Too much E. coli at the Watergoat, Sugar Creek 2025-10-10, Problematical Withlacoochee River 2025-10-16

The last water quality test for Sugar Creek that we have is by WWALS for last Friday, and that was a too-high 633 cfu/100 mL E. coli.

For this Thursday, Valdosta Utilities got 480 at GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River, downstream of Sugar Creek, higher than the one-time test limit of 410, and higher than 400 last week. Yet Valdosta Utilities got a pretty clean 120 farther downstream at US 84, lower than 180 last week.

It is likely that Sugar Creek was still too high Thursday. We don’t know, because Valdosta Utilities last week ceased testing Sugar Creek, One Mile Branch, and Hightower Creek, as well as North Valdosta Road on the Withlacoochee River. This was apparently because the four weeks of testing required by GA-EPD after major spills had expired. Never mind that Valdosta Utilities’ last result on Sugar Creek was too high.

WWALS testers got a very clean zero result on the Santa Fe River for Wednesday.

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

There’s a chance of storms Sunday afternoon, otherwise it’s supposed to be mostly sunny for the next ten days.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, Other than that, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

Too much E. coli at Sugar Creek WaterGoat, Problematical Withlacoochee River, 2025-10-16

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: Problem Withlacoochee River 2025-10-16
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.

Here’s a map showing where the GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) bridge is downstream of Sugar Creek.

Map: GA 133 Bridge, Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Here are Valdosta’s latest Withlacoochee River results, showing too high at GA 133 for Thursday:

Table: Problem Withlacoochee River, 2025-10-16 — Valdosta Utilities

No result has been seen from the request to continue testing if previous results were too high. That request was made by the Rivers Task Force of the dozen downstream counties at the Florida River Task Force and City of Valdosta City Council Joint Workshop 2025-08-14.

Movie: Rick Davis, Chair, Florida Rivers Task Force (907M)
Video:
https://youtu.be/WKrbz1g0U7k
Rick Davis, Chair, Florida Rivers Task Force.

That Task Force was created by the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council (NCFRPC), which meets this Thursday, in Live Oak Florida, and online. Maybe you’d like to suggest to your NCFRPC members that they pursue this point further.

Water quality testing training and funding

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

WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman helped bring new testers up to speed, as they went through the usual learning curve of actually testing and reporting.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

Here’s the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream map of WWALS water quality testing sites:

Map: WWALS Water Quality Testing Sites, 2025-10-10 — GA Adopt-A-Stream

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/