Somebody asked what fish are in the Withlacoochee River where we did the Troupville upstream Withlacoochee River chainsaw cleanup pictures 2024-08-17.

I answered, redbreast, spotted, redear, and bluegill sunfish, largemouth and warmouth bass, brown and yellow bullhead, pirate perch, brooks silverside, spotted sucker, swamp darter, and others.

Many species are called bream, including all the sunfish.

This is where I got those species, from the April 13, 2020, Consent Order on Valdosta by GA-EPD, after the notorious December 9, 2019 7.59 million-gallon raw sewage spill into Sugar Creek, which was after the 21,814,000 gallons of rainwater and raw sewage spilled from December 2, 2018 to December 17, 2018, much of that also into Sugar Creek.

Fish Species, Withlacoochee River, Downstream from Sugar Creek to Little River Confluence

I congratulate the City of Valdosta, and especially the new-since-2019 Utilities Director, City Engineer, City Manager, and Mayor, as well as the City Council, for the steps forward they have made since then on fixing the city’s sewer system infrastructure, for the reduced number of spills and amount of sewage spilled, and for notifiying the public more quickly and more precisely.

This history is still relevant, however, to anyone who boats on that stretch of river, for recreation, cleanups, or clearing deadfalls. Not to mention anyone who fishes in there.

And of course effects not as obvious as a fish kill continued far downstream into Florida.

Table 2. Total number of dead fish enumerated and their monetary values
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At least those fish were living in the Withlacoochee River before the Valdosta sewage spill of December 2019. Others such as catfish may not have been killed by the spill.

That December 2019 fish kill went down the Withlacoochee River below GA 133.

Figure 1. Location … fish kill … Sugar Creek … Withlacoochee Rover 2019-12-10
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On this map, the spill site on Sugar Creek is Site 2, towards the right of the map, and the fish kill extended down the Withlacoochee River past the YMCA, the Wood Valley subdivision, I-75, GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) and the VLPRA park of Troupville Boat Ramp, to site 12, towards the lower left of the map.

In this screenshot from the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), you can see the spill site highlighted towards the lower right.

Map: Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Troupville in WLRWT

Site 12 is way down the Withlacoochee River, towards the lower left of the map, almost to the Little River Confluence.

So almost all of our route up the Withlacoochee River was within where the fish kill was. Everything from Sugar Creek down the Withlacoochee River almost to that Confluence was within the fish kill area.

I’m sure Valdosta City elected and appointed officials are as glad as the rest of us that there has been no fish kill of that size since 2019. And we will all be happy when there are no more sewage spills.

 -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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