WGAU – Athens News & Weather, October 2, 2019
The cranes and earth movers are gone. So is the concrete and rusted rebar.
Now all that’s left is the gentle sound of water lapping the edges of the Middle Oconee River where once it poured over White Dam.
And that is just how it should be.
“This has allowed me to bring people to the Middle Oconee and showcase it as it should be seen,” said Oconee Joe, a local river guide who has been able to grow his business now that a longer stretch of the Middle Oconee is open following the dam’s removal. “You can run from Tallassee to Barnett Shoals if you wanted to. The last 12 miles, from Ben Burton Park to the confluence with the Oconee, you really get to showcase that.”