Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12 | WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

Update 2024-12-21: Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19.

Update 2024-12-21: Malia Thomas of WTXL TV at closed Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek 2024-12-20.

Update 2024-12-18: Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta? 2024-12-17.

WWALS testing showed Sugar Creek got even more contaminated after the rains Wednesday. Valdosta Utilities testiong showed Hightower Creek and One Mile Branch were bad again, and the Withlacoochee River too high in E. coli at GA 133.

WWALS tests showed Franks Creek bad, upstream from the Little River.

WWALS water quality results downstream at Holly Point for Wednesday showed the Withlacoochee River clean there. But upstream contamination from the recent rain had not had time to get there.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia. But this E. coli contamination has to be coming from somewhere.

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 and the Withlacoochee River near GA 133, and possibly the Little River downstream of Franks Creek.

Or join us Sunday evening for the Banks Lake Full Cold Moon Paddle, 2024-12-15 and, also at Banks Lake, raffle drawing for the Skimmer 128 Hurricane kayak.

Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-12, dirty Franks Creek 2024-12-11, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-11

Sugar Creek

WWALS tester John S. Quarterman drew six Sugar Creek samples on Thursday.

Behind (east) of Home Depot twin manholes are on either side of Sugar Creek, with a sewer line across the the creek.

Above the sewer line:
193 + 162 + 162 = 517 * 100 / 3 = 17,233 cfu/100ml.

That is more than 17 times the 1,000 alert limit.

Below the sewer line:
161 + 125 + 126 = 412 * 100 / 3 = 13,733 cfu/100 mL

At Baytree Road:
142 + 131 + 130 = 403 * 100 / 3 = 13,433 cfu/100mL

At the sewer line just upstream from the Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle:
87 + 42 + 67 = 196 * 100 / 3 = 6,533 cfu/100ml

At Gornto Road:
Too Numerous to Count (TNTC).

Valdosta Utilities got 11,900 at Gornto Road for Wednesday.

In front of Berta’s Pizza Kitchen:
also TNTC.

Hightower Creek

For Wednesday at St. Augustine Road, Valdosta Utilities got 1,120, three times its previous result a week ago.

One Mile Branch

For Wednesday Valdosta Utilities got 2,040 at Wainwright Drive and 1,045 at W Gordon Street, both far higher than its previous result a week ago.

Withlacoochee River

Valdosta Utilities also got 695 at GA 133, which is above the 410 one-time test limit.

At US 84 it got only 120, which is below the 126 three-test-average limit.

So apparently the river water is diluting the contamination once it gets out of Sugar Creek, but not enough at GA 133.

Downstream at Holly Point, only a few miles upstream from the Suwannee River, WWALS tester Russ Tatum got zero (0) for Wednesday.

Chart: Filthy Sugar Creek, Dirty Franks Creek, Bad Upstream Withlacoochee River 2024-12-12
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.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall reviewed the results. as did WWALS tester Kim Tanner.

WWALS Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman reviewed the Sugar Creek results and delivered supplies to some testers.

Map: Wainwright Drive One Mile Branch St Augustine Road Hightower Creek Sugar Creek in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)
The railroad trestle is highlighted between Baytree Road and Gornto Road.
Wainwright Drive is on the right.

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/

-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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