Cleanup opportunity on Two Mile Branch where it joins Sugar Creek!

A few days ago we got this: “Hello! I don’t know if y’all are the people I should contact, but I was at Two Mile Branch today, and there is a huge amount of garbage and debris.”

We have an offer of cleanup access from a neighboring property owner. It’s possible to do this while staying six feet apart, and people don’t even have to go at the same time. This is a great opportunity for #SuwanneeCleanup!

Two views

Easy way to report a problem (trash, sewer spill, etc.) to WWALS (Suwannee Riverkeeper): Report a Pollution Violation Form.

If it’s in the city limits of Valdosta (which this one partly is), you can also use Valdosta Click ‘n’ Fix.

If it’s in Lowndes County, and the other side of Twomile Branch is at this location, try the Lowndes County Request Tracker. If you don’t want to make an login account with the county, you can try Lowndes County Report. That’s mostly focused on code violations, though, which is not really appropriate for this case. That amount of trash is unlikely to have come from just one house lot.

The Salty Snapper’s land goes north up to Sugar Creek, right across from where Twomile Branch joins it. The left bank (south side) of Twomile Branch is house lots on Meadowbrook Drive. On the right bank is a horse farm.

Two Mile Branch into Sugar Creek in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

The reporter of this trash wanted to know, “Is something like this caused from a lot of rain, causing flooding? It’s near the Salty Snapper, several yards north.”

Yes, trash on a creek like that usually gets washed down after a big rain. In this case probably off of Lake Drive, or all the way down from Jerry Jones.

This situation is complicated because by the left bank (south side) of Twomile Branch is in the city of Valdosta, while the right bank is in Lowndes County in this area.

Valdosta and Lowndes County in VALORGIS.

But the green lines are Valdosta sewer lines, so Valdosta Utilities has access to Twomile Branch in this area.

The entire watershed of Twomile Branch is quite large.

Watershed of Twomile Branch in watershedmap.org.

Hm, what’s that Joree Springs?

What’s in that watershed?

Upstream

The whole Meadowbrook subdivision, Joree Millpond, Newbern Park off of Mack Drive, McKey Park, Valdosta Middle School, and VSU North Campus, for examples.

McKey Park and VSU North Campus in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

VALORGIS shows Twomile Branch starting at the top of Randolph Street, which is about where watershedmap.org marked Joree Springs.

Then it crosses Bemiss Road at Taylor-Cowart Park, then it runs between Seymour Street and University Drive before crossing Ashley Street to get to VSU North Campus, then Patterson Street to McKey Park and Oak Street.

Randolph Street in VALORGIS.

Maybe some or all of the people and organizations along Twomile Branch would like to help clean up this mess.

Twomile Branch

Those parks are run by Valdosta-Lowndes Parks & Recreational Authority (VLPRA). We will contact VLPRA, the city of Valdosta, and Lowndes County, to see if anybody there is interested in helping clean up.

But how about you? #SuwanneeCleanup!

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Short Link: