Tag Archives: Cat Creek

Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06

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Update 2026-05-10: Clean Alapaha River 2026-05-08.

Even after the rains last Saturday, Valdosta Utilities got a pretty good E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, and a good result at US 84 that same day.

WWALS got an even better result downstream in Florida.

WWALS results for Sugar Creek for Sunday were also OK.

There was more rain yesterday, but less than last Saturday. Still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, if you can find any water.

More rain is predicted Saturday through Monday.

If there is rain, maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires. Remember not to light anything outdoors.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06, after rains, more rain coming]
Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06, after rains, more rain coming

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23 and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27

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Update 2026-05-09: Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06.

Valdosta Utilities got a pretty good E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, and a good result at US 84 that same day. That’s much improved from previous weeks.

WWALS results for Sugar Creek last Thursday were also OK.

And a WWALS result for Batterbee Branch, in Ray City, Georgia, upstream from Cat Creek, was OK.

Still no significant rain, and still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, if you can find any water.

Rain is predicted for this weekend, but it was predicted for yesterday, too, and didn’t happen.

If there is rain, maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires. Remember not to light anything outdoors.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23, and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27, No rain, no sewage spills]
Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23, and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27, No rain, no sewage spills

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Thanks, Georgia Power for a water quality testing grant 2026-04-16

Thanks to Georgia Power for another generous grant for water quality testing!

Thanks to Don F. Hutchinson, Area Manager, Southwest Region, Georgia Power, and his Admin Assistant Peyton Avrett for coming to Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River so we could thank them.

For more about the WWALS Volunteer Water Quality Testing Program, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/testing

[Thanks, Georgia Power, for a water quality testing grant, At Troupville Boat Ramp, April 16, 2026]
Thanks, Georgia Power, for a water quality testing grant, At Troupville Boat Ramp, April 16, 2026

Here’s the video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/953491027626147/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXNiVmwiAM2/

https://youtu.be/NZbmlRY7CyM Continue reading →

Videos: Bradford Road Denied @ Berrien County Commission 2025-11-04

The Berrien County Commission denied the subdividing issue before them: the six lots on Bradford Road, at their November 4, 2025, regular meeting.

However, many irregularities were raised.

[Bradford Road Denied @ Berrien County Commission. Many irregularities raised, 2025-11-04]
Bradford Road Denied @ Berrien County Commission. Many irregularities raised, 2025-11-04

The other lots on Old Valdosta Highway were already decided by the same Commission in 2024, and the minutes for that meeting say at the request of John and Tonia Beville.

At this meeting, John Beville said he and she had not requested that, and never saw any Public Hearing signs posted, even though they lived there at the time. When questioned by the Commission, Zoning Coordinator Teresa Willis said it was done for South Auction, and “Russ” brought the plat to her. She did not say who Russ was.

Della Gladieux pointed out that the three Planning Commission Public Hearings this year all had both plats advertised, for the lots on Old Valdosta Highway, and for the other lots on Bradford Road. She also pointed out other issues in the document she handed the Commissioners: Formal Complaint and Demand for Investigation Re Bradford Road –Della Gladieux 2025-11-04.

Lisa Sumner also spelled out numerous issues.

Below you can see the entire Berrien County Commission meeting of November 4, 2025 in the WWALS videos of each agenda item and speaker, plus a few still pictures, followed by a WWALS video playlist.

See also Continue reading →

Video: Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism meeting in Valdosta 2025-10-15

Update 2025-10-19: Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-10-17.

WWALS will never have the direct economic effect that many of the other projects described to the five Georgia State Senators this week. But many of our activities require very little economic input, such as water trails, outings, and even the future Troupville Nature Park and River Camp.

And some solutions for things we oppose would have outsized effects.

[Video: Senate Study Committee on Georgia Tourism, meeting in Valdosta, 2025-10-15]
Video: Senate Study Committee on Georgia Tourism, meeting in Valdosta, 2025-10-15

What does an area need for tourism? A good reputation.

What’s the opposite of that? Stigma, as in:

  • A strip mine near the Okefenokee Swamp.
  • Or a long-outdated legal definition of navigability, impeding river passage.
  • Or sewage and trash in creeks and rivers.
Continue reading →

Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism meeting in Valdosta 2025-10-15

Update 2025-10-18: Video: Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism meeting in Valdosta 2025-10-15.

Update 2025-10-14: Updated agenda and list of Georgia State Senators on the Study Committee.

Update 2025-10-03: Clarification:
This event is primarily for the invited people in the tourism industry.
Please note the breakfast has only enough for the invitees.
You can also watch the speakers in the livestream, so you don’t have to come to see what they say.

Suwannee Riverkeeper is supposed to speak for five minutes to a Georgia Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism.

Suwannee Riverkeeper is supposed to speak for five minutes to a Georgia Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism.

That will be at 9 AM, Wednesday, October 15, 2025,
at the Rainwater Conference Center, 1 Meeting Place Valdosta GA 31601-7710.
That’s between I-75 Exits 16 and 18.

[Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism, Rainwater Conference Center, Valdosta, GA, 2025-10-15]
Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism, Rainwater Conference Center, Valdosta, GA, 2025-10-15

The five Georgia state Senators on the Study Committee are:

  • Senator Drew Echols (R–Gainesville, District 49), Chairman,
  • Sen. Sonya Halpern (D–Atlanta, District 39),
  • Sen. Frank Ginn (R–Danielsville, District 47),
  • Sen. Russ Goodman (R–Cogdell, District 8),
  • Sen. Emanuel Jones (D–Decatur, District 10).

The local powers that be are not advertising this meeting, but the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus is:
https://www.gacvb.com/senate-study-committee

There doesn’t seem to be any facebook event by the state, county, or city, so here’s one by WWALS:
https://www.facebook.com/events/796397306306784/

I’m listed under Arts & Education Tourism, so I might as well mention the WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, as well as the education component of the future Troupville Nature Park and River Camp.

This committee was completed by Senate Resolution 323, which includes:

WHEREAS, Georgia has beautiful vistas and natural resources meant to be seen and savored, including mountains, canyons, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, and beaches; and

Well, let’s talk about the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle and the Alapahoochee River chainsaw cleanup with the surprise dead gator. Plus the Banks Lake Full Moon paddles, and the Suwannee River and Okefenokee Swamp campouts and paddles in November and December.

Also: Continue reading →

Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers 2025-05-25

Update 2025-10-03: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers 2025-10-02.

WWALS testers found the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers clean this week.

Upstream of the Withlacoochee River, WWALS got surprisingly high E. coli results on Cat Creek and Beatty Branch for Thursday samples. Beatty Branch water at Cat Creek Road smelled like cattle manure. More tests will be necessary to see where that is coming from.

WWALS found Sugar Creek OK. But Valdosta once again got much higher results for Sugar Creek, Meanwhile, Valdosta and WWALS results upstream at US 41 and Langdale Park were pretty close together. And this week’s WWALS Sugar Creek results are similar to last week’s WWALS results. We’ve never seen this kind of discrepancy between Valdosta and WWALS results before.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee GA 133 was OK by Valdosta, which is strange considering Valdosta’s Sugar Creek results.

Valdosta had a tiny 2,000-gallon sewage spill onto dry land Monday at its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). No other new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Downstream from the WWTP at US 84 was OK by Valdosta. A WWALS test was even better farther downstream on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

There was no rain for a week before these samples, but it rained later Thursday, and more rain is predicted this weekend. So more contamination may wash into the waterways.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, But if you can beat the rain, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

[Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream]
Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Pictures: Franklinville Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2025-08-16

We found surprisingly little trash at the Withlacoochee River below Franklinville Road, but plenty of yellowjackets and deadfalls. Also, Cat Creek stinks like sewage.

[Franklinville Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-16, Yellow Jackets and Chainsaws, Deadfalls, and Cat Creek Stinks]
Franklinville Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-16, Yellow Jackets and Chainsaws, Deadfalls, and Cat Creek Stinks

Thanks to Cindy Vedas for organizing this expedition, and for bringing lunch.

Thanks to landowner Robbie McMillan for access, including mowing a path down to the Withlacoochee River at the Hahira-Moody AFB power line, for swimming, and for chainsawing.

I actually did most of the chainsawing this time, from my kayak, but there are no pictures of that.

Early on, I was chainsawing an opening in the brush towards Tyler Bridge, when something started stinging me. I backed off, but they followed me: Southern Yellowjackets, Vespula squamosa. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-08-21

Update 2025-08-23: Sewage Spill, Wainwright Drive, One Mile Branch, Valdosta, GA 2025-08-23.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean this week.

Nobody tested Sugar Creek, but I’d avoid it until somebody gets clean results.

Nobody tested Cat Creek or Beatty Branch, either, but I can attest that Cat Creek smelled like sewage last Saturday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s a strong chance of storms through Sunday, but mostly in the afternoon.

Rains lately have been spotty here and there, and any rain could wash contamination into waterways. We can only report test results we know.

So if you can get in and out before the rains, happy swimming, fishing, paddling, and boating this weekend.

[Clean Withlacoochee River, Storms through Sunday, Happy paddling, 2025-08-21]
Clean Withlacoochee River, Storms through Sunday, Happy paddling, 2025-08-21

Or join us at 8:30 AM tomorrow (Saturday) for Black Moon Morning Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-08-23.
https://wwals.net/?p=68213

Withlacoochee River

Continue reading →

Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-14

Update 2025-08-22: Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-08-21.

Update 2025-08-18: Videos: Florida River Task Force and City of Valdosta City Council Joint Workshop 2025-08-14.

Sugar Creek still tested bad for E. coli Wednesday, but not as bad as last week. The Withlacoochee River was bad at US 84, but OK at US 41 and upstream, and downstream near the Suwannee River.

The Alapaha River tested clean for Thursday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s a chance of storms through Monday, but mostly in the afternoon.

So if you can get in and out before the rains, avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, and happy swimming, fishing, paddling, and boating this weekend.

[Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-14]
Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-14

Or join us tomorrow (Saturday) upstream from Valdosta in Lowndes County, Georgia, for Franklinville Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-16.

Withlacoochee River upstream

Continue reading →