One Mile Branch Cleanup, Valdosta, GA 2017-11-11

Update 2017-10-29: Meet at VSU CORE.

A first for WWALS: an urban cleanup! One Mile Branch runs right through the heart of the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin (Valdosta) and through the biggest educational institution in the Basin (Valdosta State University). It has some trash, and you can help WWALS come get it!

When: 10AM, Saturday, November 11, 2017

Where: One Mile Branch, through the heart of Valdosta and VSU.

Meet: VSU CORE, 1300 Sustella Ave., Valdosta, GA 31698
(This is a WWALS event; we’re just meeting in CORE’s parking lot.)

Event: facebook, meetup.

Map: Brookdale Drive and VSU parking lot
Map: Brookdale Drive and VSU parking lot

Hosts: Scotti Jay and Dan Phillips

Contact: Scotti Jay, whose idea this outing was

Boats: Not on this outing, although it would be interesting if we find some segment of One Mile Branch that is boatable for later use.

Bring: Gloves, boots, sturdy clothing, trash pickers, and we’ll supply trash bags.

Start: Currently figuring on starting at Drexel Park or VSU. Stay tuned in case we decide to go upstream first. We’re meeting at VSU CORE.

Map: Lee Street and VSU
Map: Lee Street and VSU

Springs and Waterfalls: Maybe Scotti Jay will show us where he has found springs and waterfalls on One Mile Branch.

Aerial Map: One Mile Branch HUCs
Aerial Map: One Mile Branch HUCs

What: One Mile Branch runs through the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail middle of Valdosta, south across Park Avenue, through Vallotton Park, across Ashley Street, through Drexel Park (where we did water quality training years ago), across Patterson Street, through VSU, across Oak Street, W. Gordon Street, and the railroad, through Remerton, ending up in Sugar Creek back of Target. Sugar Creek goes into the Withlacoochee River, and then the Suwannee River and the Gulf of Mexico, so One Mile Branch is on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail and on the WLRWT map.

Map: Gordon Street, Lankford Drive, Sugar Creek
Map: Gordon Street, Lankford Drive, Sugar Creek

Azalea City Trail: One Mile Branch is paralleled by the Azalea City Trail, usable by pedestrians and bicyclists, which would provide a way to get from spot to spot. Dan Phillips when he worked for Valdosta was involved with cleaning up the Azalea City Trail.

Azalea City Trail
Azalea City Trail

Sewage Spills: Maybe we can get Valdosta Utilities to point out the sites of the numerous sewage spills into One Mile Branch, such as in October 2015, in in February 2016, and in April 2016.

Force Main and Still Sewage Spills:

Overview of Pump Satation and Force Main Work
Overview of Pump Satation and Force Main Work

To be fair, those spills before this year were before the new force main and the new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). but even after those massive improvements, 1200 Wainwright Drive spilled at least a third time in January 2017. That’s less than half a mile downstream from the VSU Student Recreation Center, easily accessible by street or the Azalea City Trail. See also the WWALS Valdosta Wastewater web page.

More: Most of the above maps are from Section 4.4 One Mile Branch in Valdosta Stormwater Management Plan.

Armistice Day: Please also remember that day is Armistice Day or Veteran’s Day. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of 1918, the Armistice was signed that ended World War I.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!