Clean Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek 2025-11-06

The Withlacoochee River tested clean downstream for Wednesday and Thursday. We also have a completely clean Suwannee River result for last Wednesday.

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, matching an even cleaner WWALS result on the Withlacoochee almost down at the Suwannee.

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.

It might rain Saturday morning. Other than that, 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 8) at one of two festivals in two states:

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

Clean Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek, Might rain Saturday, 2025-11-06

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 Withlacoochee River, Dirty Sugar Creek 2025-11-06
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.

Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River

Here are Valdosta’s Tuesday Sugar Creek results, both above the 410 one-time-test limit: 440 cfu/100 mL at Baytree Road (better than last week) and 650 at Gornto Road (worse than last week).

Table: Creeks, 2025-11-06 –Valdosta Utilities

Here are Valdosta’s results for Tuesday at US 41 and US 84: an OK 290 and an OK 140.

Table: Creek River, 2025-11-06 –Valdosta Utilities

And here is Valdosta’s Tuesday result at GA 133: an OK 340, which is worse than last week, but still below the 410 one-time test limit.

Table: River Results, 2025-11-06 –Valdosta Utilities

Downstream at Holly Point, a few miles up the Withlacoochee River from the Suwannee, WWALS tester Russ Tatum got a clean 33 cfu/100 mL.

Suwannee River

For last Wednesday, WWALS tester Thomas Underwood got cleanest zero (0) cfu/100 mL at Trails AirPark, a bit upstream on the Suwannee River from the Hal W. Adams Bridge. He remarked: “Changes: Air & Water temp.”

Air temp. 19 C
Water temp. 21 C
pH 7.0
DO 10
conductivity 321

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Suzy Hall, Cindy Vedas, 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/

Short Link:

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River

Suwannee River

Water quality testing training and funding

HP

Hodor

PP

MillsDock

AirPark

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