Update 2024-12-13: Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12.

WWALS water quality results for Thursday show the Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers clean upstream, and for Wednesday show the Withlacoochee clean downstream.

But the last results we have for Sugar Creek, from Valdosta Utilities for Tuesday, show Sugar Creek at Gornto Road still way too high in E. coli.

There has been no rain to speak of for a week, so rain is not washing contamination into the creeks.

It is very hard to see what could be causing such Sugar Creek E. coli numbers other than a sewage spill.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia since the small Valdosta spill into Two Mile Branch on Meadowbrook Drive on November 26, which cannot be causing the Sugar Creek contamination at Gornto Road.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin.

So if you like cold, this weekend seems good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek.

Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2024-12-05 Sugar Creek still nasty

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Kimberly Godden Tanner sampled Thursday at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach and got the most desired result for each: zero. “Both sites look great,” she wrote.

Withlacoochee River

WWALS tester Cindy Vedas sampled Thursday at two upstream Withlacoochee River sites, Franklinville and Staten Road, and got 33 cfu/100 mL E. coli for each. That is well below the 126 three-test average limit.

For Franklinville, she wrote, “River was clean. There is a shopping buggy in the river at this location. [WWALS Water Trail] Sign[s] hasn’t gotten shot up yet.”

For Staten Road, she wrote, “Clean river! David n I need to chainsaw some trees that fell into the river.”

Downstream at Holly Point, below Allen Ramp, WWALS tester Russ Tatum got zero. “Clean Withlacoochee down here!”

Sugar Creek

In between, at Sugar Creek, the most recent result is from the Valdosta Utilities sample of Tuesday, showing 12,700 cfu/100 mL. That’s more than twelve times the 1,000 alert limit, which means much higher chance of somebody getting sick from that contamination.

We have no more recent results, so we have to assume Sugar Creek is still contaminated.

Valdosta Utilities for the same day did show only 140 at GA 133, downstream on the Withlacoochee River from Sugar Creek. So apparently the river water is diluting the contamination once it gets out of the creek.

Chart: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers, nasty Sugar Creek 2024-12-05
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.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall reviewed all the results.

WWALS testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman delivered sampling materials to some testers.

Map: NOAA River Gauges 2024-12-06 in the National Water Prediction Service for 2024-12-06.

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/

Lakeland Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ GA 122 2024-12-05

NPB

Naylor Park Beach, Alapaha River @ US 84 2024-12-05

franklinville

WLRWT Signs, Franklinville, Withlacoochee River @ Frankinville Road 2024-12-05

staten

Staten Road, Withlacoochee River @ Staten Road 2024-12-05

HP

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2024-12-05

 -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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