inflows include creeks that flow from or through Laura Lake (joining at Chastain Meadows Parkway), Chastain Lakes, Bells Ferry Park (joining north of Rockbridge Road), Barrett Lakes, Ellison Lakes, Bozeman Lake (near Kennesaw State University
), and Timber Lake.
s on Noonday Creek, both operating since October 2000 and reporting via uplink
to GOES
weather satellite
s. The first is at Hawkins Store Road, at the south end of Noonday Creek Park. This is at 34°03′23"N 84°32′08"W, 895 feet (272.8 m) AMSL, and has a watershed area of 24.3 square miles (62.9 km²). This has location identifier
NDYG1 and is reported to be 2 miles (3 km) north-northwest of Blackwells. The second is at Shallowford Road, just upstream (north) at the other end of the park, next to the entrance to the water treatment plant. This is at 34°04′06"N 84°32′08"W, 890 feet (271.3 m) AMSL, with a watershed area of 33.6 square miles (87 km²), including Little Noonday Creek. This is identified as NOOG1 and is reported as "near Woodstock". Both streamflow and stage (depth) are reported at both locations, with a rain gauge
also at the latter. The National Weather Service
does not issue river flood warnings or statements for this creek as it does for Sope Creek
and others in the area, nor did it set an official flood stage
for it until after the 2005 flood. Minor flood stage is now considered to be 10 feet (3 m), while major flood is 16 feet (4.9 m), both at the Shallowford gauge. The highest the original gauges could read was 12 feet (3.7 m), replaced with 20 feet (6.1 m) ones after the 2005 flood.
followed Hurricane Cindy
by just a few days. Massive rainfall occurred, particularly with Dennis, in less than 24 hours, sending the creek to a level of 16.3 feet (5 m) late on July 10. That is about ten times its normal depth or height, reaching beyond what the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and GDNR labeled its 100-year
flood plain, largely because of excessive urbanization
upstream. Because of this, many people did not have flood insurance
.
of heavy showers and thunderstorms over the area. On September 21, the creek rose even higher than in 2005, blocking not only Georgia 92, but also Interstate 575 at the southern end of the ramps to 92, and flooding the Towne Lake Parkway diamond interchange
and underpass (and a gas station) beneath 575 one exit north. Traffic was detour
ed at Chastain Road (two exits south of 92), but it also flooded at the creek and was barricade
d to all traffic to the east, making it very difficult to reach alternate routes.
Because of the many closures caused by the creek's inundation, residents of Woodstock and points northward found it took hours to get home, the resulting gridlock
extending rush hour
well past dusk
, with heavy traffic still waiting to get home at 9:00pm on old Georgia 5, which was also blocked north of Woodstock due to the Little River. The 2009 Atlanta floods were called "of historic proportions" by the local National Weather Service forecast office (NWSFO Peachtree City).
Noonday Creek at Shallowford Road crested at 19.66 feet (6 m), with a peak flow literally off the chart, extrapolated to be about 10000 cubic feet (283.2 m³) per second, compared to an average of 68. This was after receiving at least 17.5 inches (444.5 mm) of rain in the past week, half of which fell around midday on September 21, at which point it was already at minor flood stage. The Hawkins Store Road gauge peaked at just over 17 feet (5.2 m) before it stopped reporting around 4pm, the same time the creek crested at Shallowford. The spillway of Noonday Creek Structure Number 17 was extensively damaged. Around 362,500 dollars in damage was done to the sewage treatment facility.
is an earthen dam
on Noonday Creek.
is a Category II (low hazard) earthen dam
on Noonday Creek which creates Nelson Lake north of Big Shanty Road. A soccer stadium and passive recreation facilities for Kennesaw State University
has been constructed around the dam.
being built will have little further impact if a permeable
surface is used. The trail will eventually extend along most of the Cobb part of the creek.
in June and July 1864.
s in the area, including near Woodstock.
