As usual, the closest public meeting to the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin is two hours away, this time in Dawson, Georgia. Received Monday via email. The documents attached are on the WWALS website.
When: Friday, March 29, 2019 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Where: 152 N. Main Street, Dawson, GA
EPD Watershed Protection Branch
Notice of Public Meetings for the Revisions to Georgia’s
Statewide Nonpoint Source Management Plan Continue reading
Valdosta’s monthly water quality testing data shows E. coli down at three out of their six remaining stations, and up at the other three, highest at US 41 on the Withlacoochee River, upstream of most of Valdosta and its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. This data is for Tuesday, March 5, 2019, and was obtained as usual by an open records request from WWALS.
Even that 265 cfu/100 ml E. coli is barely above the Georgia limit of 200, and far below the alert line of 1,000.
At the next station downstream from US 41, at GA 133, the Withlacoochee River still showed Continue reading
We asked the state of Georgia to upgrede our main Suwannee River Basin rivers (and some lakes and swamps) from their current lowest water quality classification as Fishing to what they really are: Recreational Use. You can help!
![[Georgia landings in Suwannee River Basin]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-03--wwals-suw-basin-landings-ga/all-ga-landings-suw-river-basin.jpg)
Every three years, federal law requires each state to review its water quality standards. 2019 is such a year for Georgia, so the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) is conducting a Triennial Review. The request WWALS sent to GA-EPD, background, and their response are all on the WWALS website. Our request was rather long, with 23 pages asking for reclassification of the Suwannee River, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Alapaha River, Lake Irma, Banks Lake, Grand Bay, the Withlacoochee River, the Little River, and Reed Bingham State Park Lake, all from Fishing to Recreational Use. The WWALS cover letter is included at the end of this blog post. For the rest, see the WWALS website.
The response thus far from GA-EPD has some good news: Continue reading
Update 2019-03-14: The Valdosta City Clerk says the Valdosta City Manager says “the public will have an opportunity to speak.”
As discussed in Lake City when the dozen downstream Florida counties passed their resolution, and as foreshadowed by Emma Wheeler on WCTV, and now confirmed by Valdosta City Clerk Teresa Bolden, elected officials from Valdosta and twelve Florida counties will meet to discuss Valdosta wastewater spills and how to stop them. She also confirmed that since there will be a quorum of the Valdosta City Council there, this will be a public meeting.
When: 6PM, Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Where:
General Purpose Room,
Valdosta City Hall Annex,
300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, GA 31601
Photo: Ellis, Ricket & Associates.
It’s not clear the public will be able to speak, but you can come and see for yourself. As I told the Valdosta City Clerk, this afternoon I already invited the Suwannee River Water Management District and everybody else who was in their meeting. Valdosta will probably publish an announcement soon, but so far we at least know the meeting will happen and it will be public. Y’all come.
Back on Continue reading
It’s great the #Trashtag Challenge is getting people to clean up litter, but remember the straw and the sea turtle. Let’s also get on with fixing the problem, which is throwaway plastic and other discardable containers and wrappers.
It’s fun and useful to clean up a creek, like we did Sunday on Onemile Branch at Azalea Festival in Valdosta.
WWALS does this on every outing, which is also a cleanup, plus some specific cleanups, such as two at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River and one at Sheboggy on the Alapaha River last year. We find the amount of trash tends to go down, as more people catch on that we need to take care of our waters.
Yet more needs to be done. Remember last year at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the sea turtle and the straw? Continue reading
Update 2019-03-12: The #Trashtag Challenge: Cleanups are good, but throwaway plastic needs to be stopped.
Not bad for an idea from a few days before: a cleanup at Onemile Branch in Drexel Park during Azalea Festival.
Juan and Luisa from Colombia with the VSU English Language Institute waded into the stream, with Beatriz Potter holding the bucket and Tom Potter advising.
Sara Jay explained her WWALS water quality test kit.
Continue readingGeorgia HB 545 restricts property owners from filing a nuisance claim against an industrial agricultural operation. If a Chinese concentrated hog farming operation like those in North Carolina moves in next door, you may have no recourse if this law passes. Smells from pools of animal waste, pesticide drift, or underground contamination of your well water: all these things can travel for miles, and this bill could prevent you from objecting to them.
In Georgia, people are living a “lightmare” from mega-greenhouses owned by an international conglomerate.
HB 545 would prevent property owners from protecting their own property values. Existing law already protects agricultural operations from neighbors who move in next to the farm. This bill favors newly arriving, disruptive industrial agricultural operations over long-established property owners.
Follow this link to send a message today to your Senator and the Governor to VOTE NO on HB 545. Protect rural property rights.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
It turns out Valdosta can schedule a workshop for elected officials to meet with the Valdosta City Council, as the the dozen downstream Florida counties previously requested.
Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 7 March 2019, Task force looks to curb Valdosta sewage spills,
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WCTV) — Communities continue to push for more prevention of spills at Valdosta’s wastewater treatment system.
Several North Florida counties down the river from Valdosta formed a task force last year to try and protect local waterways. The group is now hoping the states can step in to help.
Counties across North Florida and South Georgia are making it a priority to protect the rivers. The task force has passed a Continue reading
Crossover day is this Thursday, by which bills have to pass one part of the Georgia legislature to be considered in the other. Please contact your state legislators today to stop coal ash pollution!
Coal ash from the infamous Kingston, Tennessee coal ash pond dam break in 2008 was shipped to at least five landfills in south Georgia, including the old landfill in Lowndes County, which is in an aquifer recharge zone and a quarter mile uphill from the Withlacoochee River. That landfill also has coal ash from Jacksonville, Florida. We don’t need any more coal ash in any landfills in Georgia. The power companies that produced it need to store it safely on their own land.
TVA aerial image of Kingston Ash Slide 2008-12-23.
Please call your Georgia state legislators today, to support:
The testing results promised last time will apparently be in the workshop, which is usually around noon or 1PM:
Also Bob’s River Place, on the Suwannee River in Dixie County, is on the agenda yet again, this time for a variance, after last time they said they had received new information.
Received Monday, 4 March 2019: Board agenda and packet and Lands Committee Agenda and packet. See also the WWALS writeup and videos from the February SRWMD board meeting, which was mostly about Valdosta wastewater.
AGENDA
SUWANNEE RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
GOVERNING BOARD MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
March 12, 2019
9:00 a.m.
District Headquarters
Live Oak, Florida
![[Meeting locations]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-29--ga-nonpoint-source-water-management-plan/map.jpg)
![[A new challenge.]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/53109624_309787839740111_3782262578527659154_n.jpg)
![[Scotti downstream]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_142143.jpg)
![[Beatriz assisting]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_144703.jpg)
![[Sara explaining]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_142225.jpg)
