Update 2017-09-15: On the seventh day.

Update 2017-09-15: Added Suwannee River at Wilcox @ US 19, plus another image for the Gage Map.

Hurricane Irma flooded the Suwannee River at White Springs, the Santa Fe River especially at Fort White, with a new record for the New River new Lake Butler. It did not flood the Withlacoochee or Alapaha Rivers.

2017-09-14 Suwannee River at White Springs

FDOT says the I-75 bridge over the Santa Fe River “will remain open”, as of 2PM today, Thursday, 14 September 2017. US 27 and US 41/441 remain closed due to high water north of High Springs near the Columbia-Alachua County border. Current road closures can be found on FL511.

2017-09-14 Santa Fe River near Fort White

Phosphate mining is a bad idea pretty much anywhere, but especially in Union and Bradford Counties with this kind of flooding.

2017-09-14 New River near Lake Butler

Below are images for each gage in the Suwannee River Basin that has projections, plus a few. Since Irma came from the south, for each gage from downstream to upstream, here are:

• a static image from Sunday, 10 September 2017 as Irma was arriving,
• a static image from Thursday, 14 September 2017, after Irma, but with some gages still going up while others go down, and
• a live image of current conditions, which will increasingly diverge from Thursday’s image.

Click on any image for a larger version.

Suwannee River

Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) has a frequently-updated table of levels for all these and the other gages on these rivers.

National Weather Service has a table with links to all its gages on the Suwannnee and its tributaries the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers.

Suwannee River at Fowlers Bluff

This one touched the Action stage instead of going halfway into the Minor flood stage.

Suwannee River at Wilcox @ US 19

Well, I missed this one.

Suwannee River at Branford @ US 27

The projection was about 16.5 feet and it’s 15.69. Pretty close.

Suwannee River near Suwannee Springs

Was projected to hit Minor flood about now, but hasn’t even reached Action stage.

Suwannee River at White Springs

Went up to Minor flood faster than projected, and is still up there when it was projected to be below Action stage today. You could paddle over Big Shoals with no rapids, but be sure to have search and rescue ready at the speed the water is going.

Withlacoochee River

All the Withlacoochee and Little River gages are shown live on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) water levels page.

National Weather Service has a table with links to all its gages on the Suwannnee and its tributaries the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers.

Withlacoochee River near Pinetta @ CR 150

Was projected to hit Action stage at 59 feet about now, but is only 54.64 feet.

Withlacoochee River near Quitman @ US 84

Was projected to be about 97 feet by now, just below Action stage and rising, but is only 88.61, but still rising.

Withlacoochee River above Valdosta @ Skipper Bridge Road

Was projected to be in Minor flood at about 137 feet by now, but is well below Action stage at 127.32. What’s with the strange jumping up and down?

Alapaha River

All the Alapaha River gages are shown live on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT) water levels page.

National Weather Service has a table with links to live gages for the Alapaha River.

Alapaha River at Statenville @ US 84

Was supposed to peak above Moderate flood at 100 feet by now, but peaked just below 84 feet Tuesday, well below Action stage of 90 feet, and is down to about 83 feet. Probably good paddling about now.

Santa Fe River

National Weather Service has a table with links to its gages on the Santa Fe River and its tributary the New River.

Santa Fe River near Hildreth

Was supposed to be about 12.5 feet and rising about now. Instead is 16.33 feet near Action stage of 18 feet, and is expected to burst Minor flood of 20 feet on Friday and peak just below Moderate flood of 24 feet on Monday.

Santa Fe River at Three Rivers Estates

Was expected to be about 20 feet now, peaking around Moderate flood at 21 feet Thursday. Actually is 18.22 feet, still in Minor flood, expected to peak at 25.2 feet in Major flood on Friday.

Santa Fe River near Fort White

Was expected to be 28 feet today, peaking just below 29 feet Major flood later today. Actually is 32.59 feet, expected to peak above 36 feet on Friday.

New River

National Weather Service has a table with links to its gages on the Santa Fe River and its tributary the New River.

The tributary of the Santa Fe River between Union and Bradford Counties, Florida, not the tributary of the Withlacoochee River between Cook and Berrien Counties, Georgia (that Georgia New River has no gages).

New River near Lake Butler

This one in Union County didn’t need a projection to show water already rising, at 90 feet Sunday afternoon, in Action stage. It peaked way into Major flood at 98.55, above the previous record of 98.2 feet. Now about 95 feet, still above Major flood level of 94 feet.

Alligator Creek at Starke

This one in Bradford County was already way into Major flood at 146.1 feet, above the previous record of 144.8 feet. It kept going up to 147.98 Monday. Then there was some weird discontinuity and it has continued dropping, now just below Action stage of 137 feet.

water.weather.gov

These images and maps come from the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service.

Gage Map

Here are all these gages and the rest for all these rivers on a map. The image for Friday shows the New River and the Santa Fe River in flood.

Click through to the live map.

Boating will be quite fast on some rivers this week, but probably you want to stay off the Santa Fe and New Rivers.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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