Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

Cat Creek Nine Element Plan 2026-05-14

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Here’s a plan to find creek and river contamination and fix it. “This Nine-Element Plan for Cat Creek, HUC 0311020303, facilitates finding and fixing contamination that is getting into the Withlacoochee River upstream from Valdosta, Georgia, from Cat Creek and its feeder creeks in Berrien and Lowndes Counties, Georgia.”

[Cat Creek Nine Element Plan, Find and fix contamination into Withlacoochee River, WWALS, VSU, USDA NRCS 2026-05-14]
Cat Creek Nine Element Plan, Find and fix contamination into Withlacoochee River, WWALS, VSU, USDA NRCS 2026-05-14

Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update

This Plan is featured on two pages of the 2026 Comprehensive Plan Update for Lowndes County and the Cities of Dasher, Hahira, Lake Park, Remerton, & Valdosta.

The Lowndes County Commission will vote tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 5:30 PM, on transmitting that update to the state of Georgia.

WWALS is also mentioned a few other places in that Update, such as under Natural Resources, Opportunities & Existing Resources, “WWALS has a water quality testing program that trains people how to conduct water tests following spills.”

And under Natural Resource, Policies, “Lowndes County and the Cities should collaborate with local outdoor groups, such as WWALS, to market and promote local outdoor events and cleanups.”

Executive Summary

Continue reading →

Moratorium on solar farms, AI facilities, and Bitcoin operations –Cook County BOCC 2024-12-02

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Cook County, Georgia, was ahead of everybody else in passing a datacenter moratorium, way back on December 2, 2024.

Commissioner Rowe moved to approve a moratorium on solar farms, AI facilities, and Bitcoin operations in Cook County. Commissioner Daughtrey seconded the motion; the motion carried unanimously.

[Moratorium on solar farms, AI facilities, and Bitcoin operations --Cook County BOCC 2024-12-02]
Moratorium on solar farms, AI facilities, and Bitcoin operations –Cook County BOCC 2024-12-02

According to Cook County Manager Randall Lane, the motion itself is the entire text of the moratorium.

He wrote, “It was added to the Agenda by a Commissioner, and it was voted on unanimously to approve until lifted by the Board.”

Cook County is bounded on the west by the Little River, and on the east by the Withlacoochee River and its tributary the New River. Like everywhere else in the Suwannee River Basin, Cook County drinks from the Floridan Aquifer, for home, industry, and agriculture.

The county seat, Adel, on July 6, 2026, passed its own datacenter moratorium.

Adel’s moratorium is two pages compared to Cook County’s one sentence.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee River, the datacenter moratorium that Madison County, Florida, passed on July 23, 2026, is intermediate in length and complexity.

In between, Lowndes County, Georgia, has passed nothing: no moratorium, and no datacenter ordinance.

For much more about detacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters Continue reading →

Adel, GA, Datacenter Moratorium 2026-07-06

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Here is the 180-day datacenter moratorium that the City of Adel, Georgia, passed on July 6, 2026.

[Adel, Georgia, Datacenter Moratorium, 180 days, July 6, 2026]
Adel, Georgia, Datacenter Moratorium, 180 days, July 6, 2026

RESOLUTION No. 26-02

RESOLUTION FOR A MORATORIUM ON THE CONSIDERATION, PROCESSING, AND ACCEPTANCE OF APPLICATIONS OF NEW BUSINESS LICENSES, BUILDING PERMITS, OR OTHER APPROVALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR DEVELOPMENT OF DATA CENTERS WITHIN THE CITY OF ADEL

WHEREAS, the Constitution of the State of Georgia provides that the City of Adel enjoys and possesses home rule powers, police powers, zoning/land development powers and the ability to license and regulate certain businesses and occupations within the boundaries of the City; and

WHEREAS, the City of Adel shall have, inter alia, the full power and authority to license, regulate, control, or prohibit all businesses (Adel City Charter, Sec. 26);

WHEREAS, the City of Adel may, in the interest of public health, safety, order, convenience, comfort, prosperity, or general welfare, adopt by ordinance a plan or plans for the districting or zoning of the City for the purpose of regulating the location of trades, industries, apartment houses, dwellings, or other uses of property (Adel City Charter, Sec. 24);

WHEREAS, the City of Adel may define and prohibit nuisances within the corporate limits of said City (Adel City Charter, Sec. 27);

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the City of Adel may enact and revise ordinances to regulate the issuance of licenses and permits for the construction, development, establishment, and operation of data centers within the City;

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Council of the City of Adel find there is a present need to review and revise the ordinances, zoning regulations, land development standards, licensing requirements, and nuisance regulations relating to the construction, location, placement, and operation of data centers within the City;

WHEREAS, data centers are a relatively new and evolving land use consisting of Continue reading →

Another Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-26

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Join us to clear passage for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats, leaving plenty of habitat for wildlife.

Using a WWALS canoe if the water is low, and the WWALS jon boat if the water is high.

Everyone is invited to paddle along to pick up trash, photograph, pull aside sawed limbs, or just experience the river. You do not have to saw.

This time we hope to get down past Three Mile Branch to the big log pile at the south border of the park.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Sunday, July 26, 2026

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, I-75 Exit 22, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, turn south on Hyta Mederer Drive, proceed to the river.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Another Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Sunday, July 26, 2026]
Another Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Sunday, July 26, 2026

Continue reading →

Datacenter Moratorium Proposed –Madison County BOCC 2026-07-08

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Update 2026-07-23: Madison County BOCC passed the datacenter moratorium 4:0.

Update 2026-07-18: fixed name of county in title.

On July 22, 2026, a datacenter moratorium comes up for second reading at the Madison County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners, when they can also vote to pass it.

They already read it once on July 8, after working on it for some time before that.

[Datacenter Moratorium Proposed, Hamilton County BOCC, First Reading 2026-07-08, Second Reading & Vote 2026-07-22]
Datacenter Moratorium Proposed, Hamilton County BOCC, First Reading 2026-07-08, Second Reading & Vote 2026-07-22

The agenda and board packet for their Regular Meeting, July 8, 2026, contains a public notice, a recently-passed state datacenter law with highlights on parts applicable to local ordinances, a Business Impact Estimate for the proposed ordinance, a redline version of the ordinance showing changes since its previous draft, and the nine-page datacenter moratorium ordinance itself.

Every county should be as diligent and transparent, no matter in which state.

The east border of Madison County is the Withlacoochee River downstream from Georgia and upstream from the Suwannee River, with first-magnitue Madison Blue Spring in between. Madison County, like all counties in the Suwannee River Basin, is on top of the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink for every purpose.

The ordinance does not explicitly name any of the rivers or springs or the aquifer, but it does include these sections, which are relevant. Continue reading →

Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-11

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We got about half a Withlacoochee River mile downstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp. We cleared passage through six deadfalls or other obstructions.

Plus a Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea, and we didn’t get pictures but saw a Great Blue Heron, some hawks, a few buzzards, and other birds we couldn’t identify.

We clear passage for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats, leaving plenty of habitat for wildlife.

https://wwals.net/?p=69810

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this expedition, and Andrew Reinlieb for helping.

[Pictures: Langdale Park, Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2026-06-11]
Pictures: Langdale Park, Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2026-06-11

There will be Public Hearing about a proposed communications tower in Langdale Park, at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, after which the Lowndes County Commission will decide.

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/?p=25896

The Valdosta @ US 41 read 4.12 feet (114.42 feet NAVD88), which is lower than our lowest boatable recommendation of 5.7 feet, 116′ NAVD. We picked a day with the lowest recent water level so we could get deadfalls that other wise would be underwater. Continue reading →

Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-11

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Update 2026-07-13: Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-11.

Come help us clear passage for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats on the Withlacoochee River.

You do not have to saw. You can pick up trash, photograph, pull aside sawed branches, or just paddle along. Bring a rope for the front of your boat, because with the water this low there will probably be dragging.

We hope to at least get as far as the logjam at the south end of the park, which is about 1.32 river miles, and then we paddle back up.

