Sugar Creek is dirty again, but not as filthy as last week, according to a WWALS Tuesday sample. So was Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road, also for Tuesday.

For the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta Utilities for Monday got very filthy with E. coli at GA 133, but clean at US 84.

WWALS got clean downstream at Holly Point for Tuesday, and clean upstream at Hagan Bridge for Thursday, also on the Withlacoochee River. And clean for Thursday on the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp, just above the Withlacoochee.

The Santa Fe River tested clean for Thursday, and the Alapaha River tested OK for Saturday.

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

So chances are the contamination from the big rain of Monday has been diluted. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

Come join us tomorrow, Saturday, for a Chainsaw cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Troupville 2026-03-21. You do not have to use a saw. You can pull trimmed branches aside, pick up trash, photograph, or just paddle along.

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

OK Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers, Questionable Withlacoochee, Dirty Sugar Creek, Clean Little River 2026-03-19

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 Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers; Maybe Withlacoochee River; Dirty Sugar Creek, 2026-03-19 –WWALS Composite Spreadsheet of Water Quality Results
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

Suzy Hall sampled Tuesday at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek, and got 600 cfu/100 mL, which is above the 410 one-time test limit.

Hightower Creek @ St. Augustine Road 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

She also sampled at the Watergoat on Sugar Creek, slightly upstream from the Withlacoochee River, and got a 766 cfu/100 mL, which is at least better than the 2,600 she got for the previous Thursday.

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Withlacoochee River

Gretchen Quarterman for Thursday got a clean 100 cfu/100 mL at Hagan Bridge Landing on GA 122 on the Withlacoochee River.

She noted, “A woman was fishing there, sitting on her bucket. She caught the fish just as I was arriving.”

Hagan Bridge, Withlacoochee River @ GA 122 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Valdosta Utilities sampled Monday and got a horrible 5,790 cfu/100 mL at GA 133 and a clean 80 at US 84. Monday was the day it rained.

Table: GA 133 and US 84, 2026-03-16 –Valdosta Utilities

Downstream on the Withlacoochee about four miles from the Suwannee River, for Tuesday Russ Tatum got a cleanest zero (0) at Holly Point.

He remarked, “Still nice and clean down here.”

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2026-03-18 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

Little River

Gretchen Quarterman for Thursday also sampled the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp, about a third of a mile upstream from the Withlacoochee River, and got a clean 100.

She noted, “Water was low. There was a mother and daughter taking a dog on a walk.”

Troupville Boat Ramp, Little River @ GA 133 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Alapaha River

Heather Brasell for Saturday got an OK 233 at the outflow from the Town of Alapaha wastewater treatment plant.

Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream, Alapaha River @ US 82 2026-03-14 –Heather Brasell for WWALS

She got a clean 67 at Sheboggy Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River.

Sheboggy Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ US 82 2026-03-14 –Heather Brasell for WWALS

Santa Fe River

WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler got a clean 33 cfu/100 mL for Thursday at Mills Dock, slightly upstream from Poe Spring.

Air Temp 10.5 C
Water Temp 19.3 C

Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-03-19 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

FDEP Public Notice of Pollution

Apparently the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has given up on its map for its Public Notice of Pollution.

Going to that map now get this error message:

Retired
Public Notice of Pollution has been retired.

Public Notice of Pollution
Owned by: FDEPAGO

Public Notice of Pollution Retired, 2026-03-06 –FDEPAGO

Following the link to the description still gets no reason why.

Public Notice of Pollution Description, 2026-03-02 –FDEPAGO

Fortunately, you can still get a spreadsheet of reports.

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Suzy Hall and John S. Quarterman reviewed the WWALS results. Such review is part of the WWALS standard ongoing testing quality analysis.

WWALS testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman gave a talk at the statewide Georgia Adopt-A-Stream Confluence conference on Jekyll Island, and also trained two new 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/

AWWTP –Heather Brasell for WWALS

Plates, Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream 2026-03-14 –Heather Brasell for WWALS

SBR –Heather Brasell for WWALS

Plates, Sheboggy Boat Ramp 2026-03-14 –Heather Brasell for WWALS

TBR

Troup Bridge, Little River @ GA 133 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Plates, Troupville Boat Ramp 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

HBL

Fish, Hagan Bridge Landing, Withlacoochee River @ GA 122 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Downstream, Hagan Bridge Landing, Withlacoochee River @ GA 122 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Plates, Hagan Bridge Landing 2026-03-19 –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

HCSAR

Box, Hightower Creek @ St. Augustine Road 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Plates, Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

WG –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Trash, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

More trash, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Plates, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-03-17 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

HP

Plates, Holly Point 2026-03-18 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

MillsDock

Data, Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-03-19 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Plates, Mills Dock 2026-03-19 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

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