Tag Archives: south Georgia

Full Blue Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-05-31

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, our watery living room. If we’re lucky, there will be bats.

This is the second full moon of May, thus a Blue Moon.

When: Gather 7:45 PM, launch 8:15 PM, moonrise 9:14 PM, sunset 8:31 PM, end 9:45 PM, Sunday, May 31, 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 Blue Moon Paddle, Banks Lake NWR 2025-05-30, Second full moon in a month is a Blue Moon]
Full Blue Moon Paddle, Banks Lake NWR 2025-05-30, Second full moon in a month is a Blue Moon

Continue reading

Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp, 2026-04-18

Tupelo trees are blooming in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge so let’s paddle the tupelo lined Suwannee River from the Sill to Griffis Fish Camp.

The river is very low and slow so we’ll take our time on this beautiful wilderness trail. There could be some dragging where the water is too low but there should be enough water to float our boats.

Honey bees are very attracted to the blooms, anybody with bee allergies need to be aware.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, April 18, 2026

Put In: Suwannee River Sill Ramp, From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to GA 177; turn left and travel towards Stephen C. Foster State Park. Go 11.2 miles and turn left on Suwannee River Sill.

GPS: 30.803978,, -82.418692

[Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable]
Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable

Continue reading

Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2026-04-10

More waterbodies heard from since the Friday weekly water quality report:

Sugar Creek tested clean for the first time anybody can remember, and the Alapaha River also clean.

Still no 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.

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

[Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling]
Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling

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

Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application, Irwin County, GA 2026-04-10

The Irwinville datacenter is back and bigger, this time called Project Arrowhead for 4,220,000 SF, Approximately 1066 acres.

The Irwin County government on April 10, 2026, submitted an application as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (GA-DCA).

The new five-tract campus includes the old one and extends farther east, across Ponderosa Drive to Pinetta Road.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters/#irwinco

[Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application 2026-04-10, Irwin County, GA, near Alapaha River]
Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application 2026-04-10, Irwin County, GA, near Alapaha River

According to the Initial Form, the location is “31°35&min;57.00&sec;N, 83°22&min;2.79&sec;W. Parcel numbers 0018 0007, 0026 0001, 0026 0003, 0026 00040AA, and a p”

That’s right, the last parcel is truncated. But it must be the one where the latlong leads, which is parcel 0035 0009, owned by Marcus D Fletcher Trust, trustee Angie F Bryan, 641.67 acres. That east parcel conveniently has a power line on it.

It’s connected to the former land west of Ponderosa Drive through parcel 0026 0040AA, owned by Sirrom Farms, LLC, 120.19 acres. Continue reading

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07

Update 2026-04-12: Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2026-04-10.

With no rain to wash contamination in, the Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers still look clean in the test results we have.

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.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee 2026-04-06, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07, So far as we know, Happy paddling]
Clean Withlacoochee 2026-04-06, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07, So far as we know, Happy paddling

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

A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River, Gaskins Forest Education Center 2026-04-11

Come see us in the woods near Alapaha, Georgia, at A Day in the Woods, an annual event by Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC), near the Alapaha River.

WWALS members can help with the WWALS booth.

[A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2026-04-11, Gaskins Forest Education Center, A friendly festival]
A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2026-04-11, Gaskins Forest Education Center, A friendly festival

Thanks to Heather Brasell of GFEC for holding this festival.

When: Gather 12 PM, launch 1 PM, end 5 PM, Saturday, April 11, 2026

Put In: Gaskins Forest Education Center, 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd., Alapaha, Georgia 31622

GPS: 31.345454, -83.178356 Continue reading

Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River, Gaskins Forest Education Center, 2025-04-12

A Day in the Woods is always fun, at Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC) near Alapaha, Georgia.

Coming up again April 11, 2026.

Here are some pictures from 2025.

[Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers]
Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers

Thanks to WWALS volunteers Gretchen Quarterman, Shirley Kokidko, and Cindy Vedas for helping at the WWALS Booth.

Thanks to Heather Brasell for holding this event at GFEC.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2026-04-12

Here is the draft agenda and the zoom parameters for the WWALS Quarterly Board meeting Sunday evening, April 12, 2026.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting

When: 6:00 PM, Sunday, April 12, 2026

What: The usual board business.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1630092761633059/

[Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees]
Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees

Here is the agenda (see also Continue reading

Georgia legislature fails to rein in datacenters –AJC 2026-04-03

If datacenters are so great, why can’t they pay their own way?

You’d think their billionaire backers could afford it.

For more about datacenters, including a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Possible Datacenter Sites, Lowndes County, GA, Irwin County, GA, 2025 and 2026]
Possible Datacenter Sites, Lowndes County, GA, Irwin County, GA, 2025 and 2026

Drew Kann and Kristi E. Swartz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 3, 2026, Georgia lawmakers leave data center tax breaks intact, punt on energy costs
Consumer advocates call inaction ‘disgraceful,’ while Georgia Power and data center groups tout benefits they say the industry will bring Georgians.

When the General Assembly convened in January to begin its legislative session, few issues seemed to get more attention from lawmakers than data centers.

A flurry of data center bills emerged in the session’s early days, from moratoriums on new developments to measures aimed at the facilities’ energy infrastructure costs and rolling back the lucrative tax breaks the state offers to lure them to the Peach State.

But as the legislature adjourned in the wee hours of Friday morning, the robust debate that began beneath the Gold Dome earlier this year ended in relative silence, at least as far as data centers are concerned.

In the end, none of the legislation consumer advocates said was needed to protect Georgians from the onslaught of data centers successfully cleared both chambers.

Continue reading

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-01

Update 2026-04-10: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07.

The Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers look clean in the test results we have.

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

There was some rain Friday, so some contamination may have washed in. As always, we can only advise with the results we have.

Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-01, No sewage spills, Some rain 2026-04-03]
Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-01, No sewage spills, Some rain 2026-04-03

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