Monthly Archives: April 2022

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2022-04-10

Agenda

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting

8-10 AM , Sunday, 10 April 2022

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09

ZOOM Meeting ID: 893 0802 8204  Password: 392346

One tap mobile: +19294362866,,89308028204#,,,,,,0#,,392346#

Dial In: +1 929 436 2866  Meeting ID: 893 0802 8204  Meeting Password: 392346

wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-10–wwals-board  

Participation, pandemic, paddle races, outings, cleanups, water quality testing, opposition to trash, mines, water withdrawals, coal ash, and pellet plants, promotion of solar power, and of course finances: the WWALS board will be discussing all those in its Quarterly Board meeting. The public is invited. We will be meeting online by zoom, so you don’t even have to go anywhere .

Invited to attend:  WWALS members, especially committee members, and the general public.

All WWALS Board Members are expected to attend.

The more done on the board list, the less time we have to spend in this meeting.

Board Members : for bios, terms, etc. see https://wwals.net/about/board/

[WWALS Logo]
WWALS Logo

Continue reading →

All rivers bad water quality 2022-04-07

Update 2022-04-15: Clean Rivers 2022-04-15.

Best to avoid the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers this weekend. In very unusual results, all three were too high in E. coli at GA 122, and the Withlacoochee was way too high at Nankin Boat Ramp.

The Ichetucknee tested clean for Tuesday at TREPO’s Hodor Park.

You might try lakes that are not downstream from likely rivers, such as Banks Lake and Grassy Pond, and maybe Reed Bingham State Park, but we have no data on those lakes.

In good news, no sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida. Of course, certain cities (Quitman, Ashburn) almost always report a week or more late, so stay tuned on that.

[Chart, rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, rivers, Swim Guide

The most recent data we have from Valdosta is for Monday upstream, which was before the Wednesday and Thursday rains. So WWALS data is what we have to go on, and the WWALS results are pretty bad. Continue reading →

Need stronger boom on Sugar Creek 2022-04-07

Russell Allen McBride reports from Sugar Creek:

[Boom bent, trash escaped]
Boom bent, trash escaped

Barrier got hammered by two rain events in a row.

Flow in the middle so strong folded and loosened the noodles. Continue reading →

WWALS first President Dave Hetzel 1936-2022

Dave Hetzel will be missed. He was the first President of WWALS, a longtime board member and WWALS Ambassador (a Vice President), promoter of solar power, opponent of pipelines, a fixture at festivals for WWALS from Cedar Key, Florida to Alapaha, Georgia, loved to paddle on our rivers and to promote the Alapaha River Water Trail and the BIG Little River Paddle Race; friend to all.

[Dave Hetzel]
Dave Hetzel

Also, Dave was a good sport. On his very first paddle outing with WWALS, he got dunked completely underwater in the Alapaha River, but he popped right up and never complained.

Before the obituary, here are a few pictures. Continue reading →

Pictures: Alapaha River Outing, Hotchkiss Road to US 84 2014-08-24

This was a nice, short, one-mile paddle on the Alapaha River from Hotchkiss Road Landing beyond US 84, past the then-future site of Naylor Boat Ramp. All on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT). Thanks to Chris Graham for leading this paddle.

[Hotchkiss Road Landing, Shoals, Naylor Beach, US 84 bridge, Alapaha River]
Hotchkiss Road Landing, Shoals, Naylor Beach, US 84 bridge, Alapaha River

Continue reading →

Two Mile Branch Rivers Alive Trash Clean Up, Valdosta 2022-04-16

Join us for a cleanup on Two Mile Branch in Valdosta, Georgia. This is part of the WWALS Earth Day 2022 events. It’s also a Georgia Rivers Alive cleanup. Floridians, this is getting trash that would otherwise go down Two Mile Branch and Sugar Creek to the Withlacoochee River into Florida.

You can also help by reporting any trash or litter problem you see in Valdosta with Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app.

For trash or other problems elsewhere, here’s how to report: https://wwals.net/report/.

For more about the Valdosta trash situation, see: https://wwals.net/issues/trash/

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9 AM, end 12 PM, Saturday, April 16, 2022

Put In: 1011 Stone Castle, Valdosta, GA 31602. That’s off of Mack Drive, between Oak Street and Berkley Drive, north of Gornto Road, south of Canna Drive and Jerry Jones.

GPS: 30.86152, -83.297329

Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. Also mud boots, sturdy pants, and gloves.

Free: This outing is free to everyone!

