Monthly Archives: May 2021

Salty Snapper Pop Up Paddle and Lunch, Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park 2021-05-15

Update 2021-05-14: There’s good water quality news upstream for tomorrow’s Withlacoochee River paddle from Langdale Park Boat Ramp to Sugar Creek and the Salty Snapper. Not so good downstream.

Update 2021-05-13: Water levels are going down, so probably just the first stretch, from Langdale Park to the Salty Snapper; stay tuned. Meanwhile, you can probably schedule a shuttle for $2 with Valdosta on-demand, and hear all about it on radio TV, with Suwannee Riverkeeper and Scott James on 92.1 FM.

Update 2021-05-12: 10% lunch discount for paddlers at The Salty Snapper Saturday.

Update 2021-05-08: Water Trail signs planted at Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2021-05-06.

Leisurely paddle promoting ecotourism as we sieze the rare optimal water levels to paddle from Langdale Park to Troupville Boat Ramp as we stop in halfway for lunch at the Salty Snapper. Each participant will be responsible for purchasing their own lunch. This is a pop-up paddle meaning that we have a rare window to paddle this section of the river in favorable conditions for a group. This also means that conditions can rapidly change. We will keep regular posts on this event to ensure optimal water levels for this paddle. We will gather at Langdale Park at 9am and perform a team shuttle at 9:30 returning to Langdale and launching at 10:00 am. We will arrive at the Salty Snapper (3 miles) for lunch/beverages around 11:30 shortly after they open. Lunch should wrap up around 12:30 and paddle on down to Troupville Boat Ramp (4 miles) arriving and finishing up around 2:30pm.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, May 15, 2021

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

High Water Put In: If Langdale Park is closed due to high water, we will put in at US 41 Landing, 3966 N Valdosta Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602. This landing is tricky, so we will post further directions if we have to use it.

Take Out: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602: on GA 133 off I-75 exit 18.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: As a one-time experiment, we are waiving the outing fee for this one pop-up outing. The fee has never seemed to be a deterrent to anybody paddling, but we’ll see if anybody says they came because this one was free. Everyone will still have to sign in so everyone will be covered by WWALS insurance.

All WWALS outings are free to WWALS members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

Event: facebook, meetup

[Langdale Park Boat Ramp sign, map]
Langdale Park Boat Ramp sign, map

Continue reading →

Chemours: new Florida mine, what about next to the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia? 2021-04-23

On the same day the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) filed a notice of intent to issue a permit for a new titanium mine on Trail Ridge in Bradford County, Florida, the Sierra Club posted an action alert for people to ask what does Chemours intend to do about the Twin Pines Minerals mining application within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp in Charlton County, Georgia?

You can use the Sierra Club Action to ask Chemours to disavow any interest in that Twin Pines Minerals mine or site.
https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/Georgia?actionId=AR0326624

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp welcomed yet another Chemours mine to Georgia just last fall, yet the day before these two events he refused to state an opinion on the proposed mine next to the Okefenokee Swamp. You can ask him to speak up against it, by using the Waterkeeper Alliance Action Alert, which will send a message to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) and Georgia elected officials asking them to reject the permit applications for that site.
https://wwals.net/?p=55092

[Map of mines on Trail Ridge, Twin Pines Minerals, Chemours]
Map of mines on Trail Ridge, Twin Pines Minerals, Chemours

The Twin Pines Minerals proposed mine site is in the middle right of this map, barely southeast of the Swamp, south of Chemours Mission Mine North and Mission Mine South in Georgia, and north of a string of Chemours mines in north Florida, with the new Chemours Trail Ridge South Mine indicated at the bottom end of that row.

Why would Chemours not be interested in a mine in the middle of Trail Ridge, where Twin Pines Minerals has said the mining is the most convenient? Continue reading →

Still clean Friday: Withlacoochee River 2021-04-30

Update 2021-05-08: Clean upstream and downstream, Withlacoochee River 2021-05-06.

Clean Withlacoochee River Friday downstream, according to WWALS tester Gus Cleary, and upstream, according to Valdosta. There’s been no rain since then (except far upstream on the Suwannee River), so most likely the Withlacoochee River and probably all the other rivers in the Suwannee River Basin are good for boating, fishing, and swimming.

We don’t actually know about the Suwannee or the Alapaha or Santa Fe Rivers, because the state of Florida is not testing those. If Valdosta can test three times a week on forty river miles to the state line, Florida should be able to do the rest to the Gulf. Floridians, maybe you’d like to ask your statehouse delegation to make that happen.

As previously mentioned, Madison and Hamilton Counties probably won’t lift their health advisory until they see a second clean report from testing by Madison Health. They usually test on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we probably won’t see results until Wednesday. Meanwhile, you saw clean results here first.

[Chart, River, Plates]
Chart, River, Plates

Gus Cleary says the Withlacoochee was about seven feet above normal low levels Friday. Continue reading →

Water Trail Brochures available: Alapaha, Withlacoochee, and Little Rivers

WWALS has printed 10,000 z-fold brochures for each of two water trails, through a generous grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR). Plus Georgia Beer Company is a new sponsor, adding to a long list of cities, counties, tourist councils, and development authorities that have assisted with money or letters or resolutions of support. The images here are updated to what we printed. Contact us to get printed copies of these brochures: they’re free to individuals or to groups that will distribute them to the public.

[WLRWT front and back, ARWT mapside]
WLRWT front and back, ARWT mapside

This is the third edition of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT) brochure, and the first-ever Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) brochure.

You can help defray the cash match for the grant, online, or contact us. Or maybe you’d like to contribute to our water trail signs.

WWALS is currently updating all our online water trail maps and web pages. You can help:
https://forms.gle/qXkPr7eCK51P4X4u7

There are also many other ways you can participate in the activities and advocacy of WWALS:
https://wwals.net/donations/

Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT)

See: https://wwals.net/maps/alapaha-water-trail/

The two previous ARWT brochure editions, 10,000 copies each, lasted about four years. This one has Continue reading →