Hahira, Georgia, March 31, 2026 — Send in your song starting April First, no fooling! You can send songs until August 12, 2026, for the Ninth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Entry form: https://forms.gle/fihLNVC2xbD1SXBB6

Finalists will be selected by the organizing committee, and will perform their songs at the WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner. That will be Saturday, September 12, 2026, 5-9 PM, at the Lowndes County 4-H Club, 6100 4-H Club Road in Lake Park, Georgia 31636.

There will be food, drink, speakers from Georgia and Florida, a silent auction, and the music of a headliner before the Songwriting Contest Finalists play.

“More fun than you can have anywhere off the water!” said WWALS Board member Scotti Jay.

We like songs about issues, nature, history, fun on the water, or community, or whatever tickles your fancy.

For the first time we’re including the Santa Fe River Basin. We used to exclude that Basin, because Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) had a songwriting contest for it. OSFR is not doing that anymore.

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who invented that contest, will do one next year by Rum 138, her outfitter. But she recommends WWALS include the Santa Fe Basin in our Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, “As a result of JEA wanting to send treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin, give us your best songs.”

If you don’t know what she’s referring to, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

The song must be original, and must be about one or more of the Suwannee River or its tributaries the Little, Black, or Gopher, the Withlacoochee River or its tributaries the Little or New, the Alapaha River or its tributaries the Alapahoochee, Willacoochee, Little Alapaha, or Dead, the Santa Fe River or its tributaries the Ichetucknee or New, or other rivers, creeks, springs, sinks, swamps, or ponds in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary including underground waters such as the Floridan Aquifer. Avoid proselytizing religion, partisan politics, specific candidates, or vulgar or violent lyrics.

Three judges will choose winners based on originality of lyrics and music, performance, integrity, historical value, and/or present value of the waters, with extra points for naming the most rivers, springs, etc., and storytelling.

First Prize is $300, and there are two $50 prizes, one each for a songwriter who lives inside the Suwannee River Basin and a songwriter who lives outside. Plus plaques for best in each submitted music genre.

For more information, including how you can sponsor WWALS River Revue, see:

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026

Organizing Committee Chair and WWALS Treasurer Sara Squires Jones said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.”

WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS): is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity, established June 2012. WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Since December 2016, John S. Quarterman is the Suwannee Riverkeeper®, which is a staff position and a project of WWALS as the member of Waterkeeper® Alliance for the Suwannee River Basin.

Contact: John S. Quarterman
850-290-2350
song@suwanneeriverkeeper.org
WWALS, PO Box 88, Hahira, GA 31632

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