OK Withlacoochee River, Cleaner Sugar Creek, Dirty Beatty Branch, 2025-07-30

Update 2025-08-08: Clean Alapaha River 2025-08-03, Dirty Creeks 2025-08-06, Withlacoochee River Clean downstream 2025-08-07.

Update 2025-08-04: Yet another Wainwright Drive sewage spill 2025-08-04.

WWALS got pretty clean water quality results for the Withlacoochee River upstream and down for Wednesday, and even Sugar Creek seems cleaner.

This is surprising after Valdosta’s much worse results for Monday.

Also surprising is the dirty winner of Wednesday: Beatty Branch, which runs into Cat Creek before that gets to the Withlacoochee River.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia since the report of the Valdosta Sugar Creek spill for July 13.

If you can avoid the thunderstorms predicted this weekend, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing. At least the temperature is predicted to be somewhat lower.

OK Withlacoochee River, Cleaner Sugar Creek, Dirty Beatty Branch, 2025-07-30

Maybe join us tomorrow for Longer chainsaw from Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-03.

Cat Creek

WWALS tester John S. Quarterman (jsq) got 300 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Cat Creek at Cat Creek Road. That’s well below the 410 one-time test limit. He did hear from a neighbor that there aren’t nearly as many fish in Cat Creek as there used to be.

WWALS is working on a grant strategy to do systematic testing of Cat Creek, Beatty Branch, and Beaverdam Creek to get at the bottom of that. It will be expensive, because it will require DNA testing in addition to many frequent E. coli tests.

Sign, Cat Creek @ Cat Creek Road, 2025:07:30 09:16:42, –jsq for WWALS 30.9905981, -83.2455160

Beatty Branch

For Beatty Branch at Cat Creek Road, jsq got much higher 1,233 cfu/100 mL. That’s above the 1,000 one-time test limit.

Plates, Beatty Branch @ Cat Creek Road, 2025-07-30 –jsq for WWALS

Beatty Branch runs into Cat Creek, which joins the Withlacoochee River below Franklinville.

Map: Beatty Branch highlighted, Cat Creek, Withlacoochee River
in the WWALS map of the withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Withlacoochee River upstream

For Franklinville Landing at Tyler Bridge, upstream from Cat Creek, jsq got a very clean 33 cfu/100 mL.

WWALS tester Cindy Vedas also got 33 for Staten Road, downstream from Cat Creek. Apparently the Beatty Branch contamination is being diluted by the larger amount of water in the Withlacoochee River.

At Langdale Park Boat Ramp, jsq got slightly higher 200 cfu/100 mL. This is not surprising, considering there is very little flow there right now, and stagnant water breeds bacteria.

Chart: Clean Withlacoochee River, Cleaner Sugar Creek, Dirty Beatty Branch 2025-07-30
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 Monday at US 41, just upstream from Langdale Park, Valdosta Utilities got 460 cfu/100 mL, which is higher than anyone would like.

Table: Sugar Creek Withlacoochee Results, 2025-08-28 –Valdosta Utilities

Evidently whatever that was already mostly washed downstream.

Sugar Creek

Valdosta Utilities’ Sugar Creek results for Monday were still way too high, 1,140 cfu/100 mL at Baytree Road, and even higher downstream at Gornto Road: 11,800. For comparison, 1,000 is the alert limit.

Table: Sugar Creek Results, 2025-08-28 —Valdosta Utilities

Withlacoochee River downstream

Valdosta Utilities for Monday also got very high for GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River: 1,850 cfu/100 mL.

Table: Withlacoochee River Results, 2025-08-28 — Valdosta Utilities

But for Wednesday jsq got only 100 cfu/100 mL for GA 133.

For Wednesday at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River, jsq got zero (0). Can’t get better than that.

For Monday at US 84, Valdosta got 570 cfu/100 mL. One hopes that also came down by Wednesday, but we have no results there for that day.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee River in Florida at Holly Point, not far up from the Suwannee River, WWALS tester Russ Tatum for Wednesday got 66 cfu/100 mL, which is pretty clean.

He remarked, “While the River is the best it’s looked in a long time, low and clear with just a ting of tannic, the e-coli results were not as clear as I had hoped, but good considering what’s going on up stream. As the old saying goes … flows down stream.”

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS tester Suzy Hall reviewed the other results. Such review is part of WWALS quality control.

If you want to get trained by WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman 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/

Short Link:

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.

Cat Creek

Beatty Branch

Withlacoochee River upstream

Sugar Creek

Withlacoochee River downstream

Water quality testing training and funding

FR

CCCCR

BBCCR

staten

LPER

LPBR

BTR

GTR

GA133

TBR

IB

HP

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