Tag Archives: south Georgia

Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on Scott James radio 2026-08-13

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Last call, songwriters, tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19, 2026:

https://forms.gle/fihLNVC2xbD1SXBB6

Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman discussed the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest last Thursday at the Mayor’s day job, the radio show he owns and hosts on talk921.fm.

Songs can be about any waterbody in the 10,000-square mile Suwannee River Basin or Estuary in Georgia or Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, or Suwannee Rivers, or the Okefenokee Swamp, or any other river, creek, swamp, or sink. Plus underground waters such as the Floridan Aquifer.

Songwriters can be from anywhere; they come from as far as Tennessee and south Florida.

[Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by August 19, on Scott James radio, Finalists play September 12, 2026]
Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by August 19, on Scott James radio, Finalists play September 12, 2026

Here are WWALS videos from that radio show:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2118859655696045

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcL-5a7I2nc/

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSTFinxTNQsw&si=u4CDRXlSjW5tCIl6

Once we get those last few songs from the procrastinating songwriters, the organizing committee will select Finalists.

The Finalists will play at WWALS River Revue, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the Lowndes County 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, on Long Pond.

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026

When you buy a ticket, you get to hear them along with the three judges, who will select the winners.

And you get a sit-down dinner with cash bar, Headliner Joe First, who is last year’s winner, and two speakers:

  • Amy Sharma of Science for Georgia, talking about hyper-scale AI datacenters.
  • Rick Davis, Chair of the dozen-county Florida Task Force, talking about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the currently-hibernating scheme to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee Basin.

Plus a silent auction! Continue reading →

Alleged Sinkhole, Rustic Ridge Road, Foxborough subdivision 2026-08-12

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Dennis Norman, the landowner with the big hole in his driveway at 4637 Rustic Ridge Road, said his wife did a video recording of the children back in 2019 and he saw the crack in the driveway then.

He told the county about it this spring, before his driveway collapsed. Last Wednesday he was waiting around for somebody from the county to come out, who apparently already had, and I finally got his Commissioner to call him.

According to the dictionary and USGS, it’s a sinkhole.

The question is what caused it: “gradual soil movement”, a sewer pipe break, or a contractor running something along the road?

And who is responsible for the damages.

Also, are there more cavities that may collapse.

[Alleged Sinkhole 2026-08-12, 4637 Rustic Ridge Road, Foxborough subdivision, Lowndes County, GA]
Alleged Sinkhole 2026-08-12, 4637 Rustic Ridge Road, Foxborough subdivision, Lowndes County, GA

Here’s a WWALS video playlist from the site:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLalLgq5w7US8&si=VY1m8J6P8PGdqjcS

Dennis Norman had already called the county before his driveway collapsed. He thought it was a sinkhole then, and he’s still not sure.

He stuck his tape measure down in there, and it was 5 feet 3 inches deep before it collapsed. Continue reading →

Ashburn sewage spill 2026-08-02, Clean Alapaha River 2026-08-08 but dirty Town of Alapaha, Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-08-12

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The Alapaha River tested clean last Friday, but the Town of Alapaha Wastewater Treatment Outflow was filthy.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean for Monday and for Wednesday downstream.

The only sewage spill reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia, was a 25,000 gallon spill into Hat Creek on August 2, that Ashburn, Georgia didn’t report to GA-EPD until Monday, August 10. That’s upstream of the Alapaha River.

According to the results we have, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, if you can avoid the rains.

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

[Ashburn sewage spill 2026-08-02, Clean Alapaha River 2026-08-08, but dirty Town of Alapaha, Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-08-12]
Ashburn sewage spill 2026-08-02, Clean Alapaha River 2026-08-08, but dirty Town of Alapaha, Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-08-12

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 →

Sabal Trail wants a second pipeline and bigger compressor stations 2026-08-03

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Sabal Trail proposes to add another fracked methane pipeline alongside the one it plowed under the Withlacoochee, Suwannee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee (South) Rivers almost a decade ago, plus bigger compressor stations in Suwannee and Marion Counties, Florida, and elsewhere.

What “economic development” could eat such a doubling of pipeline capacity? I know of only one candidate: hyper-scale AI datacenters, powered by gas plants such as the one rumored in Mitchell County, Georgia, near the Sabal Trail pipeline.

[Sabal Trail wants a second pipeline and bigger compressor stations, 2026-08-03]
Sabal Trail wants a second pipeline and bigger compressor stations, 2026-08-03

The first person to post this letter online was apparently Jodi Brantley, today, August 14, 2026. Others confirm that multiple landowners received this letter. The gist of the letter is on Sabal Trail’s own website:

https://www.sabaltrailtransmission.com/Project

This is not the long-delayed Project Phase III, which was supposed to add 75 million cubic feet per day. That one was originally supposed to be in service May 1, 2021, but got extended until May 1, 2023, and again to May 1, 2025, and most recently to May 1, 2027.

This Sabal Trail Expansion is a new project.

The current Sabal Trail pipeline “is capable of transporting over 1 billion cubic feet per day or more of natural gas to serve local distribution companies, industrial users and natural gas-fired power generators in the Southeast markets.”

So a second pipeline could add another billion cubic feet per day.

Sabal Trail’s excuses are: Continue reading →

River up at Langdale Park Boat Ramp; erosion on access road 2026-08-13

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The Withlacoochee River is up at Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

At 118 feet NAVD88 yesterday and 119.19 feet today on the Valdosta Gauge at US 41, that’s several feet above the WWALS recommended minimum of 116 for boating. It’s probably even high enough to put in a boat with a motor and go over most of the remaining deadfalls at the bottom of the park.

Unfortunately, the rains that brought the river up also once again produced erosion on the access road, out of the private development site.

