Monthly Archives: December 2022

Okefenokee Swamp watershed boundaries 2015-08-01

Where is the divide in the Okefenokee Swamp between the Suwannee and St. Marys River Basins?

Here are some more maps that do not resolve that question.

For better resolution, advice from a qualified hydrologist is needed.

For reaching the likely divide area by water or land, it appears there are no open paths. Which doesn’t mean it can’t be done, just that it would be difficult.

Meanwhile, you can help stop the proposed titanium strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium

[Basins and HUC10s, Okefenokee Swamp]
Basins and HUC10s, Okefenokee Swamp

Thanks to Mike Lusk, Manager of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), for sending me the Water Resource Inventory and Assessment: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, USFWS, August 2015.

It contains this interesting map of sub-basins of the Okefenokee Swamp, which shows Continue reading →

Pictures: Another Knights Ferry to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2022-12-17

Update 2023-03-31: Yet Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-08.

Update 2023-01-30: Videos: Valdosta trash on the Withlacoochee River 2022-12-17.

Eight WWALS volunteers braved a cold winter’s day on another WWALS Withlacoochee River Cleanup from Knights Ferry to Nankin Boat Ramps, because we couldn’t get it all two weeks before.

After a big on-land cleanup and a floating trash jam, we also saw the wood piers of old Knights Ferry Bridge, Floating Marsh Pennywort, invasive Flowering Cleome houtteana, many private landings, Redland Creek, many rocks, many interesting trees, and Nankin Shoals.

Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for organizing, and volunteers Suzy Hall, Will Hart, Amy Myers, Gretchen Quarterman Scott, and Calvin.

[Composite, Another KF to Nankin Cleanup, 2022-12-17]
Composite, Another KF to Nankin Cleanup, 2022-12-17

Where did this styrofoam, plastic bottles, and cans come from? Almost certainly the City of Valdosta. See Valdosta Mayor Scott James on trash at Hightower Creek 2022-12-15.

There’s at least that much more trash on the river that we’ll have to come back to get. At least Valdosta has started to stop trash from getting into the river. They have much more to do:
https://wwals.net/issues/trash

Here’s a summary in a WWALS video playlist by Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman:

Continue reading →

Steep Hill Branch, Little River, Miller Bridge Road, Lowndes County, GA 1914-06-08

Phillip Williams found this 1914 plat map showing Steep Hill Branch.

[Plat and maps: Steep Hill Branch]
Plat and maps: Steep Hill Branch

USGS did not know a name for it, but now its Steep Hill Branch in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). Phillip says it’s been known by that name since at least the 1860s.

Evidently either the Little River was much straighter there back then, or they just didn’t bother to try to draw it more accurately. Nonetheless, it is clear this is the right place by the land lot and land district numbers, and the old property owner names. Continue reading →

Pretty clean rivers 2022-12-16

Update 2022-12-23: Mostly clean rivers 2022-12-22.

Update 2022-12-19: And also good water quality at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp for Saturday, December 17, 2022, test thanks to WWALS Water Quality Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall.

[2022-12-17--knights-ferry.html Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, 2022-12-17]
2022-12-17–knights-ferry.html Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, 2022-12-17

The Thursday rain appears to have had little effect on water quality or levels in the Little, Withlacoochee, or Alapaha Rivers.

So downstream of the Little River Confluence, as near as we can tell, happy boating, fishing, and, if you really like cold, swimming.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map

Valdosta found very high E. coli for Monday a week ago at both US 41 and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River. This was with no rain.

Experience indicates that whatever that was, it was probably gone by Friday. Continue reading →

Valdosta Mayor Scott James on trash at Hightower Creek 2022-12-15

With a sudden break in his schedule, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson drove to see the parking lot where people park, eat their lunch, and toss their trash next to a creek.

He didn’t like it, and said so. Here’s the problem and how to fix it.

You can help by reporting trash or other problems through Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix app.