We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

Event: facebook, meetup

[Two Mile Branch, Upstream from Berkley Drive, downstream from Oak Street]
Two Mile Branch, Upstream from Berkley Drive, downstream from Oak Street

Continue reading →

Fixed: storm drain next to Hightower Creek, Valdosta 2022-03-14

Congratulations, Valdosta, on getting this detention pond cleaned up and this private storm drain fixed. The fix didn’t even cost much. Yet it should keep some trash from going into Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, and the Withlacoochee River.

Thanks to this property owner for pioneering such a fix. Other parking lot detention pond drains could probably apply similar inexpensive fixes.

You can help by reporting any trash or litter problem you see in Valdosta with Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app.

For trash or other problems elsewhere, here’s how to report: https://wwals.net/report/.

[Before and after]
Before and after

The drain fix is that bit of sawed-in-half pipe attached to the drain structure. It keeps trash from washing straight out. Instead, trash collects in the concrete block structure while water runs out the top. Inexpensive, yet should be effective. Continue reading →

Location of Quitman sewage spill 2022-03-20

Update 2022-04-08: All rivers bad water quality 2022-04-07.

Quitman’s 48,000 gallon sewage spill on Sunday, March 20, 2022, was from the Quitman settling ponds, which are slightly uphill from Okapilco Creek. Which explains why Valdosta got too-high E. coli at US 84 on Okapilco Creek, and at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps downstream on the Withlacoochee River.

We know this location because of the response to the WWALS open records request to Quitman asking where is this “Influent Liftstation”:

GPS 30.793581, -83.544316
800 North Highland Dr

This has been going on for years. For example, the April 24, 2022 spill from the same location contaminated the Withlacoochee River and the Suwannee River probably as far as Running Springs, if not all the way to the Gulf.

The form Quitman’s contractor sent GA-EPD says the spill was not preventable. Well, according to Quitman’s permit from GA-EPD, “Power failure” is not an excuse, because the permitee is supposed to have backup power. It’s time for Quitman to find a way to prevent these spills from contaminating Okapilco Creek and the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers. This is a public health hazard.

What will the Georgia Environment Protection Division (GA-EPD) do to stop these spills from Quitman, and meanwhile to get much more timely reporting by Quitman to GA-EPD and to the public?

[Map and doc: location of Quitman sewage spill]
Map and doc: location of Quitman sewage spill

It’s only 1.10 creek miles to US 84, and 5 creek miles all the way down Okapilco Creek to the Withlacoochee River. Then 3.68 river miles more to Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, for 8.68 water miles total. At even two miles per hour, that’s less than five hours for contamination to travel. Continue reading →

Constitutional Right to Clean Water: RTCW for Georgia, WWALS Webinar 2022-04-19

Update 2022-04-24: Videos: Constitutional Right to Clean Water for Georgia, WWALS Webinar 2022-04-19

Hahira, Georgia, April 5, 2022 — Trying to protect clean water with current laws and regulations is like trying to defend free speech without the First Amendment. Montana, Pennsylvania, and just last year New York have enshrined Rights to Clean Water, Air, Land, and a Healthy Environment (RTCW) in their constitutions alongside free speech and other basic rights. Florida has a statewide petition signing right now for the 2024 ballot. How can Georgia get RTCW into its constitution? Why should it? And what would such an amendment consist of? This webinar explores those questions. We invite your participation and feedback.

[RTCW, Speakers]
RTCW, Speakers

The zoom meeting will be Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcldeGqqDkvHdc3RUptCbwuKzxkpmzfb4-U

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Continue reading →

Estrogens and PFAS from cattle manure into rivers

We already knew E. coli was washing into the Withlacoochee (and other) rivers from cattle manure; that is one of the main reasons for our WWALS volunteer water quality testing program.

We also need to worry about estrogens and the PFAS forever chemicals, not only washing off of fields with cow-applied cattle manure, but also off of fields where manure has been applied as fertilizer.

Thanks to WWALS Science Chair Tom Potter for finding these articles.

[Shallow Disk Injection and Surface Broadcast]
Shallow Disk Injection and Surface Broadcast from Mina et. al.

Various forms of artificial estrogen are known to damage fish and other wildlife, and can affect humans. Lactating dairy cows produce natural estrogen. I have asked the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to add estrogen tests to its batter of DNA markers and chemical tracers. So far no response.

Odette Mina, Heather E. Gall, Louis S. Saporito, Peter J.A. Kleinman, Journal of Environmental Quality, 1 November 2016, Estrogen Transport in Surface Runoff from Agricultural Fields Treated with Two Application Methods of Dairy Manure,

Abstract

Continue reading →