[2026-08-13: River up at Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, erosion on access road]
2026-08-13: River up at Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, erosion on access road

Down at the boat ramp, you can see the WWALS signs for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) and below them a container with rack cards for people to take. Continue reading →

Update: Clay silt runoff down St. Augustine Road to Withlacoochee River 2026-08-07

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Update 2026-08-14: Ashburn sewage spill 2026-08-02, Clean Alapaha River 2026-08-08 but dirty Town of Alapaha, Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-08-12.

Following up on the August 3 clay silt runoff down St. Augustine Road into the Withlacoochee River, we already posted that there was no effect on the Withlacoochee River detectable in E. coli measurements by Valdosta Utilities or WWALS.

[Update: Clay Silt Runoff, St. Augustine Road into Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA 2026-08-07]
Update: Clay Silt Runoff, St. Augustine Road into Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA 2026-08-07

Valdosta City Engineer Ben O’Dowd sent this update on August 7:

The property owner is required to install and maintain a series of BMPs (silt fencing, check dams, sediment storage basins, etc.) to prevent the escape of sediment from the permittee’s property throughout construction.

Sometimes those components of the construction plan are not maintained appropriately or the fail during severe inclement weather and need to be repaired, replaced, or supplemented in order to prevent the escape of sediment from the permittee’s property.

Following receipt of the report of sediment escape from the property, we had our ESPC inspector visit the subject property, document the deficiencies which resulted in the escape of sediment from the property, and notify the owner and their contractor of the deficiencies.

We also reached out to the owner’s design professional and recommended a modified construction phasing approach which would reduce the risk of repeat occurrences.

If the incident occurs again, or if the identified deficiencies are not rectified within the required timeframe, we will progress through the City’s enforcement procedures for locally issued permits.

Please let us know if you identify any other deficiencies or if you have any more questions.

Have a good weekend!

You may wonder why it took WWALS so long to post this update. Continue reading →

Another week to send in your song 2026-08-13

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Hahira, Georgia, August 13, 2026 — We have some songs, but we’d like more songwriters to play next month at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. So everyone has another week to polish their song and send it in, by August 19, 2026.

Here’s the entry form:

https://forms.gle/fihLNVC2xbD1SXBB6

Songs must be about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary, such as the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, or Suwannee Rivers, or Sugar Creek, Okapilco Creek, Falling Creek, etc., or the Floridan Aquifer or other underground waters.

[Another week to send in your song, Until Wednesday, August 19, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Finals Saturday, September 12, 2026]
Another week to send in your song, Until Wednesday, August 19, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Finals Saturday, September 12, 2026

WWALS Board member Scotti Jay said, “For the first time, songs can even be about the Santa Fe River or other waterbodies in that basin.”

After August 19, the organizing committee will pick Finalists, who will play September 12, 2026, as part of WWALS River Revue, at the Lowndes County 4-H Club, in Lake Park, Georgia.

“It will be a fun evening, with a sit-down dinner and drinks, two speakers, a headliner, plus a silent auction, and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest,” said Sara Squires Jones, Chair of the organizing Committee.

Continue reading →

Send your songs today: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest @ Bill Osborne Radio 2026-08-12

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Send in your songs today by midnight, for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Entry form:

https://forms.gle/VesaZck96Lf5chuP6

That’s what Bill Osborne and I talked about on his radio show this morning at 7:30 AM.

Video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1575247700675963/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Db8nD4wIUEw/

https://youtu.be/IoPBR7UF6IM

[Send your songs today: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest @ Bill Osborne Radio 2026-08-12]
Send your songs today: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest @ Bill Osborne Radio 2026-08-12

Finalists will play and winners will be picked by 3 judges on September 12, in the WWALS River Revue, at the Lowndes County 4-H Club, Lake Park, Georgia.

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026

That’s after a sit-down dinner and drinks, talks by experts from Georgia and Florida, headliner Joe First (last year’s winner), and a silent auction! Continue reading →

Full Harvest Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-09-26

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Leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle in Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, our mini-Okefenokee just west of Lakeland, Georgia.

When: Gather 6:30 PM, launch 7 PM, moonrise 7:18 PM, sunset 7:24 PM, end 8:30 PM, Saturday, September 26, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Harvest Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, Sunset and Moonrise, Maybe bats 2026-09-26]
Full Harvest Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, Sunset and Moonrise, Maybe bats 2026-09-26

Continue reading →

Pictures: Another Langdale Park Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2026-07-26

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We cleared passage for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats, leaving plenty of habitat for wildlife, downstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, on the Withlacoochee River.

We sawed many deadfalls, and saw quite a few birds, including a Great Blue Heron. Plus a wasp nest.

We did get past Three Mile Branch, although we’re not sure we actually saw it.

It got to be 1 PM before we got to the big log pile at the south border of the park. We stopped at another big log pile before it, maybe 200 feet up from the end of the park. Join us next time!

[Pictures: Another Langdale Park, Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2026-07-26]
Pictures: Another Langdale Park, Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2026-07-26

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this expedition, and Wes Brinkley for helping.

Thanks to Sue Raffaele for the Old Town Canoe.

Thanks to Wild Green Future for the generous grant that paid for the Husqvarna 460 Rancher 24-inch chainsaw. We did some repair on the water: turns out the spindle at the end of the bar needs greasing.

I think we used four or five chainsaws. I got mine stuck the most: three times.

The water was very low, 114.18 NAVD88 on the Valdosta Gauge. That’s lower than our recommended minimum of 116. We deliberately do chainsaw cleanups at really low water levels, so we can get to deadfalls that would otherwise be underwater.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

And there’s a special web page for Chainsaw Cleanups:

https://wwals.net/outings/chainsaw-cleanups/

There are more images below. Continue reading →