Tag Archives: Suwannee Riverkeeper

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

Leave a reply

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

2 Replies

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

Leave a reply

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 →

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

Leave a reply

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: Paddle Big Shoals to Suwannee Wayside Park, Suwannee River 2026-08-01

1 Reply

A 6 mile paddle from Big Shoals State Park to Suwannee Wayside Park in White Springs, with some boat dragging, on August 1, 2026.

Shirley Kokidko led this expedition. See also her facebook post.

That’s James Malenfant dragging his boat.

[Paddled Big Shoals to Suwannee Wayside Park, Suwannee River, 2026-08-01]
Paddled Big Shoals to Suwannee Wayside Park, Suwannee River, 2026-08-01

For more outings and events by WWALS, see

https://wwals.net/outings Continue reading →

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

1 Reply

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 →

Low Withlacoochee River Water Levels, then Rain 2026-08-09

Leave a reply

Charisma Myers asked on facebook, August 6, 2026, “Have yall seen the river out on 41 completely dry before????”

It’s not completely dry, just very low, but yes. Drought. Lack of rain. It’s going to happen more often, as will floods, due to climate change. You looked on Thursday. It was even Friday last week. Since then the rains brought it up 4 feet.

Right now you could put in on the Withlacoochee River about half a mile below that bridge at Langdale Park Boat Ramp and paddle quite a ways. But you probably won’t make it past the bottom of Langdale Park, because there are several log jams that we haven’t yet gotten to in the WWALS chainsaw cleanups.

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

Once we get through those and any other deadfalls down to Sugar Creek, we’ve already cleared passage from there down to the Little River Confluence, and then it’s easy up to Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River.

[Withlacoochee River Water Levels, US 41, 2026-08-09 --USGS One Year]
Withlacoochee River Water Levels, US 41, 2026-08-09 –USGS One Year

That’s the USGS US 41 Withlacoochee River Gauge on North Valdosta Road, set to show one year of measurements.

https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-02317755#dataTypeId=continuous-63160-0&period=P365D&showFieldMeasurements=true

Below is another view, from NOAA’s National Water Prediction Service, set for one month.

https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/vdrg1

For all river gauges on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT),

https://wwals.net/blog/maps/withlacoochee-river-water-trail/

see the Access page.

https://wwals.net/maps/withlacoochee-river-water-trail/wrwt-map/wrwt-access/

For all the WWALS water trails, go to wwals.net, then in the menu select Water Trails.

https://wwals.net/water-trails/ Continue reading →

Sewage Spill, 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, GA 2026-08-05

1 Reply

Update 2026-08-07: Clean Withlacoochee, Little, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-08-05.

Tifton Utilities reported a sewage spill of unknown gallons into they don’t know where, because of “High Levels of Inflow,” that started August 5, 2026, reported by GA-EPD on August 6.

They reported it at 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, Georgia. That’s an apparently abandoned house with a broken window. The spill could be from that property. Or it could be from the manhole in the middle of the road.

[Sewage Spill, 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, GA, 2026-08-05, GA-EPD 2026-08-06]
Sewage Spill, 1103 Golden Road West, Tifton, GA, 2026-08-05, GA-EPD 2026-08-06

Either is uphill from what we call Willow Creek, which flows through Tanzer Creek into the Little River just downstream from US 319.

Don’t you wish sewage utilities would make risk management plans for high rainfall? Continue reading →

Clay silt runoff down St. Augustine Road to Withlacoochee River 2026-08-03

4 Replies

Update 2026-08-14: Update: Clay Silt Runoff, St. Augustine Road, into Withlacoochee River 2026-08-07.

Update 2026-08-07: Clean Withlacoochee, Little, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-08-05.

A WWALS member on Monday reported clay silt running out of a construction site, down St. Augustine Road, to the Withlacoochee River.

[Clay silt runoff down St. Augustine Road to Withlacoochee River, 2026-08-03 stopped 2026-08-04]
Clay silt runoff down St. Augustine Road to Withlacoochee River, 2026-08-03 stopped 2026-08-04

I reported it to GA-EPD and the City of Valdosta.

City Engineer Ben O’Dowd responded within minutes, saying the City was “addressing the compliance issue directly with the permittee”.

As of 3 PM Tuesday, the runoff had stopped.

We don’t know what measures have been put in place to make sure it does not happen again in the next rain.

The location is:
1660 N Saint Augustine Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601. Continue reading →

Florida State House District 10: Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire –WWALS 2026-08-04

1 Reply

Update 2026-08-05: Now with a response from Marshall Rawson, added to the responses from June by Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and Chase Brannan, and James Hunter Batley’s response that he dropped out of the race.

Here’s what those running for Florida State Representative District 10 have to say about clean water: Chase Brannan and Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson. Marshall Rawson did not respond, and James Hunter Batley dropped out of the race.

District 10 covers Columbia, Baker, Union, and Bradford Counties, and part of Alachua County.

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is conducting a Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire: #WWALSCleanWaterQuestionnaire

We already reported responses from District 9 candidates yesterday.

In District 10 also WFNF is not popular, WMDs in their current form are problematical, hyper-scale AI datacenters are looked upon ascance, and RTCW needs more education. For these candidates’ answers to those and other questions, see below.

For much more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

If you are a candidate for state or national office in Florida this year, in the Suwannee River Basin, we sent you a questionnaire. If you didn’t get it, please let us know.

https://wwals.net/donations/contact/

[Florida State House District 10, Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire, by WWALS]
Florida State House District 10, Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire, by WWALS

Early voting for the primary starts this Saturday August 8, and Election Day is Tuesday, August 18, so we will be reporting answers for more districts whether all the candidates respond or not.

Our source for who is running is the Florida Department of State Candidate Tracking System.

https://dos.elections.myflorida.com/candidates/Index.asp

As an IRS 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, WWALS cannot support or oppose any specific candidate for office. But we can ask all candidates in a race what they think, and publish the results. Continue reading →