Incorporated in June 8, 2012, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is ten years old.
Since December 2016, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® is a project and staff position at WWALS as the Member of Waterkeeper Alliance® for the Suwannee River Basin.
Here’s what we’ve been doing all that time.
![[Outings and Water Quality Testing]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-01-01--wwals-accomplishments/many.jpg)
Follow this link for WWALS Accomplishments:
https://wwals.net/about/wwals-accomplishments/
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Update 2022-10-02: Directions: Sasser Landing and Jennings Bluff, Alapaha River 2022-10-02.
Rescheduled a day later, to Sunday, October 2, 2022. Yes, probably the fastest reschedule ever. Turns out that Saturday is the Hahira Honeybee Parade, and we don’t want to disappoint 25,000 of our closest friends. So Sunday, October 2nd it is for the Alapaha River paddle and Dead River Sink hike.
A two-hour paddle down the Alapaha River, and a two-hour hike roundtrip up the Dead River to the Dead River Sink and back, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price. If the Alapaha is low enough, we will also see two sinks in that river just before the Dead River Confluence.
There is nothing else quite like this in Florida (or Georgia). Dennis Price for years has been recommending a state park here, at these jewels of the Alapaha River Water Trail. Hamilton County is making a county park nearby on land it owns.
The Dead River itself is a distributary: the Alapaha River runs into it, down into the Dead River Sink, and does not come back up for twenty miles and three days until the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River.
![[Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-01-27--hike-dead-river-sink/20180127_131130.jpg)
Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756, 2018-01-27.
Update 2022-06-20: Rescheduled a day later, to Sunday, October 2, 2022. Yes, probably the fastest reschedule ever. Turns out that Saturday is the Hahira Honeybee Parade, and we don’t want to disappoint 25,000 of our closest friends. So Sunday, October 2nd it is for the Alapaha River paddle and Dead River Sink hike.
A two-hour paddle down the Alapaha River, and a two-hour hike roundtrip up the Dead River to the Dead River Sink and back, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price. If the Alapaha is low enough, we will also see two sinks in that river just before the Dead River Confluence.
There is nothing else quite like this in Florida (or Georgia). Dennis Price for years has been recommending a state park here, at these jewels of the Alapaha River Water Trail. Hamilton County is making a county park nearby on land it owns.
The Dead River itself is a distributary: the Alapaha River runs into it, down into the Dead River Sink, and does not come back up for twenty miles and three days until the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River.
You can also paddle to the Rise on August 13, 2022.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, October 1, Sunday, October 2, 2022
Put In: Sasser Landing. Left bank, east of river, north of CR 150. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river.
Take Out: Jennings Bluff Landing. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel south on US 41 to NW 25 Lane; turn left; travel east to NW 82 Court and the entrance into the SRWMD Jennings Bluff tract; turn left and follow road to canoe launch.
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. For the hike, boots and long pants: stickers and ticks.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members.
You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756, 2018-01-27.
Due to thunderstorms, Macedonia Community Foundation has decided to cancel this outing.
Better safe than sorry with children on the water with lightning.
Continue readingUpdate 2022-06-24: Bad Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-23.
All WWALS Thursday samples tested clean. But Valdosta got very bad Wednesday results for US 41 and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River. Maybe that has gotten diluted by now. But I’d avoid US 41, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, and downstream on the Withlacoochee from Troupville Boat Ramp for this weekend.
Elsewhere, happy boating, swimming, and fishing, so far as we can tell.
For example, come up to Reed Bingham State Park tomorrow (Saturday) for Juneteenth, where WWALS will be getting children (and adults) into boats, some for their first time.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-06-16]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-16--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-06-16
What happened at US 41 and GA 133? Continue reading
Dave Williams, Capitol Beat News Service, in Tribune & Georgian (Serving CAMDEN County, Georgia Since 1894), Mine faces roadblock at Okefenokee Swamp,
ATLANTA—The Alabama company looking to open a titanium mine near the Okefenokee Swamp is being confronted with an additional hurdle.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has Continue reading
It was standing room only, as presenters from India, Bangladesh, Colombia, and the U.S. (me) discussed different approaches to rights to clean water and problems such rights might solve, in a panel at the Waterkeeper Alliance Global Conference 2022, Saturday, June 11, 2022, in Washington, DC.
Update 2022-06-16: Fixed typo (Colombia, not Ecuador).
Many thanks to Rodrigo de la O, Maule Itata Coastkeeper, Chile, for using my phone to video the session.
And congratulations, Rodrigo, on winning the Terry Backer award!
Below are the videos of each presenter and some questions. First a video playlist, then individual videos with a few more pictures.
Here’s a WWALS video playlist:
Continue reading2022-06-17: WWALS Thursday tests clean, but Valdosta bad Wednesday results for US 41 and GA 122, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-16.
All tested clean: Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers, for Thursday. Sure, those were only a few test sites on each river. But there’s been little rain, none predicted, and no sewage spills reported. So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.
Thanks to Continue reading
WWALS was born yesterday… in 2012. June 8, 2012, so that’s ten years yesterday.
It’s WWALS Watershed Coalition, because we are a coalition of people who got into water conservation and stewardship from many different directions.
The Florida incorporation was filed August 28, 2015. While WWALS started with rivers mostly in Georgia (long story), we now cover the entire Suwannee River Basin and Estuary in both states, from the Okefenokee Swamp to the Gulf of Mexico.
That’s a lot of work for drinkable, fishable, swimmable waters, so we need your help, with donations, with advocacy, outings, and events, and on committees and the board. https://wwals.net/donations/ Continue reading
Update 2022-09-12: The ranger said the launch remains closed until it falls below 62 at White Springs. We are watching that gauge and you can, too.
A brief paddle downstream to the biggest rapids in Florida, portage around, and paddle through the next rapids, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, September 17, 2022
Put In: Big Shoals Tract Launch. From White Springs, travel north on CR 135 to SE 94 Street (Godwin Bridge Road); turn right and follow road to Big Shoals.
![[White water, 14:19:25, 30.3381380, -82.6834810]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-05-14--big-shoals-scouting/20210514_141925.jpg)
White water, 14:19:25, 30.3381380, -82.6834810 2021-05-14
![[Outing Cancelled]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-18--juneteenth/many.jpg)
![[Article]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-09--usace-okefenokee/many.jpg)
![[Presenters and Questions]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-11--rtcw-wka-videos/many.jpg)
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-09--wq/many.jpg)
![[Georgia, Florida]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2012-06-08--wwals-incorporation/many.jpg)