Category Archives: Lake

Two wells, a lift station, water meters, and drainage eminent domain @ LCC 2026-01-26

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Update 2026-01-26: Videos: Water treatment upgrade because GA-EPD Consent Order, Lift Station Pump Repair, Condemnation along Twin Lakes Road, VAWA, Extension Office, Red Cross @ LCC Work 2026-01-26.

Lowndes County is under a GA-EPD Consent Order about drinking water for a well near Pine Grove Middle School. They did try for multiple bids to fix that but only got one.

And they’re fixing a sewage lift station near Ocean Pond in Lake Park. Before it breaks: good. It’s a sole source bid, though.

The Consent Order is revealed by the agenda packet page for 5.a. Spring Creek Water Treatment Plant Design Build Project. Neither the board packet materials nor the ad for bids mentions where this is. However, previous research indicates it’s the well with water tower at 4245 Hattie Pl, Valdosta, GA 31605, near a creek that runs west by Pine Grove Middle School to the Withlacoochee River.

They will vote on spending $214,412.00 on the Spring Creek plant. Which also mysteriously includes “add a lift station.” Lift stations usually refer to sewer lines, and Lowndes County’s sewer lines do not go up Hattie Place to the well site. Maybe an open records request for the Consent Order will clarify that.

And another $24,400.00 on a sewage pump repair at the Peterson Road Lift Station. The packet materials don’t say where that is, either, but it appears to be in the southeast corner of 6201 Peterson Road (the Home Depo Distribution Center), east of the I-75 Georgia Visitor Center. The sign on the fence says Roadway Lift Station.

And the county thinks $12,400.00 is a fair condemnation price to get some road and drainage right of way along Twin Lakes Road.

[Two wells, a lift station, surplus water meter components, and drainage eminent domain @ Lowndes County Commission 2026-01-26]
Two wells, a lift station, surplus water meter components, and drainage eminent domain @ Lowndes County Commission 2026-01-26

That’s about a quarter million dollars they may approve Tuesday, before even adding in the $26,371.00 cash match for a VAWA grant. Continue reading →

Pictures: First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

Our first paddle of 2026 was during the day on beautiful Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA, on New Years Day.

A hardy band of five paddlers, some very experienced, some very novice, paddled into the eastern sun glare, then west to the bat tree. We saw Sand Hill Cranes and an osprey nest, but no bats.

[First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree]
First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree

Here are some video clips:

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/867635092790046/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTNpYodiJhP/

https://youtu.be/glaea7oHi9g

This was Shirley Kokidko’s experiment in a day paddle on Banks Lake. This is the third time we’ve done this, after 2023-09-04, when I found this bat tree, and 2025-08-23.

Plus the outboard birding 2025-12-04, in which the birders noticed feathers falling from a nest in the bat tree.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2026-02-01

Update 2026-01-31: Cancelled due to inclement weather.

Come see the beauty of a sunset and full moon rising across the lake, at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, our watery living room just west of Lakeland, Georgia. There may be Sand Hill Cranes, or bats.

When: Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:05 PM, sunset 6:09 PM, end 7 PM, Sunday, February 1, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA 2026-02-01, Will Hart, Maybe bats]
Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA 2026-02-01, Will Hart, Maybe bats

Continue reading →

Videos: Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

History Instructor Vickie Everitte conducted a historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction to this WWALS Webinar. Questions and answers were at the end, including a distinguished guest.

[Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11]
Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

Here is a zoom video of this WWALS Webinar:

https://youtu.be/ULUwKQEOh10

Her slides are on the WWALS website in PowerPoint and PDF. Images of each page are below.

Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1

As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian Removal Policy of the 1830s.

Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much, they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2

About the Speaker

Continue reading →

The Floridan Aquifer in North Carolina 1996-01-01

Is Columbia, South Carolina, in the Floridan Aquifer?

Doesn’t look like it. But thanks for the question.

[Does the Floridan Aquifer include Columbia, SC? Apparently not. Nor the Tertiary sand aquifer.]
Does the Floridan Aquifer include Columbia, SC? Apparently not. Nor the Tertiary sand aquifer.

