Daily Archives: January 26, 2022

Rescheduled: Third Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2022-02-19

Update 2022-02-15: We’re go for this Saturday, February 19, 2022, for the Third Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. Saturday is going to be the coolest day of the week, but that’s low 39, high 64, much warmer than last month, and the water temperature at US 84 is currently 51F, much higher than the mid-40s last time. Dress warmly in layers and bring a dry change of clothes in a waterproof bag just in case. And come on down to Troupville Boat Ramp this Saturday!

Valdosta, Georgia, January 26, 2021 — An unusual cold snap is expected this Saturday, too cold for novice paddlers. So we’re rescheduling three weeks later, for Saturday, February 19, 2022. Everything else is the same; only the date has changed.

Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter summed it up, “Safety should be considered above all and hypothermia is a huge issue if someone was to go in the water!”

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman added, “Water temperature was already down to 47 degrees Monday at US 84 on the Withlacoochee River, and air temperatures for this Saturday are predicted to be low of 22 and high of 42. So hypothermia is indeed a risk, however seldom seen in south Georgia. Also not many people would turn out in such cold.”

Valdosta Mayor Scott James said, “So we’re all agreed: Saturday, February 19, 2022. Come as early as 8AM to get on the shuttle!”

[Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, WWTP clean outfall, Spook Bridge, Takeout]
Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, WWTP clean outfall, Spook Bridge, Takeout

We hope there will still be plenty of water for this annual eleven-mile river paddle, past the future site of Troupville River Camp and Nature Park, along the west side of the most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin, past Valdosta’s clean outfall of its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, with many creeks, oaks, cypresses, pines, fish, turtles, and maybe an alligator, down to Spook Bridge, so scary it has its own movie.

Valdosta Mayor Scott James said, “I am excited to partner once again with WWALS, plus this time with Lowndes County, to show people our fabulous blackwater rivers, Continue reading →

Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Trash, Swamp: Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 2020-01-20 2022-01-20

The Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 19, 2022. Everything else is as Valdosta Mayor Scott James and I discussed on his radio show last Thursday. We’ll be talking about it again this Friday, January 28, 2022, at 8AM, Talk 92.1 FM.

Thanks to The Langdale Company for access to take out at Spook Bridge, and for a mid-point lunch spot. Thanks to Georgia Power for water quality testing grants to WWALS.

Gather 9AM for the Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, at the rescheduled Saturday, February 19, 2022.

[Mayor and Chairman's Paddle (since rescheduled to February 19, 2022)]
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle (since rescheduled to February 19, 2022)

We hope everybody’s favorite on-water painter, Julie Bowland, will join us.

WWALS is talking to Valdosta State University Deans and Faculty about Education and research at Troupville River River Camp and River Park. The paddle will go right by there.

On the radio, Scott James and I discussed the trash problem, coming mostly from parking lots with fast food outlets, down Sugar Creek, into the Withlacoochee River.

Arrow the talking puppy helped.

Don’t forget to tell GA-EPD no mine near the Okefenokee Swamp.

WWALS has a paddle on the last stretch of the Alapaha River, US 41 to Suwannee River, Saturday, February 5, 2022.

And a paddle from Langdale Park on the Withlacoochee River, to Sugar Creek, and on to Troupville Boat Ramp, May 7, 2022: the announcement will be up soon.

The Sugar Creek trash problem was described in the 2010 Valdosta Stormwater Master Plan, which said it should be fixed immediately. Continue reading →