Category Archives: Springs

Nestle water supply @ SRWMD 2019-08-13

Nestlé’s permit request to with draw even more massive amounts of water from Ginnie Springs on the Santa Fe River does not explicitly appear in next Tuesday’s SRWMD board packet.

Nonetheless, you can go ahead and ask SRWMD not to approve that permit: OSFR explains how.

Nestlé has long sucked up water next to Madison Blue Spring on the Suwannee River, paying nothing per gallon, and now Nestlé has bought the bottler at Ginnie Springs on the Santa Fe River, Seven Springs Water Co., which is applying for a new permit to pay nothing to withdraw even more water for nothing; see Cindy Swirko, Gainesville Sun, 1 August 2019, Permit sought for bottled water from Ginnie Springs. Gilchrist County already approved the permit, but the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) has not yet.

Location Map
PDF

This is in Tuesday’s SRWMD packet: Continue reading →

Mt. Zion Methodist Church Spring and road 2019-06-16

A rare spring in Lowndes County, Georgia. Passing by during #PaddleGA2019, I took these pictures.

Reflections

Continue reading →

SRWMD explains itself to #PaddleGA2019 2019-06-19

Thanks to Lindsey Garland and Ben Glass for explaining SRWMD springs, rivers, and water withdrawals to 300 new people from all over the world on #PaddleGA2019, at Camp Suwannee, Dowling Park, Suwannee County, Florida.

About SRWMD

The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) is the largest Continue reading →

Air Force Accidentally Bombs Florida –People.com; Happy Fourth of July!

Maybe Moody AFB forgot the bombs were supposed to burst in air, and the pyrotechnics were meant as Fourth of July fireworks.

A BDU-33, U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY AIRMAN 1ST CLASS EUGENE OLIVER

“There is a safety investigation that is ongoing to see what caused it,” an air base spokesperson tells PEOPLE. “We’re also trying to look into any lessons that we can learn from it and mitigate the situation to prevent it from happening in the future.”

The spokesperson says the investigation’s results will be released after it is finished.

That’s according to Char Adams, People.com, 3 July 2019, Air Force Accidentally Bombs Florida in Botched Training Exercise Continue reading →

Moody dummy bomb report from Suwannee Springs –WCTV 2019-07-02

Will Moody AFB find the dummy bombs an A-10C Warthog dropped near Suwannee Springs the other day?

Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t

Moody AFB said sometimes they search for them, and sometimes they don’t, depending on an ongoing safety examination.

Location Map

That is as reported by Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 2 July 2019, Moody jet hits bird, drops 3 dummy bombs over N. Florida.

She also interviewed me.

What else is in it? What are the pyrotechnics? What kind of environmental damage could it cause? We don’t really know. We’d like to know.

Doesn’t encourage people to get on the rivers
Continue reading →

Dummy bombs dropped by Moody AFB near Suwannee Springs 2019-07-01

If you see this, don’t pick it up, call 229-257-4146 (Moody AFB), or 911.

Photo: Moody AFB: “The BDU-33 is a 25-pound training munition used to simulate the M1a-82 500-pound bomb. It is approximately 22 and a half inches long and is blue in color. Although the training munition is inert, it is equipped with a small pyrotechnic charge and should not be handled.”

One of those A-10 Warthogs we see flying overhead all the time dropped three of those dummy bombs yesterday, at a location that sounds very near Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park. Just as well this didn’t happen last week while we had 300 people paddling on the Suwannee River downstream.

Moody A-10 dropped object reported, By 23d Wing Public Affairs , 23d Wing Public Affairs / Published July 01, 2019. Continue reading →

When the water was really high at Spook Bridge 1928-08-19

The Withlacoochee River is higher this morning than yesterday, so conditions are fine for #PaddleGA2019!

Those people on Spook Bridge during the 1928 flood were crazy:

During flood of-1928 with Blue Springs sign

Don Davis of the Lowndes County Historical Society, who sent these old pictures, wrote:

Constructed in 1921? the bridge in the 1928 flood photo is the old US84 (GA38) bridge that the group will paddle under as “Spook Bridge.”

According to the USGS Quitman (US 84) gauge, that flood crested on August 19, 1928, which actually wasn’t quite as high as in 2013, 1948, or 2009.

Historic Crests
(1) 118.17 ft on 04/05/2009
(2) 115.20 ft on 04/04/1948
(3) 114.98 ft on 03/01/2013
(4) 114.80 ft on 08/19/1928
(5) 114.29 ft on 02/13/1986

Gauges

Right now the USGS Quitman (US 84) gauge reads 86.15 feet NAVD 88, which is well above the 85.9 feet Joe Cook wanted for Paddle Georgia. And it has been rising since yesterday morning. The fellow who left his kayak at the bottom of Troupville Boat Ramp may be in for a surprise….

Quitman

Upstream, the gauges are even higher, and that water is coming downstream.

Hahira at Continue reading →

Florida Algal Bloom Maps 2019-06-01

What’s this about cyanobacteria blooms in Florida?

It’s a big problem, although no so much in the Suwannee River Basin. However, there is a yellow-green (not cyanobacteria) bloom at Manatee Spring Run on the lower Suwannee River.

FDEP provides Weekly Updates and Subscription to Algal Bloom Monitoring, including maps in Algal Bloom Sampling Status, from which these maps come.

Here’s the detail on the one algal bloom in the Suwannee River Basin. Continue reading →

Shoals and Springs, Allen Ramp to SRSP, Withlacoochee River 2019-06-01

This Saturday, four shoals (Battery, Wipe-Out, Deer, and Melvin) and four springs (Powerline, Fairy, Corbett, and second-magnitude Suwannacoochee), all on the Withlacoochee River, from Allen Ramp to Suwannee River State Park.

Shoals and springs

Location of shoals from Chris Mericle, Blackwater River Guide. River mile calculations for them by Shirley Kokidko, both in the interactive map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

For outing details, see: Continue reading →

Allen Ramp to SRSP, Withlacoochee River: Paddle Georgia Preview, 2019-06-01

Update 2019-05-30: Map of shoals and springs along the way.

Wild and beautiful Withlacoochee River to the Confluence. We will pass numerous rocky shoals requiring some skills so this outing may not be appropriate for beginners and young children. There are clear springs to explore, such as Suwannacoochee Spring at Ellaville. This is a preview of part of Paddle Georgia 2019. #PaddleGA2019

When: Gather 8:00 AM, launch 9:30 AM, Saturday, June 1, 2019

Put In: Allen Ramp, From Jasper, travel north on US 41 to SR 6; turn left; travel south on SW CR 141 to SW CR 143; turn right and follow SW CR 143 to SW 64 Way and follow to ramp. Also known as CR 143 ramp (SRWMD).

GPS: 30.449167, -83.221333

Take Out: Suwannee River State Park Ramp, 3631 201st Path, Live Oak, FL 32060, in Suwannee County.
Taking out requires a very brief paddle upstream on the Suwannee River.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Don’t forget a rope in case you need to drag your boat across shoals. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Park: Remember to have $5 cash for the state park fee, for each vehicle that will be shuttled to the take out at Suwannee River State Park.

Event: facebook, meetup

Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, Allen Ramp, 2014-09-21.