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
in Cobb
Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat and largest city is Marietta, which is located in the center of the county. The county was named for Thomas Willis Cobb, who in the early 19th century was a United States representative and senator from Georgia...
and Cherokee
Cherokee County, Georgia
As of the census of 2000, there were 141,903 people, 49,495 households, and 39,200 families residing in the county. The population density was 335 people per square mile . There were 51,937 housing units at an average density of 123 per square mile...
counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. The stream begins near Kennesaw Mountain
Kennesaw Mountain
Kennesaw Mountain is a high-running ridge between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia in the United States with a summit elevation of . It is the highest point in the core metro Atlanta area, and fifth after further-north exurban counties are considered...
and ends at Lake Allatoona
Lake Allatoona
Lake Allatoona is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir in Georgia, located in northwestern metro Atlanta. The lake is mostly in southwestern Cherokee County, but a significant part is in southeastern Bartow County, and a small part in Cobb County near Acworth. Cartersville is the nearest...
.
Geography
Noonday Creek is a tributaryTributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Little River
Little River (northern Georgia)
The Little River is a tributary of the Etowah River in the U.S. state of Georgia in the United States.The Little River is located mostly in Cherokee County, and forms the jagged part of the Cherokee/Fulton county line, and part of the more recent Milton city limit.The river flows generally from...
, joining it within Lake Allatoona just to the north of the Towne Lake development. The confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of Little River and Noonday Creek now lies beneath the water of the lake.
At the northern end of Cobb County, Noonday Creek picks up outflow from the Noonday Water Reclamation Facility
Noonday Water Reclamation Facility
The Noonday Water Reclamation Facility processes 20 millions of gallons per day for Northeast Cobb, North Marietta, East Kennesaw, and portions of Cherokee in northwestern Georgia. The facility is located at 415 Shallowford Road in Kennesaw....
, a sewage treatment
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
plant serving Cobb and Cherokee counties. A large sewer
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
line is buried along most of the creek south (upstream) of the plant, seen as a treeless kudzu
Kudzu
Kudzu is a plant in the genus Pueraria in the pea family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It is a climbing, coiling, and trailing vine native to southern Japan and southeast China. Its name comes from the Japanese name for the plant, . It is a weed that climbs over trees or shrubs and grows so...
-covered flood plain, dotted with concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
mounds topped with manhole
Manhole
A manhole is an opening used to gain access to sewers or other underground structures, usually for maintenance.Manhole may also refer to:* Manhole , a metal band from Los Angeles* The Manhole, a computer game...
s.
Tributaries
Little Noonday Creek is its only officially-named tributary, flowing north from the northeast corner of Marietta and then northwestward, joining the main creek southwest of Noonday, at Noonday Creek ParkNoonday Creek Park
Noonday Creek Park is a recreational facility located near theNoonday community north of Marietta, Georgia. The Park providessix soccer fields and a BMX track. The address of the park is489 Hawkins Store Road, Kennesaw, Georgia....
. An unnamed tributary through Lake Latimer extends from the southwest along I-575 to the north end of the park. During heavy rains, the main creek often flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
s the fields at the park, and increasingly so due to excessive runoff from heavy land development
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
in the area.
Other inflows include creeks that flow from or through Laura Lake (joining at Chastain Meadows Parkway), Chastain Lakes, Bells Ferry Park (joining north of Rockbridge Road), Barrett Lakes, Ellison Lakes, Bozeman Lake (near Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
), and Timber Lake.
Monitoring
There are two USGS stream gaugeStream gauge
A stream gauge, stream gage or gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water surface elevation and/or volumetric discharge are generally taken and observations of biota may also be...
s on Noonday Creek, both operating since October 2000 and reporting via uplink
Uplink
A telecommunications link is generally one of several types of information transmission paths such as those provided by communication satellites to connect two points on earth.-Uplink:...
to GOES
Goes
Goes is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands in Zuid-Beveland, in the province Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents.-History of Goes:...
weather satellite
Weather satellite
The weather satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while...
s. The first is at Hawkins Store Road, at the south end of Noonday Creek Park. This is at 34°03′23"N 84°32′08"W, 895 feet (272.8 m) AMSL, and has a watershed area of 24.3 square miles (62.9 km²). This has location identifier
Location identifier
A location identifier is a symbolic representation for the name and the location of an airport, navigation aid, or weather station, and is used for manned air traffic control facilities in air traffic control, telecommunications, computer programming, weather reports, and related services.-ICAO...