A WWALS member shared a post from Congaree Riverkeeper, asking,

“the Floridan Aquifer source, or terminus? Anyway, in S.C….”

The Congaree Riverkeeper post said:

We got out and did river patrol on the Broad River the other day.

We were able to check on a few projects happening along the river, including the construction of the City of Columbia’s new drinking water intake….

The Broad River comes down south into Columbia, SC, where it joins the Congaree River. Lake Murray just to the west of Columbia is easy to recognize on many of the other maps below. Continue reading →

First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

Happy New Year! Join us for our first paddle of 2026 on beautiful Banks Lake. We’ll paddle the perimeter of the lake, which is approximately 4 miles around. Once we launch there will be no place to get out of your kayak until we return to the boat ramp. Dress accordingly for the weather, we will cancel if it’s raining.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10 AM, end 12 PM, Thursday, January 1, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[First Day Paddle at Banks Lake, Happy New Year, January 1, 2026]
First Day Paddle at Banks Lake, Happy New Year, January 1, 2026

Continue reading →

Hydrologic Conditions Report –SRWMD 2025-11-30

Update 2025-12-17: Drought Workshop Presentation –SRWMD 2025-12-09.

Every county in the Suwannee River Basin is in drought, according to SRWMD’s own Hydrologic Conditions Report for November 30, 2025 presented in their Board meeting of December 9, 2025.

But not droughty enough for SRWMD to declare even a voluntary Drought Warning, according to the Drought Workshop after the Board meeting. I have sent in a FOIA request for the Workshop slides. Both meetings are in the SRWMD YouTube post for 2025-12-09.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LDIIdFqxaY

Meanwhile, here is the SRWMD Hydrologic Conditions Report for November 2025, plus some related information.

Such as SRWMD actually does have “Year-Round Lawn & Landscape Irrigation Measures,” but nobody seems to know about them. And that page does not seem to include agricultural, mining, or water bottling water use. Continue reading →

Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-03

Update 2026-01-03: Cancelled due to bad weather.

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle on our mini-Okefenokee just west of Lakeland, Georgia. Watch the sun set, the moon rise, and there may be bats. will be leading this paddle.

When: Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:07 PM, sunset 5:55 PM, end 7 PM, Saturday, January 3, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 5 PM, 2026-01-03, West of Lakeland, GA, Sunset, Moonrise, and maybe bats]
Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 5 PM, 2026-01-03, West of Lakeland, GA, Sunset, Moonrise, and maybe bats

Continue reading →

Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04

Sheila Willis and Teresa Aldrich Ammons saw many birds on Banks Lake.

Sheila is the President of the Okefenokee Bird Club and Teresa is a member. Sheila has been very helpful with information about the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge where she used to work.

[Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04, Bat tree, feathers, Sand Hill Cranes, White Ibis, hydrilla, Lily pads]
Outboard birding, Banks Lake 2025-12-04, Bat tree, feathers, Sand Hill Cranes, White Ibis, hydrilla, Lily pads

Plus some feathers at the bat tree, falling from a nest that nobody had noticed before. They might be from a Great Blue Heron.

Continuing southwest towards Moody Air Force Base, we saw a flock of Great Blue Herons. And a flock of White Ibis sitting on the water, then flying, then one perching.

There were more birds, but I was busy going too far into the lily pads and hydrilla with the 25-hp outboard. Although stalks of those plants wrapped around the prop, they weren’t the worst. That was Continue reading →

Full Cold Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-12-04

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, our mini-Okefenokee. Maybe we will see bats.

Full Moon paddle regulars, Holly Jones and Xiaoai Ren, will be leading this paddle.

When: Gather 4:15 PM, launch 4:45 PM, moonrise 5:07 PM, sunset 5:31 PM, end 6:15 PM, Thursday, December 4, 2025

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Cold Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA, Sunset, Moonrise, Maybe bats 2025-12-04]
Full Cold Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA, Sunset, Moonrise, Maybe bats 2025-12-04

Continue reading →