Update 2024-09-20: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2024-09-19.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean for Wednesday and Thursday, and the Alapaha River for Thursday. Valdosta got high results for Franks Creek at Inner Perimeter, upstream of Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River.

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There was some rain Wednesday and Friday, but mostly far upstream, so probably not much contamination washed into the river. As always, we can merely report what test results we have. Actual conditions may vary.

The weather prediction shows high chance of storms today through most of the week, but mostly in the afternoon.

Only the lower Ichetucknee River and the New River (of the Santa Fe) at Lake Butler are in Action Stage, and nothing is in flood.

The Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers have come back up a bit.

So if you can avoid the rain, happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

Clean Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers, Bad Knights Creek at Inner Perimeter 2024-09-12

Withlacoochee River

Cindy Vedas sampled Thursday at Staten Road and got 266 cfu/100 mL, which is below the one-time test limit of 410. She remarked, “River level is up.”

The City of Valdosta for Wednesday got OK results at GA 133 (290) and good results at US 84 (60).

Alapaha River

Kimberly Godden Tanner got good 100 at Lakeland Boat Ramp and OK 166 at Naylor Park Beach. She noted, “Both areas look good. There are still no trash barrels at the Naylor Park Beach location where there used to be two, but the area is clean. The barrel by the boat ramp is still there and overflowing. Maybe folks are just bringing their trash from the beach area to the boat ramp?”

Clean Withlacoochee Alapaha Rivers, Charts 2024-09-12
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.

Map: NOAA River Gauges 2024-09-14 in NOAA National Water Prediction Service

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman is training some more testers this morning.

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/

LBR

Lakeland Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ GA 122 2024-09-12

NPB

Naylor Park Beach, Alapaha River @ US 84 2024-09-12

 -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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