NDYG1 and is reported to be 2 miles (3 km) north-northwest of Blackwells. The second is at Shallowford Road, just upstream (north) at the other end of the park, next to the entrance to the water treatment plant. This is at 34°04′06"N 84°32′08"W, 890 feet (271.3 m) AMSL, with a watershed area of 33.6 square miles (87 km²), including Little Noonday Creek. This is identified as NOOG1 and is reported as "near Woodstock". Both streamflow and stage (depth) are reported at both locations, with a rain gauge
Rain gauge
A rain gauge is a type of instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a set period of time....
also at the latter. The National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
does not issue river flood warnings or statements for this creek as it does for Sope Creek
Sope Creek
Sope Creek is an stream located in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. It is a significant tributary of the Chattahoochee River, and under high water levels it can be used for extreme whitewater kayaking...
and others in the area, nor did it set an official flood stage
Flood stage
Flood stage is the level at which the surface of a river, creek, or other body of water has risen to a sufficient level to cause damage or affects use of man-made structures...
for it until after the 2005 flood. Minor flood stage is now considered to be 10 feet (3 m), while major flood is 16 feet (4.9 m), both at the Shallowford gauge. The highest the original gauges could read was 12 feet (3.7 m), replaced with 20 feet (6.1 m) ones after the 2005 flood.
Flooding
Until 2009, the most severe flood known to have occurred on Noonday Creek was in July 2005, when the outer bands of Hurricane DennisHurricane Dennis
Hurricane Dennis was an early-forming major hurricane in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the very active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Dennis was the fourth named storm, second hurricane, and first major hurricane of the season...
followed Hurricane Cindy
Hurricane Cindy (2005)
Hurricane Cindy was a tropical cyclone that briefly reached minimal hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico during July in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and made landfall in Louisiana. It was the third named storm and first hurricane of the season...
by just a few days. Massive rainfall occurred, particularly with Dennis, in less than 24 hours, sending the creek to a level of 16.3 feet (5 m) late on July 10. That is about ten times its normal depth or height, reaching beyond what the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) and GDNR labeled its 100-year
100-year flood
A one-hundred-year flood is calculated to be the level of flood water expected to be equaled or exceeded every 100 years on average. The 100-year flood is more accurately referred to as the 1% annual exceedance probability flood, since it is a flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded...
flood plain, largely because of excessive urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
upstream. Because of this, many people did not have flood insurance
Flood insurance
Flood insurance denotes the specific insurance coverage against property loss from flooding. To determine risk factors for specific properties, insurers will often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands, floodplains and floodways that are susceptible to flooding.-Hidden floods:Nationwide,...
.
September 2009 record flooding
In September 2009, an even worse flood occurred due to a stalled weather system, and the trainingTraining (meteorology)
In meteorology, training denotes repeated areas of rain, typically associated with thunderstorms, that move over the same region in a relatively short period of time. Training thunderstorms are capable of producing excessive rainfall totals, often causing flash flooding...
of heavy showers and thunderstorms over the area. On September 21, the creek rose even higher than in 2005, blocking not only Georgia 92, but also Interstate 575 at the southern end of the ramps to 92, and flooding the Towne Lake Parkway diamond interchange
Diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a freeway crosses a minor road. The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge...
and underpass (and a gas station) beneath 575 one exit north. Traffic was detour
Detour
Detour may refer to:* Detour, a temporary routing to avoid an obstruction-Entertainment:Literature* Detour , a 1939 novel* Detour , an entertainment and fashion magazine published by the Detour Media GroupFilm and television...
ed at Chastain Road (two exits south of 92), but it also flooded at the creek and was barricade
Barricade
Barricade, from the French barrique , is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction...
d to all traffic to the east, making it very difficult to reach alternate routes.
