This is part 2 of the Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup of Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Part 1 was downstream.
Here we go upstream, with Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta in her canoe, helping pull limbs aside and photographing, and Russell Hassenstab of Kona Ice paddling the Suwannee Riverkeeper Old Town Canoe, while Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman chainsaws.
Here are some video snippets.
Thanks to Continue reading
Everyone has two weeks, until Monday, May 11, 2026, to review and comment on the Development of Regional Importance (DRI) application by Project Arrowhead to build a huge datacenter in Irwin County, Georgia, near Irwinville and the Alapaha River.
The attachments SGRC sent are on the WWALS website, with images of each page below.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-24-dri-irwin-county-project-arrowhead
I see nothing from the applicant that WWALS hasn’t previously posted, such as when the DRI application appeared on April 10.
The Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) has helpfully annotated the Kimley-Horn site maps we saw back in March, and added other useful maps.
Plus SGRC points out the most significant part of the Data Center Ordinance the Irwin County Commission passed on April 6: the table permitting a Data Center as a Special Exception (SE) allowable use in the Agriculture (A-U), Heavy Industrial (H-I), and the Adult Commercial (C-A). I’m not sure that ordinance added SE for A-U, but it certainly called it out.
For much about what we do not know, such as who the real applicant is, or what closed loop cooling means in this case, see Who is Project Arrowhead in Irwin County, GA? –Vesper 2026-04-16.
For much more about Datacenters, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters
Received by email Friday, April 24, 2026, at 7:32 PM: Continue reading
Update 2026-04-26: Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Upstream, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29.
Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman did some sawing from the Suwannee Riverkeeper Old Town Canoe, but most of the work downstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River was done by Austin Roark and his equipment and crew from Roark’s Land Clearing and Restoration.
They removed the snaggly tree just downstream from the boat ramp that was making fishing and paddling difficult. And a tree a bit farther down that stuck so far across it was eroding the right bank.
Cindy Vedas come to staff a WWALS table at the boat ramp.
Phil Hubbard couldn’t come because he had the flu.
Here are a few video snippets:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/931293323150513/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXjp9PFCLct/
After we went upstream and back (stay tuned for that report), whole families were fishing where those trees had been.
So that looks like success.
Thanks to all, and to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) for their cooperation.
Continue readingUpdate 2026-04-30: Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23 and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27.
Valdosta Utilities got an even higher E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, but a good result at US 84 that same day.
WWALS results downstream in Florida for Thursday were cleanest.
We also have good water quality results for Thursday for reported standing water in a drainage easement at Gornto Road near Sugar Creek in Valdosta.
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, if you can find any water.
It might rain, but not enough to wash much contamination into the river. Maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
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
Hahira, GA, April 21, 2026 — “Back again at the beach pavilion on the Little River at Reed Bingham State Park, it’s Juneteenth with boats! WWALS will provide stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
WWALS will provide boats for new paddlers at a gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, Lowndes, and Tift Counties and beyond in celebration of Juneteenth.
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.
When: 11 AM – 3 PM, Saturday, June 20, 2026
Put In: Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 Exit 39, turn west on GA 37, right on Evergreen Church Road (CR 99), left on Reed Bingham SP Road (CR 221), in through the gate and across the dam, and the beach is on your right, in Colquitt County.
![[Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, Beach Pavilion, Little River 2026-06-20]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-06-20--juneteenth/fbmany.jpg)
Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, Beach Pavilion, Little River 2026-06-20
It looks like the Irwin County Commission added a few things about water, power, and enforcement to their draft datacenter ordinance before they passed it.
The final version, received today in response to a WWALS open records request, is on the WWALS website.
For comparison, a copy of the original draft is here:
Do you see any other differences?
For more about datacenters, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters
![[Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06, Changes to Water, Energy, Enforcement]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-06--irwin-county-datacenter-ordinance-signed/many.jpg)
Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06, Changes to Water, Energy, Enforcement
Subclause (3) is new on page 4:
(d) Water Usage Standards.
(1) Only closed-loop cooling systems are permitted in Irwin County.
(2) There shall be no discharge of cooling water into public sewers or ground without treatment.
(3) Before a certificate of occupancy is provided, all data centers shall submit a hydrogeologic study conducted by an independent third-party engineering firm showing estimated annual water usage. Such report should compare estimated water usage to the prior owner/user of the subject property or of that of similar surrounding areas.
Also on page 4, this subclause (1) is new: Continue reading
If it seems smoky, that may be because there’s a wildfire nearby, in the current extreme drought.
![[Wildfire map, --watchduty.org 2026-04-20, Suwannee River Basin, Numerous wildfires]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-20--watchduty-fire-map/many.jpg)
Wildfire map, –watchduty.org 2026-04-20, Suwannee River Basin, Numerous wildfires
For wildfires at a glance, see https://app.watchduty.org/, which appears to draw its data from state forestry services. Continue reading
Update 2026-04-24: Withlacoochee River filthy upstream, clean downstream 2026-04-23.
Valdosta Utilities got a high E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, but a good result at US 84 that same day.
WWALS results for the Santa Fe River for Tuesday were cleanest.
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. I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River above the Little River Confluence. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, if you can find any water.
Maybe join us for >Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
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
The Brooks County Commission passed a moratorium on datacenters on February 2, 2026.
However, it expires on May 2.
A copy, received today in response to a WWALS open records reqauest, is on the WWALS website.
For more about datacenters, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters
The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers form the east boundary of Brooks County, and Piscola and Okapilco Creeks flow out of it into the Withlacoochee, all above the Floridan Aquifer.
![[Datacenter moratorium --Brooks County, GA, Passed February 2, 2026, Expires May 2, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-02-02--brooks-county-datacenter-moratorium/fbmany.jpg)
Datacenter moratorium –Brooks County, GA, Passed February 2, 2026, Expires May 2, 2026
RESOLUTION 26-R-01
A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON DATA CENTER FACILITIES IN BROOKS COUNTY TO PROMOTE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE
WHEREAS, Continue reading
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]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-16--thanks-georgia-power/fbmany.jpg)
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/
![[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Langdale Park BR, Towards US 41 Bridge, Sunday, March 29, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-29--langdale-park-chainsaw-pictures/many.jpg)
![[Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA, Comment to SGRC by May 11, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-24--dri-irwin-county-project-arrowhead/fbmany.jpg)
![[Pictures: Downstream chainsawing, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2026-03-29, Roark Land Clearing and Restoration, Trail4Valdosta, WWALS]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-29--langdale-park-chainsaw-pictures-downstream/many.jpg)
![[Withlacoochee River filthy upstream 2026-04-20, clean downstream, Plus a drainage easement 2026-04-23]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-23--wq/igmany.jpg)
![[Mixed Withlacoochee River 2026-04-13, Clean Santa Fe River 2026-04-14, Very low water, Avoid Withlacoochee above Little River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-14--wq/many.jpg)