Better Withlacoochee River, Worse Sugar Creek 2025-09-01

Update 2025-09-05: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-09-04.

It appears that the high E. coli incident that started Friday due to rain on Valdosta has gotten diluted or washed downstream. The predicted rain for Monday and Tuesday did not happen, so chances are the results will keep getting better.

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

So, going by the test results we have, happy paddling, motoring, fishing, and swimming, as long as you avoid the Withlacoochee River from Sugar Creek to US 84.

Worse Sugar Creek 2025-03-31, Better Withlacoochee River 2025-09-02, In Valdosta Utilities test results, Per Valdosta Utilities and WWALS

Valdosta Utilities has completed the seven days of testing after a major spill required by GA-EPD. That ended Sunday, August 31, with much worse water quality at Gornto Road on Sugar Creek, 3,800 cfu/100 mL E. coli, which is almost 4 times the 1,000 alert limit. See:
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/august-2025-sanitary-sewer-spills

Table: Creeks and Withlacoochee River Results, 2025-08-31 –Valdosta Utilities

Valdosta Utilities also found the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 still bad both that day and in its weekly river testing for Monday, September 2, but OK downstream at US 84, and OK already Sunday upstream at US 41.

If I understood Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes correctly when I talked to him yesterday, they may do some additional sampling, and they plan to walk the creeks (One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, and Sugar Creek) to double-check on any other potential sewage spill locations.

Compliments once again to Valdosta Utilities for the improved manhole at Wainwright Drive on One Mile Branch.

WWALS tester Russ Tatum sampled Sunday and Monday and got zero both days at Holly Point on the Withlacoochee River, only a few miles above the Suwannee River.

Holly Point, Plates, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-31 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

Holly Point, Plates, Withlacoochee River 2025-09-01 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

We finally got some late results from FDEP, which only go up to last Wednesday; see below.

Here are all the results since the recent Valdosta sewage spills in the WWALS composite spreadsheet:

Chart: Mostly Clean Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-09-01
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.

FDEP results

We finally got a response from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) yesterday, September 2, 2025.

It includes reports for three dates, August 20, 26, and 27, for three locations on the Withlacoochee River:

GA 31 FL 145, which is Horn Bridge or State Line Boat Ramp
CR 150, which is Sullivan Launch
FL 6, just upstream from Madison Blue Spring

We already had the August 26 FDEP results, forwarded to us by another source. I have added the others into the WWALS composite spreadsheet. The August 27 FDEP results are very similar to the FDOH and WWALS results of the same day.

State Line 10, Sullivan Launch 20, FL 6 10 cfu/100 mL E. coli, 2025-09-02 Received from FDEP
PDF

FDEP analyzed each set of results within 24 hours after collection.

Analysis Date/Time 08/28/2025 10:13, 2025-09-02 Received from FDEP
PDF

However, none of them were “Certified by: Cheryl A. Swanson, Program Administrator” until August 29, the Friday before the long Labor Day weekend.

Date Certified: 29-AUG-2025 13:25, 2025-09-02 Received from FDEP
PDF

The results were finally sent to WWALS after that weekend, on Tuesday, September 2, by Diana M. Turner (no title in her emails).

That’s 6 days (3 business days) after I sent the FOIA request on Wednesday, August 27, which was the same day as the most recent FDEP sample. And 13 days (8 business days) since the FDEP August 20 sampling date.

Fortunately, we had test results from other sources: Valdosta, FDOH, and WWALS.

Meanwhile, there’s already been another high-E. coli incident on August 29. So far as I know, there is no Florida agency sampling on that.

Also, FDEP used to put such water quality results in a spreadsheet online in here:
https://publicfiles.dep.state.fl.us/DEAR/DEARweb/Event_Response/

But there have been no updates in that FDEP spreadsheet since April 18, 2024. I wonder why?

-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.

FDEP results

FDEP-2025-08-20

FDEP-2025-08-26

FDEP-2025-08-27

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