If we’re really lucky, we’ll get as far as Sugar Creek, which is twice as far. If so, we might take out there, or we might paddle back up.

If we get crazy with the heat, we might even go all the way down and up the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp, which is 6.7 miles. This is unlikely.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, July 11, 2026

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, At the end of Hyta Mederer Drive, off of 3781 N. Valdosta Road, Valdosta, GA 31602, downstream from the North Valdosta Road (US 41) Bridge, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Saturday, July 11, 2026]
Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Saturday, July 11, 2026

Continue reading →

Madison Blue Spring browned out 2026-06-26

People were asking me about that, so I called the park.

jsq: Why is the park closed?

Park: Because the spring is browned out.

jsq: Why is it browned out?

Park: Because big rains upstream wash mud down, more than the spring can pump out.

jsq: So it’s just a typical brownout after big rains upstream.

Park: Yes. Should be back open in about two weeks. Will be updated on the website.

[Madison Blue Spring browned out 2026-06-26, It's natural, Many times before]
Madison Blue Spring browned out 2026-06-26, It’s natural, Many times before

It was also browned out in May 2024.

https://www.facebook.com/EconfinaSprings/photos/florida-state-park-admission-is-free-this-weekend-%EF%B8%8F%EF%B8%8F-madison-blue-spring-current/782045814038133/

And no, Floridians, it’s not Valdosta wastewater this time.

https://wwals.net/issues/testing/

And yes, we know about the trash problem.

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/posts/pfbid0TnCsYbWPbXc9XqEJ6TFZPHKbxK5eW7tGq4dvysnrcQDFgrCqt2uDNuDBA2RGCg47l

https://wwals.net/?p=68941

What springs are not browned out?

Here are a couple:

Ichetucknee Springs

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/ichetucknee-springs-state-park

Peacock Springs

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/wes-skiles-peacock-springs-state-park

Here are some pictures of Madison Blue Spring when it was not browned out.

In the first one, you can see the difference between the tea-colored Withlacoochee River water and the blue spring water. Continue reading →

Verizon tower in Langdale Park? @ GLPC 2026-06-29

Verizon Wireless wants to put a 159-foot-tall communications tower in Langdale Park, a stone’s throw from the main trail kiosk, too close to White Trail A, and with no demonstration that no existing tower would do, not even an inventory of existing towers.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) will hear this case at 5:30 PM, Monday, June 29, 2026, and the Lowndes County Commission will decide at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

County staff wrote that the application satisfies the requirements of the county’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). Actually, it fails to do so in at least four ways.

[Verizon tower in Langdale Park? Next to White Trail? @ GLPC 2026-06-29]
Verizon tower in Langdale Park? Next to White Trail? @ GLPC 2026-06-29

The GLPC agenda sheet for “8. TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run, 3781 North Valdosta Road, Map and Parcel 0076C-025” says in part: Continue reading →

Pictures: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20

More than 20 boatloads of new paddlers went on Reed Bingham State Park Lake, in Juneteenth, June 20, 2026, by Macedonia Community Foundation and WWALS.

Thanks to Fannie Marie Gibbs for the idea. She was indisposed and could not come. Her grandchildren Andre and Aisha Gibbs and friends and relatives brought the food and the games for children.

WWALS supplied the boats and the stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat: Andrew Reinlieb, Gretchen Quarterman, Scotti Jay, and John S. Quarterman, plus Kimberly Godden Tanner signing people in.

[Juneteenth with new boaters, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20, And food!]
Juneteenth with new boaters, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20, And food!

Here are some video snippets:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/902855629498139/

https://youtu.be/_APnkogCgcg

People seemed to like it. I took the first boatload out soon after the 11 AM start time, and more boatloads of new paddlers were still going well after the nominal 3 PM end time, even after 4 PM.

Georgia State Parks raised the parking rate from to $10. Sorry about that. Other than that, there was no charge.

June 19, 2027, is on a Saturday, so that’s the most likely next time for this Juneteenth celebration.

If you want to know about Juneteenth the event, try this:

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/moments/juneteenth Continue reading →