From bad to worse: Cherry Creek 2023-02-12

Update 2024-01-28: Four more Valdosta sewage spills 2023-12-17.

Update 2023-02-17: Valdosta sewer main collapse, US 84, effects to E. Park Ave., along Knights Creek 2023-02-15.

The Withlacoochee River tested worse than Cherry Creek for E. coli both upstream and downstream from where Cherry Creek comes in, after Valdosta’s Saturday sewage spill.

Cherry Creek tests 2023-02-12

So that 2,800 gallons of raw sewage apparently did not materially affect the Withlacoochee River.

But the test results mean it would be wise to steer clear of creeks and rivers for a few days.

Chart: bad Cherry Creek and Withlacoochee River 2023-02-12
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing

The only site tested that was lower than the one-time test limit of 410 was Cherry Creek at Lake Laurie Drive, upstream of Valdosta’s spill. The numbers get higher the farther down the creek, until they’re higher than 1,000 at The Dip, the dam of Lake Cleve, aka Cherry Lake.

It is possible that the spill affected Cherry Creek. These test results do not prove that, since we do not have baseline tests to compare.

What they do show is everybody might want to avoid Cherry Creek and the Withlacoochee River for a few days.

Map: Cherry Creek to Withlacoochee River in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

The same is probably true of all the other rivers, since all the gauges we watch got around 4 inches of rain over two days, which is plenty to wash all sorts of contamination into the creeks and rivers.

Thanks to Cindy Vedas for testing two Withlacoochee River sites: Staten Road (upstream) and US 41 (downstream). I tested the four Cherry Creek sites.

Thanks to WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman for training the new testers, and for delivering supplies.

Thanks to WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall for herding the testing cats.

FYI, there was some difference of opinion among the Testing Committee as to the counts for these six sites. The numbers in the chart are the medians of three versions of each count. All of the counts agreed that the results were too high.

Thanks to Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson for letting WWALS know about the spill so we can tell the public.

I’d like to thank Valdosta Utilities for updated results, but the most recent they have posted are for Monday a week ago.

No doubt soon Utilities will report this spill to GA-EPD so it will show up in the Sewage Spills Report.

I’ve marked Langdale Park red on Probably most everything else should be, too, but these are the only results we have since the WWALS results for Thursday.

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for a generous grant for water quality testing equipment and materials.

You or your organization could also donate to the WWALS volunteer water quality testing program.

Or maybe you’d like to become a WWALS water quality tester; please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7

There are more images below.

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Short Link:

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.

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