Update 2024-08-02: Three more Ashburn sewage spills reported more than a week late 2024-07-20.

Update 2024-07-24: Downstream dozen Florida counties task force reactivated after raw sewage spills across Georgia state line –WUFT 2024-07-23.

The Santa Fe River tested clean at the spot it didn’t last week, Wanamake (Butler) Ramp, a tenth of a mile up from the Suwannee River. Sugar Creek tested clean last Saturday.

We don’t have any more test results this week. However, since there has been little rain, chances are that nothing much washed into the rivers.

In the Suwannee River Basin Florida, High Springs reported a small inland sewage spill.

In Georgia, Ashburn yet again reported a major spill a week late, into Hat Creek into the Alapaha River.

The weather prediction all weekend is likely rain, but most likely in the afternoon.

So pick a river at a level you like, and happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

Or join us Sunday morning for Alapahoochee River Cleanup, 2024-07-21.

Or, weather permitting, Sunday evening for Banks Lake Full Buck Moon Paddle 2024-07-21.

Clean Santa Fe River 2024-07-17, Sugar Creek 2024-07-13, Old Ashburn, High Springs, sewage spills, Rain predicted

Most of the usual WWALS testers were on vacation or attending to family health.

Suzy Hall tested at Sugar Creek behind Berta’s Kitchen on Saturday, July 13, and got 2,1,4 for 233 cfu/100 mL. “Water still with little flow and high from river rise pushing in. Fish seemed happy enough though.”

Joanne Tremblay tested at Wanamake (Butler) Ramp near the Santa Fe Confluence with the Suwannee River, and got much better than last week. “The counts are down with 2+3+1 for 200 cfu/100 mL. I found this dog bowl, presumably with river water.”

Chart: Clean Santa Fe River 2024-07-17
For context, see: https://wwals.net/issues/testing

The numbers in the chart boxes indicate E. coli levels as colony-forming units per 100 mililiters (cfu/100 mL), according to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream bacterial monitoring protocols:
Zero (0) is what we want to see, and often we do, on the Alapaha and upstream on the Suwannee Rivers.
From 1-125 is within long-term average limits according to U.S. EPA and Georgia and Florida state agencies.
From 126-409 long-term is not good, and is likely to make some people sick.
From 410-999 is likely to make some people sick; try not to get that water on you.
From 1,000 and up: high alert; best not to get close to that water without gloves; wash clothes afterward.

The letters before the numbers indicate the source of the datapoint, as in W100 means 100 cfu/100 mL found by a WWALS tester.

W: WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), Suwannee Riverkeeper
V: Valdosta, GA
L: Lowndes County, GA
Q: Quitman, GA
SGRC: Southern Georgia Regional Commission
SRWMD: Suwannee River Water Management District
FDOH: Florida Department of Health
FDEP: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Rain: From USGS and UGA and other gauges.

Withlacoochee River

The City of Valdosta did finally post water quality results for last week and the week before. But nothing for this week yet.

High Springs sewage spill, Santa Fe River

Found in FDEP’s Public Notice of Pollution (PNP) Finder: Last 30 Days:

Incident Name SSO 2024-5768

Incident Report

Incident Description: Discovered leak on a 6″ Ductile Iron Pipe, once the crew dug down to it, they found a small hole had formed on the lower half side of the pipe. Unsure how it formed. Crew were unable to cut flow off completely, but made needed repairs to stop flow as quickly as they could. Once the job was completed, the hole was left open and cut off to confirm no issues with repair. Most of the spill had already adsorbed into the ground, unable to recover much. Applied lime to area and posted signage.

• Wastewater Type: Untreated
• Cause: Break-in-Line
• Spill Volume: 1,500 Volume
• Recovered: 0
• Waterbodies Impacted: N
• Clean-up Status: Complete
• Clean-up Actions: Applied lime, Signs posted
• Agencies Notified: Efrain Tavarez – Alachua Environmental Protection Department

Report Date/Time 7/11/2024 5:08 AM
Facility Name High Springs WWTF
Facility Address Line 1 Southwest 25th Avenue
Facility Address Line 2
Facility Directions Southwest 25th Avenue
Facility City High Springs
Facility State FL
Facility ZIP 32643
Contact Name Richard Cason
Contact Email rcason@highsprings.gov
Contact Phone # 3522582763
Affected Counties Alachua

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS Water Quality Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman worked on scheduling dates and locations for training up to a dozen new testing candidates.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

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

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

There are more images below.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

SC

Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River 2024-07-13

SF38

Wanamake Ramp, Santa Fe River, 2024-07-17

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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