Because of the many closures caused by the creek's inundation, residents of Woodstock and points northward found it took hours to get home, the resulting gridlock
Gridlock
The term gridlock is defined as "A state of severe road congestion arising when continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill; a traffic jam of this kind." The term originates from a situation possible in...
extending rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
well past dusk
Dusk
Dusk is the beginning of darkness in the evening, and occurs after twilight, when the sky generally remains bright and blue. Civil dusk is when the earth has rotated enough that the center of the sun is at 6° below the local horizon...
, with heavy traffic still waiting to get home at 9:00pm on old Georgia 5, which was also blocked north of Woodstock due to the Little River. The 2009 Atlanta floods were called "of historic proportions" by the local National Weather Service forecast office (NWSFO Peachtree City).
Noonday Creek at Shallowford Road crested at 19.66 feet (6 m), with a peak flow literally off the chart, extrapolated to be about 10000 cubic feet (283.2 m³) per second, compared to an average of 68. This was after receiving at least 17.5 inches (444.5 mm) of rain in the past week, half of which fell around midday on September 21, at which point it was already at minor flood stage. The Hawkins Store Road gauge peaked at just over 17 feet (5.2 m) before it stopped reporting around 4pm, the same time the creek crested at Shallowford. The spillway of Noonday Creek Structure Number 17 was extensively damaged. Around 362,500 dollars in damage was done to the sewage treatment facility.
Flood control
On Sep 28, 2008, Final Design Place, Specifications, and Geotechnical Report for the Chastain Meadows Regional Stormwater Management Facility resubmitted to Georgia EPD for approval. The stormwater management facility is under construction as of Feb. 18, 2011.Noonday Creek Structure Number 4
Noonday Creek Structure Number 4Noonday Creek Structure Number 4
Noonday Creek Structure Number 4 is an earthen dam on Noonday Creek regulated by the Georgia Safe Dams Program, located west of Noonday Creek Park. Construction was completed in 1954.- Dimensions :...
is an earthen dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
on Noonday Creek.
Noonday Creek Structure Number 9
Noonday Creek Structure number 9, also known as Ellison Lake Dam, is of earthen construction and is used for flood control purposes. Construction was completed in 1955. Its height is 29 feet (8.8 m) with a length of 598 feet (182.3 m). Maximum discharge is 1587 cuft/s. Its capacity is 284 acre.ft. Normal storage is 35 acre.ft. It drains an area of 400 square miles (1,036 km²).Noonday Creek Structure Number 16
Noonday Creek Structure Number 16Noonday Creek Structure Number 16
Noonday Creek Structure Number 16 is a category 2 earthen dam on Noonday Creek regulated by the Georgia Safe Dams Program, located a few yards north of Big Shanty Road in Kennesaw, GA. Construction was completed in 1956.- Dimensions :...
is a Category II (low hazard) earthen dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
on Noonday Creek which creates Nelson Lake north of Big Shanty Road. A soccer stadium and passive recreation facilities for Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw State University, also referred to as KSU, Kennesaw, or Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational, comprehensive university that is part of the University System of Georgia. The university's main campus is located in Kennesaw, Georgia, United States, approximately north of Atlanta...
has been constructed around the dam.
Noonday Creek Trail
Because most of the trees have already been removed from along that side of the creek, the Noonday Creek TrailNoonday Creek Trail
The Noonday Creek Multi-Use Trail in Cobb County, Georgia will be a six-mile continuation of the Mountain to River Trail in Kennesaw, which ends at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Part of the trail will run along Noonday Creek. The Trail was the only park in Georgia to receive funds...
being built will have little further impact if a permeable
Permeability (fluid)
Permeability in fluid mechanics and the earth sciences is a measure of the ability of a porous material to allow fluids to pass through it.- Units :...
surface is used. The trail will eventually extend along most of the Cobb part of the creek.
Civil War
Noonday Creek was an important watercourse during the Battle of Noonday CreekBattle of Noonday Creek
The Battle of Noonday Creek was a series of combat events in the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War that took place between June 10 and July 3 of 1864....
in June and July 1864.
Early uses of waterpower
Noonday Creek furnished water power to millWatermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s in the area, including near Woodstock.