Tag Archives: Gretchen Quarterman

OK Santa Fe and Alapaha Rivers, Questionable Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek, Clean Little River 2026-03-19

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Sugar Creek is dirty again, but not as filthy as last week, according to a WWALS Tuesday sample. So was Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road, also for Tuesday.

For the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta Utilities for Monday got very filthy with E. coli at GA 133, but clean at US 84.

WWALS got clean downstream at Holly Point for Tuesday, and clean upstream at Hagan Bridge for Thursday, also on the Withlacoochee River. And clean for Thursday on the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp, just above the Withlacoochee.

The Santa Fe River tested clean for Thursday, and the Alapaha River tested OK for Saturday.

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

So chances are the contamination from the big rain of Monday has been diluted. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

Come join us tomorrow, Saturday, for a Chainsaw cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Troupville 2026-03-21. You do not have to use a saw. You can pull trimmed branches aside, pick up trash, photograph, or just paddle along.

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

[OK Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers, Questionable Withlacoochee, Dirty Sugar Creek, Clean Little River 2026-03-19]
OK Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers, Questionable Withlacoochee, Dirty Sugar Creek, Clean Little River 2026-03-19

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 →

WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival 2026-03-14-15

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Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends.

That’s in Drexel Park, Valdosta, Georgia, this Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15, 2026.

The festival starts at 9 AM each day, and runs until 6 PM Saturday and 5 PM Sunday.

We’ll be at our usual location at the entrance on Slater and Brookwood.

GPS: 30.848576, -83.285556.

Drexel Park is on One Mile Branch, which runs into Sugar Creek, into the Withlacoochee River, on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

[WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA, March 14-15, 2026]
WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA, March 14-15, 2026

If you are a WWALS member, you can come help give out flyers and answer questions about outings and events, advocacy and education.

We’re on our own this year, because Continue reading →

Pictures: Mayor and Chairmans Paddle 2026-03-07

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All 29 paddlers had fun, on the Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Saturday, March 7, 2026.

We went from Troupville Boat Ramp, down the Little River to its Confluence, near where some day will be Troupville River Camp.

Then we went down the Withlacoochee River over some small shoals, to the cleaned-up outflow of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Plant.

And out at Paul Deloach’s Private Boat Ramp; thanks to him for access.

[Pictures 2026-03-07, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Little River and Withlacoochee River]
Pictures 2026-03-07, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Little River and Withlacoochee River

Here are some videos:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QzGPpfQY6qOBC-qQF-M9gex&si=6QY4Fu4LslnLV_6e

Thanks to Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers 2026-01-28

Update 2026-02-03: High Springs sewage spill, Railroad Ave. near SE Douglas Street 2026-02-02.

WWALS got good river results on Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers for Wednesday, and on the Santa Fe River for Thursday.

Valdosta Utilities also got good E. coli results for the Withlacoochee for Wednesday.

We have no new creek test results.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in Georgia or Florida. The Florida Pollution Notices map is even finally working!

So if you can it being really cold, and you can find a river with enough water, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Clean Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers 2026-01-28, Very cold this weekend, But happy paddling!]
Clean Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers 2026-01-28, Very cold this weekend, But happy paddling!

Alapaha River

Please welcome back WWALS tester Kimberly Godden Tanner. For Wednesday she a very good 33 cfu/100 mL at both Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach for Wednesday.

Santa Fe River

WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for Thursday at Mills Dock, a bit upstream from Poe Springs Ramp, bot a quite clean 100, with 4.7 C air temperature and 17.0 C water temperature.

Withlacoochee River

Valdosta Utilities for Wednesday got 360 at GA 133 and 50 at US 84, both below the 410 one-time test limit.

WWALS tester Suzy Hall for Wednesday got a perfect zero (0) for State Line Boat Ramp, aka Mozell Spells.

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 →

Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek 2025-12-17

Update 2026-01-01: Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean upstream and down this week, and Sugar Creek and One Mile Branch in Valdosta tested pretty clean.

But Hightower Creek remained dirty in Valdosta Utilities’ result.

It still appears there is some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee River near the Suwannee, WWALS tester Russ Tatum got a near-perfect 33 cfu/100 mL E. coli. All these results are for Wednesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. FDEP’s Pollution Notice reporting is still half broken: see below.

After a little drizzle yesterday, no rain is predicted for the next ten days.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek, 2025-12-17]
Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek, 2025-12-17

Valdosta Utilities sampled its creeks again this week after its August 23, 2025 20,000 gallon sewage spill into One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive. Valdosta has since replaced both manholes at Wainwright Drive with taller ones, so maybe that is finally starting to have an effect of reduced sewage in the creeks.
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/august-2025-sanitary-sewer-spills

Thanks again for those tests, and thanks for posting results earlier this week.

Also, Valdosta could take back up testing the Withlacoochee River down to the state line, plus Okapilco Creek, as they stopped doing after the four years required in the 2020 GA-EPD Consent Order. This would be to the advantage of the City of Valdosta, because such results help find sewage spills, and they also demonstrate when the creeks and rivers are clean, and when there are problems that are not Valdosta’s fault.

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 →

Clean Rivers and Creeks, except Hightower Creek 2025-12-11

Update 2025-12-19: Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek 2025-12-17.

The Withlacoochee River tested pretty clean this week, as did the Santa Fe River, and the Ichetucknee River for Friday last week.

Even Valdosta’s problem Sugar Creek and One Mile Branch tested OK.