[Mayor, trash, fast food, trash cans at storefronts]
Mayor, trash, fast food, trash cans at storefronts

He had not seen this mess before, on St. Augustine Road, next to Hightower Creek. Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 92.1 FM 2022-12-15

Update 2022-12-23: Videos: Troupville Nature Park and River Camp, Trash, Cleanups –Helen Tapp & Suwannee Riverkeeper @ Scott James Radio 2022-12-15.

Suwannee Riverkeeper will talk trash, parks, creeks, and rivers on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio tomorrow morning, Thursday, 8:30 AM.

[Withlacoochee River cleanup, Radio, Troupville park land purchase, Langdale Park trail clearing]
Withlacoochee River cleanup, Radio, Troupville park land purchase, Langdale Park trail clearing

Topics discussed will probably include: Continue reading →

Pictures: Barack Obama Blvd. @ Ricardo St. 2022-12-01

Much improved, the trash situation in the two-acre cypress swamp the City of Valdosta owns at Barack Obama Blvd. and Ricardo Street; the one with the Pepsi Adopt-A-Spot sign.

I now give Valdosta Stormwater an A- for upkeep of this tract.

Maybe if you report a trash or other problem through Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix, maybe they’ll do something about that problem, too.

[Collage 202-12-01]
Collage 202-12-01

With this drought, the swamp is dry enough to walk right through the middle. There is occasional trash. Continue reading →

Alligator, Church, Peoples Bridge, Suwannee River –Ken Sulak 1880-07-13

Ken Sulak has more about Peoples Bridge on the Suwannee River, including the church the bridge was built for, and when an alligator ate a man in 1880.

Apparently this was a little-known peril of deer hunting. Of course, alligator attacks on humans are very rare: that’s why this one was news.

[Alligator story, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Peoples Bridge]
Alligator story, Oak Grove Baptist Church, Peoples Bridge

I have contacted the Oak Grove Baptist Church, still in existence continuously from the 1870s. The contact person knew nothing about the long gone People’s Bridge 1.2 mi due West from the church. She referred my inquiry to the pastor, unfortunately very new and from up north. So, he knows nothing about the old history. I was hoping the church maintained an archive, or a birth-death-burial log, or an annotated master bible. No luck on that so far.

Continue reading →

Dark Branch and Three Mile Branch with trails in Langdale Park by Phillip Williams 2022-12-12

Phillip Williams has found and marked more trails and waterways in his continued exploration of Langdale Park on the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County just west of Valdosta, Georgia. As you can see, the trails are much more usable since Parks and Rec. has been cleaning them up lately. Yay, George Page, Jessica Catlett, and Jeff!

[Dark Branch, trashjam, canebreak, island, log bridge, waterfall]
Dark Branch, trashjam, canebreak, island, log bridge, waterfall

I’ve updated his material in the WWALS WLRWT map, so you can pan, zoom, and click.

He’s been communicating with the park owner, Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA). He’s updated many of the trail names. For example, the trail south from Langdale Park Boat Ramp by the Withlacoochee River is Trail B. Trail A runs all the way from the Pavillion just south of Hyta Mederer Drive down to Three Mile Branch. Supposedly it then turns right and goes west to the river, but apparently VLPRA hasn’t finished cleaning up that stretch. Continue reading →

Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River, 2022-12-17

Update 2022-12-21: Pictures: Another Knights Ferry to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2022-12-17.

Come help clean up more trash jams we found last time. It’s going to be cold, so dress warmly in layers and bring a change in a dry bag.

We found a new creek that we’re calling River Bend Plantation Creek because that’s the property it mostly runs through.

Speaking of which, the main big new trash pile is on the edge of River Bend Plantation. Could someone who knows them please ask them to contact WWALS about land access or closer river access?

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, December 17, 2022

Put In: Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, 6499 Knights Ferry Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601.

GPS: 30.71205, -83.45554

[Trash on land and river]
Trash on land and river 2022-12-03; Photos: John S. Quarterman

Continue reading →