Clean Alapaha River 2024-10-13

Update 2024-10-18: Clean rivers, dirty Franks Creek 2024-10-17.

WWALS tester Heather Brasell got good water quality for Sunday at two upstream Alapaha River locations.

Valdosta posted, better late than never, its Wednesday results for the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 and US 84, and they were good.

There has been no rain for almost a week, and none is predicted for the next ten days.

The upper and lower Santa Fe River, the lower Suwannee River, and the Alapaha River at Statenville are still in Action Stage (or flood for the Santa Fe at TREPO).

Beware that many parks and public access points are still closed. Avoid getting in the way of ongoing recovery after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Other than that, happy paddling, motoring, fishing, and swimming this week and the coming weekend.

[Clean Alapaha River and no rain 2024-10-16 Valdosta results corroborate clean Withlacoochee River]
Clean Alapaha River and no rain 2024-10-16 Valdosta results corroborate clean Withlacoochee River

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) updates its Sewage Spills Report on weekdays, and the same for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)’s Public Notice of Pollution (PNP), and neither have reported any new sewage spills since Friday.

[Chart: Clean Alapaha River, Charts 2024-10-13]
Chart: Clean Alapaha River, Charts 2024-10-13
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.

For Sunday, October 10, Heather Brasell got 0+1+0 for 33 cfu/100 mL at the creek with the outflow from the wastewater ponds for Alapaha, Georgia.

[Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream, Alapaha River @ US 82 2024-10-13]
Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream, Alapaha River @ US 82 2024-10-13

She got 1+3+3 = 233 cfu/100 mL on the Alapaha River upstream from US 82 and Sheboggy Boat Ramp.

[Sheboggy Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ US 82 2024-10-13]
Sheboggy Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ US 82 2024-10-13

[Map, NOAA River Gauges 2024-10-16]
Map, NOAA River Gauges 2024-10-16 in NOAA National Water Prediction Service

Water quality testing training and funding

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/

[Plates, Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream 2024-10-13]
Plates, Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream 2024-10-13

[Plates, Sheboggy Boat Ramp 2024-10-13]
Plates, Sheboggy Boat Ramp 2024-10-13

[Statenville Gauge, Alapaha River, 2024-10-16]
Statenville Gauge, Alapaha River, 2024-10-16

[TREPO Gauge, Santa Fe River, 2024-10-16]
TREPO Gauge, Santa Fe River, 2024-10-16

[Worthington Springs Gauge, Santa Fe River, 2024-10-16]
Worthington Springs Gauge, Santa Fe River, 2024-10-16

[Rock Bluff Gauge, Suwannee River, 2024-10-16]
Rock Bluff Gauge, Suwannee River, 2024-10-16

[Valdosta (US 41) Gauge, Withlacoochee River, 2024-10-16]
Valdosta (US 41) Gauge, Withlacoochee River, 2024-10-16

 -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/