But Hightower Creek was bad in Valdosta Utilities’ result, although the WWALS result the same day at the same site was OK.

It appears there is still some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida, although FDEP’s Pollution Notice reporting is half broken: see below.

No rain is predicted for the next ten days.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee, Santa Fe Rivers, Mostly Good 2025-12-11, OK One Mile Branch and Sugar Creek, But not Hightower Creek]
Clean Withlacoochee, Santa Fe Rivers, Mostly Good 2025-12-11, OK One Mile Branch and Sugar Creek, But not Hightower Creek

Sugar Creek and its feeder creeks

For Thursday at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek, Valdosta Utilities got Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers; dirty Sugar Creek and One Mile Branch, filthy Hightower Creek 2025-12-04

Update 2025-12-13: Clean Rivers and Creeks, except Hightower Creek 2025-12-11.

The Withlacoochee River tested pretty clean this week, as did the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers.

But One Mile Branch and Sugar Creek tested dirty, and Hightower Creek tested filthy.

It appears there is still some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

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

The weather prediction for Saturday and Sunday is rain.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, & Santa Fe Rivers 2025-12-04, Dirty Sugar Creek & One Mile Branch, Filthy Hightower Creek]
Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, & Santa Fe Rivers 2025-12-04, Dirty Sugar Creek & One Mile Branch, Filthy Hightower Creek

Sugar Creek and its feeder creeks

We’re only seeing these creek results from Valdosta Utilities because they’re in the fourth week of the month 12 required testing after their November 2024 sewage spills. There won’t be any more tests in that series after this week.

https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/nov-2024-overflow-testing-results

Maybe it’s time for Valdosta to take up a more regular schedule for testing its creeks, as well as the Withlacoochee River both upstream and down. This would be to the advantage of the City of Valdosta, because such results help find sewage spills, and they also demonstrate when the creeks and rivers are clean, and when there are problems that are not Valdosta’s fault.

WWALS tester Suzy Hall got 566 cfu/100 mL E. coli at the WaterGoat on Sugar Creek, down near the Withlacoochee River. Which matches the 600 Valdosta Utilities got a bit upstream at Gornto Road. Both results are above the one-time 410 test limit.

Farther upstream, Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Sugar Creek 2025-11-26

Update 2025-12-05: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers; dirty Sugar Creek and One Mile Branch 2025-12-04.

Update 2025-12-05: Clearing logjams from Sugar Creek –Juston Stone 2025-12-02.

Even upstream, the Withlacoochee River tested pretty clean this week.

And Sugar Creek and its feeder creeks tested pretty clean, except at Gornto Road.

This is according to Valdosta Utilities results, which match the weekend results previously reported from WWALS testers.

Apparently the effects of the small Valdosta sewage spill into Sugar Creek Wednesday last week have washed out of the Withlacoochee River downstream.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Sugar Creek, No new sewage spills, No rain 2025-11-26]
Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Sugar Creek, No new sewage spills, No rain 2025-11-26

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia since the small Valdosta spill into Sugar Creek on Wednesday, November 11, 2025.

No rain is predicted until Tuesday.

So if you can find enough water, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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.

[Chart: Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Sugar Creek 2025-11-26]
Chart: Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Sugar Creek 2025-11-26 Continue reading →

WWALS teaching ABAC students about water quality @ GFEC 2025-11-21

Heather Brasell got WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman invited to talk about water quality with students from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). They did this in the classroom at the Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC) and onsite at streams coming from the Town of Alapaha Wastewater Treatment Plant.

[WWALS teaching ABAC students about water quality @ GFEC, Watersheds and microbes, plants and animals 2025-11-21]
WWALS teaching ABAC students about water quality @ GFEC, Watersheds and microbes, plants and animals 2025-11-21

They did the classroom part at Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC), 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd, Alapaha, GA 31622, in Berrien County. Gretchen talked about what watersheds are, about the watersheds of the Suwannee River Basin, about WWALS, and generally about Georgia Adopt-A-Stream water quality testing such as WWALS does. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River downstream 2025-11-22

Update 2025-11-28: Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Sugar Creek 2025-11-26.

Better news from two recent Withlacoochee River water quality samples.

Apparently the effects of the small Valdosta sewage spill into Sugar Creek Wednesday have washed out of the Withlacoochee River downstream, at least where we tested.

Suzy Hall got zero (0) E. coli for Friday at State Line Boat Ramp, aka Mozell Spells.

John S. Quarterman got 100 cfu/100 mL for Saturday nine miles upstream at Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp.

Those are both less than the 126 cfu/100 mL three-test average limit, so quite clean.

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

[Clean downstream Withlacoochee River, State Line 2025-11-21, Nankin Boat Ramp 2025-11-22]
Clean downstream Withlacoochee River, State Line 2025-11-21, Nankin Boat Ramp 2025-11-22

Nankin Boat Ramp is also 15 river miles downstream from US 84 and 27 miles downstream from GA 133 where Valdosta Utilities got way-too-high E. coli for Thursday. And about 30 miles downstream from Sugar Creek, where WWALS tester Suzy Hall got even worse Too Numerous to Count (TNTC) for Wednesday.

These new WWALS results match the zero (0) that WWALS tester Russ Tatum got for Wednesday at Holly Point, on the Withlacoochee River in Florida a few miles upstream from the Suwannee River.

So if you can find enough water, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing, at least downstream on the Withlacoochee River.

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 →