Filthy creeks, Clean downstream Withlacoochee River 2025-09-17

Valdosta Utilities for Thursday got sky-high E. coli on One Mile Branch, Hightiwer Creek, and especially Sugar Creek at Gornto Road, as well as too high at GA 133.

This time upstream at US 41 was good, as was downstream at US 84, and even better in a WWALS test farther downstream on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

For the second time recently, a WWALS test on Sugar Creek does not agree with Valdosta results. We will have to do more testing to sort that out.

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

It hasn’t rained in days, and no rain is predicted for the next five days.

So avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, and happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

Filthy Creeks 2025-09-18, Clean downstream Withlacoochee River

Or join us tomorrow for Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up, Alapaha River, Mayday Landing 2025-09-20.
https://wwals.net/?p=68386

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet.

Chart: Filthy Creeks, Clean Downstream Withlacoochee River 2025-09-18
For context, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing
Previous WWALS water quality reports are here:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results
Also follow that link for the underlying spreadsheet of water quality, sewage spills, and rainfall from Georgia and Florida sources for the Suwannee River Basin.

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.

Creeks

Valdosta got above the E. coli alert limit of 1,000 cfu/100 mL for Thursday at both One Mile Branch locations, Wainwright Drive and W Gordon Street. Ditto for Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road, and Sugar Creek at Gornto Road. That last location was the worst, with 3,800 cfu/100 mL.

Valdosta puts its water quality results online, including these followup results after its recent sewage spills:
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/august-2025-sanitary-sewer-spills

Table: Creek Results, 2025-09-18 –Valdosta Utilities

WWALS tester Suzy Hall for Wednesday got 100 cfu/100 mL at the WaterGoat on Sugar Creek, “Surprisingly fine.”

That’s downstream from Gornto Road. We will do more testing to find out why her result and Valdosta’s Thursday Gornto Road result are so different.

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2025-09-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

She also discovered that Valdosta has installed a new manhole, “The manhole shown is brand new. The odd part is they did not raise this above what we know is the flood prone area. In fact, they dug down and this will end up covered up if the sand isn’t washed away on a future flood event. It also smells really bad!”

New manhole, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2025-09-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Withlacoochee River

Valdosta for Thursday got clean 100 at US 41, upstream from Sugar Creek, and dirty 680 downstream.

Farther downstream, below the Little River Confluence, Valdosta got clean 100 at US 84.

Valdosta Utilities also puts its weekly Withlacoochee River results online, for GA 133 and US 84.
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/2025-withlacoochee-river-bacteriological-monitoring

River Results 2025-09-18 –Valdosta Utilities

For this week, those results were already in the creek table above.

Once again, the City of Valdosta is the only one in Georgia I know of that posts its water quality test results on its own website.

WWALS tester Russ Tatum sampled Wednesday at Holly Point, only a few miles upstream from the Suwannee River, and got 66, “Rinse and repeat same as last week.”

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2025-09-17 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Cindy Vedas and John S. Quarterman reviewed the results. Such review is part of WWALS quality control.

WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman delivered test materials to several testers.

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/