Tag Archives: Little River

River Camp between the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers? 2019-06-17

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The private land between Troupville Boat Ramp and the Little River Confluence would be perfect to roll into the park containing the boat ramp, just west of Valdosta, Georgia. It would be a perfect place for a River Camp like those on the Suwannee River in Florida.

[Helen Tapp]
Helen Tapp

Local conservationist looking to transform 70 acres for the public, Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 17 June 2019,

LOWNDES COUNTY, Ga. (WCTV) — One South Georgia property owner is looking to put more than 70 acres to good use.

The land sits at the confluence of the Little River and the Withlacoochee River. It has been privately owned since the 1800’s, but it could become a new asset to the community.

Thick forest and white sand winds all along the river extending from the Troupville Boat Ramp. Property owner Helen Tapp calls it the “Land Between the Rivers.” It has been in her family for generations, but now she wants to see it used for something bigger.

“This place wants to be part of the community,” Tapp said. “It’s a Continue reading →

Valdosta and Lowndes County greet Paddle Georgia at Land Between the Rivers 2019-06-15

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Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter and Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll, representing the Mayor, greeted Paddle Georgia, #PaddleGA2019, and Gwyneth Moody at Land Between the Rivers, with Helen Tapp representing the landowners, at the Withlacoochee River Confluence. Donald O. Davis of the Lowndes County Historical Society provided background.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:


Valdosta and Lowndes County greet Paddle Georgia at Land Between the Rivers 2019-06-15
Video by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS),

Golf cart shuttle courtesy of The Battery Source, driven by WWALS members Conn and Trudy Cole and Gretchen Quarterman.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Before the day 1 route of Paddle Georgia 2019-06-14

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Down at the Little River Confluence, Troupville Boat Ramp, and downstream to Spook Bridge. Before #PaddleGA2019.

[Downstream Withlacoochee River, 10:48:15, 30.846955, -83.347810]
Downstream Withlacoochee River, 10:48:15, 30.8469550, -83.3478100

While WWALS was welcoming Paddle Georgia boats and boaters, Emma Wheeler of WCTV came to visit, greeted by Shirley Kokidko of WWALS. Continue reading →

Paddle Georgia on Scott James Radio 8AM 2019-06-14

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All about Paddle Georgia #PaddleGA2019, PaddleGA2019 (back on the original route, starting at Troupville!) on the radio 8:00 AM tomorrow, Friday, June 14, 2019, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman with Scott James on his Talk 92.1 drive-time radio show, out of Valdosta, Georgia.

We’ll be working out the final details for Scott James broadcasting from the Suwannee Riverkeeper Aircraft Carrier Saturday morning, as Paddle Georgia’s 300 paddlers set out downstream from Troupville Boat Ramp, just west of Valdosta.

Also Saturday morning, 8AM to 10AM, Helen Tapp and WWALS will be set up at the Little River Confluence, with water trail and other information. That’s on land Helen and her cousins are trying to get funded to turn into a park.

Scott James Talk 92.1 drive-time radio show
Photo: John S. Quarterman, Scott James radio 2019-02-22.

Friday WWALS will be planting signs at Troupville Boat Ramp for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), and at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line.

Tickets are still available for the Journey’s End Feast, Friday, June 21st, in Dowling Park, Florida, on the Suwannee River. That Feast is catered by WWALS by The Salty Snapper of Valdosta, Georgia.

The Salty Snapper will also be the venue for the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Saturday August 24.

When: Approximately 8:00 AM, Friday, June 14, 2019

Where: You can listen on the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through several online listening services.

Event: facebook.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Fecal coliform worse than E. coli, Valdosta testing 2019-05-07

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While the numbers were way down at US 84 on May 7, bacterial counts were up upstream on the Withlacoochee River, and on Mud Swamp Creek; up more in Fecal coliform than E. coli. These readings seem to indicate nonpoint sources.

Withlacoochee

[Fecal coliform Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin]
Fecal coliform Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin

The high readings are all from stations upstream of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the low reading at US 84 is downstream of the WWTP. Continue reading →

Pictures: Troupville to Spook Bridge, Withlacoochee River 2019-02-03

WWALS paddled from Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge (thanks to The Langdale Company for access to take out there) on February 3, 2019. That’s the path planned for Paddle Georgia Day 1, coming up two weeks from now.

[Catching up, 11:08:10, 30.85035, -83.34855]
Catching up, 11:08:10, 30.8503500, -83.3485500

If the rivers rise; they’re much lower now than they were in February.

[Every outing is a cleanup, 10:50:14, 30.8516814, -83.3469376]
Every outing is a cleanup, 10:50:14, 30.8516814, -83.3469376

We passed the famous Mayor John Gayle Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Outfall: Continue reading →

Naylor Boat Ramp, Water Trails, and Paddle Georgia: WWALS to Lowndes County Commission 2019-05-13

Thanks and invitations from WWALS to the Lowndes County Commission, delivered in a letter via email and on paper Monday morning and in Citizens Wishing To Be Heard Tuesday evening.

WWALS to Lowndes County Commission 2019-05-14

I thanked

I invited the Commissioners to pass Water Trail resolutions (see below).

And I invited them to Paddle Georgia and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Letter

Continue reading →

Tomorrow! BIG Little River Paddle Race 2019-04-27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, Georgia, April 26, 2019 — We’ll get a nice cool spring morning start Saturday, as paddlers from Georgia and Florida race (or saunter) down the tea-colored Little River through Reed Bingham State Park, in a friends and family fun event.

“Thanks to Georgia Beer Company for being a sponsor of this seventh annual BIG Little River Paddle Race!” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Onwards (BW), Racing
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of BLRPR 2018.

Dianne Walters, president of Friends of Reed Bingham State Park (FORB), said, “This is a great community event, with volunteers from all around helping paddlers from everywhere.”

BLRPR mastermind, Tifton eye doctor Bret Wagenhorst, said, “Some come to try for the $100 cash prize for first boat to cross the finish in around 35-40 minutes. Others come to do a leisurely 1-2 hr paddle with friends or family and take in the incredible subtropical scenery. Some do it to support the Friends of Reed Bingham group and the WWALS Watershed Coalition.”

Many others win in categories: Continue reading →

Better bacterial levels in Valdosta WQ data 2019-04-02

All of Valdosta’s water quality sampling stations were below the Georgia state limit for E. coli for the first week of April. Valdosta no longer samples weekly, only once a month. It also no longer samples at the state line.

Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin, Withlacoochee

We got this monthly Valdosta WQ data via open records request, as usual. As I said at the April 10, 2019 meeting between Valdosta and the dozen Florida counties, I also filed the next day open records requests for Valdosta’s permit-required spill-followup test data, and for the engineering study they said they had related to how big the new catch basin needs to be. Yesterday I got the latest monthly data a day late, but only a “working on it” about the other two requests. I will now Continue reading →

The limpkin likes the BIG Little River Paddle Race

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tifton, Georgia, April 16, 2019 — Bret Wagenhorst calls this limpkin, “One of the many local spectators along the upcoming BIG Little River PADDLE RACE on Saturday, April 27 at Reed Bingham State Park. Come experience the beauty of a south GA blackwater river. Come have fun with family and friends. Come see if you can paddle fast enough to win the $100 to the first boat across the finish line. Come help support our region’s state park and the WWALS Watershed Coalition.”

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Photo: Bret Wagenhorst

The event is entirely within Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia, on the Little River in Cook and Colquitt Counties.

Dianne Walters, president of Friends of Reed Bingham State Park (FORB), said, Continue reading →