WWALS got a very clean result for the Santa Fe River for Wednesday, and pretty clean for the Alapaha River for Thursday.

Even for Sugar Creek, WWALS got an OK result for Wednesday at the WaterGoat. But Valdosta Utilities again got too-high results upstream on Sugar Creek at Gornto Road and Baytree Road.

However, Valdosta got OK results for the Withlacoochee River Upstream at US 41, and OK downstream at GA 133, plus clean farther downstream at US 84.

So these continuing high Sugar Creek results are still mysterious, especially given no rain to wash residue downstream

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

No rain is expected for the next ten days.

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

Or join us tomorrow (Saturday, November 1) to Hike with a Geologist to a Spring, the Dead River Sink, and the Dry Alapaha River.

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

Clean Santa Fe, Alapaha, Withlacoochee Rivers, Sugar Creek mixed, 2025-10-30

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: Clean Rivers, Dubious Sugar Creek 2025-10-30
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.

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Heather Brasell for Thursday got an OK 200 at the outflow creek for the Town of Alapaha wastewater plant, and a clean 100 cfu/100 mL just upstream from US 82 and Sheboggy Boat Ramp.

Santa Fe River

WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for Wednesday got a cleanest zero (0) cfu/100 mL at Mills Dock upstream from Poe Springs. Air tempreature was 14 C and water temperature was 22 C. They noted, “More hyacinths, Duckweed and algae across the River.”

Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River

Thanks to WWALS tester Suzy Hall for sampling Sugar Creek Wednesday. She again got 333 cfu/100 mL which is an OK result below the 410 one-time test limit. She remarked “These are tiny bacteria 🤣 The water looked better yesterday than last week, and its flowing surprisingly well for how low it is, but we surely could use some rain.”

Here’s a map showing where the WaterGoat is on Sugar Creek and all of Sugar Creek’s tributaries. Hightower Creek comes from the lower left of the map down from Lowndes High School and past Academy Sports northeast across St. Augustine Road.

Map: Sugar Creek Two Mile Branch One Mile Branch Hightower Creek in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Here are Valdosta’s Tuesday Sugar Creek results, of 880 cfu/100 mL at Baytree Road and 480 at Gornto Road, both above the 410 one-time-test limit.

Table: Creek Results, 2025-10-28 –Valdosta Utilities

Here are Valdosta’s results for Tuesday at US 41 and US 84: an 280 OK and a clean 100.

Table: Creek River Results, 2025-10-28 –Valdosta Utilities

And here is Valdosta’s Tuesday result at GA 133: an OK 170, which is better than last week.

Table: River Results, 2025-10-28 –Valdosta Utilities

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Suzy Hall, Christiaan Ard, and John S. Quarterman reviewed the 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/

AWWTP

Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream, Alapaha River @ US 82 2025-10-30 –Heather Brasell for WWALS

SBR –Heather Brasell for WWALS

Sheboggy Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ US 82 2025-10-30 –Heather Brasell for WWALS

WG

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2025-10-29 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

MillsDock

Mills Dock Form, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2025-10-29 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

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