Daily Archives: July 6, 2022

Still clean: Withlacoochee River 2022-07-05

Update 2022-07-09: Five Rivers Clean 2022-07-07.

All six of the WWALS samples for yesterday were clean, over 55 Withlacoochee River miles in Georgia and Florida. Plus it turns out FDEP tested three spots last Thursday.

Happy swimming, boating, and fishing.

As mentioned in the previous post, there was significant rain just upstream of Valdosta yesterday, so conditions could change rapidly. But since we’ve already seen first flush after a long dry spell, I’d guess we won’t see anything that’s much of a problem, probably not even much cattle manure down Okapilco Creek out of Brooks County, GA.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide]
Chart, River, Swim Guide

Thanks to Continue reading →

MC and deadline extended: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022

Hahira, Georgia, July 6, 2022 — “I’ve heard him all my life on the radio,” said organizing committee member Sara Jay Jones. That’s Kickin Kevin Thomas, who describes himself as, “Good timing, fun loving country radio host for the past 30 years.” We’re glad to welcome Kickin Kevin as the MC of the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, at the Finals, Saturday, August 20, 2022,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “And he’s a fun guy to be around at an event: he knows music, and he knows good times,” said committee member Jesse Cole.

[MC Kickin Kevin Thomas]
MC Kickin Kevin Thomas

The committee also extended the deadline for song submissions a week, to Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Songwriters, please send in your song today!

Follow this link for song submission form, contest Rules, sponsorships, and soon, entry tickets:
wwals.net/pictures/2022-08-20–songwriting Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River water quality good again 2022-07-03

Update 2022-07-06: Still clean: Withlacoochee River 2022-07-05.

Turns out Valdosta did test during the holiday weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They finally posted their Friday results on their website yesterday. Saturday and Sunday we know because Madison Health sent them to WWALS. There is nothing about them on Valdosta’s own website, facebook, or twitter. A report of Valdosta’s Thursday sewage spill finally did show up in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report, but it is lacking key information.

These Valdosta results mostly match what WWALS found through the weekend.

So by the most recent WWALS and Valdosta results, the Withlacoochee River is clean again. The three different contamination sources from Thursday seem to have all gotten diluted. The other two were probably agricultural, including the usual cattle manure down Okapilco Creek from Brooks County, Georgia.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing.

There was some heavy rain last night just north of Valdosta, so conditions could change rapidly. However, we’ve already had the first flush after the recent dry spell, so I’d guess the rain won’t have much effect on river water quality. Continue reading →