WATER RESOURCES OF CHOKHATAURI

Mineral springs, waterfalls, and irrigation systems — the hydro-landscape of Guria.

The Chokhatauri hydro-landscape is a story told in different forms of water: river, spring, waterfall, pool — each telling a different chapter of the ecosystem's narrative.

Among Chokhatauri's most distinctive hydro-features are the mineral springs, which emerge from carbonate-calcium bearing rock. Some of these springs are remembered by older residents as "drinking springs" — locally attributed with healing properties.

Waterfalls are mostly seasonal in character — generated at peak spring rainfall, diminishing towards late summer. However, several permanent waterfalls along the Bakhmaro-Chokhatauri road maintain their flow through every season.

Chokhatauri's historic irrigation system remains partially functional to this day. Stone and timber channels, weirs, and wells — this infrastructure was built during the 18th and 19th centuries and still serves some agricultural crops.

Interesting fact

One of Chokhatauri's natural springs is traditionally known as the "wedding water" — by local custom, a newly married couple would drink their first shared drink from this spring.

Mineral springs in the Colchic landscape