Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers 2024-07-25 | WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

Update 2024-07-28: No spills yet from rain on Valdosta 2024-07-28.

Three rivers tested clean this week: Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Santa Fe.

There has been rain, scattered, but heavy in spots.

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

The weather prediction all weekend is likely rain, but most likely in the afternoon.

So pick a river at a level you like, and happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

Or join us Saturday morning for the Jon boat outing, Troupville to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2024-07-27.

Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers, No sewage spills, But rain 2024-07-25

Alapaha River

Kimberly Godden Tanner tested her usual two sites on the Alapaha River for Thursday, July 25, 2024, noting, “Great results at both locations.”

At Lakeland Boat Ramp on GA 122, she got 0 + 0 + 0 = 0/3 x 100 = 0 cfu/100 mL.

At Naylor Park Beach near US 84, she got 0 + 3 + 0 = 3/3 x 100 = 100 cfu/100 mL. “Still no trash receptacles at the beach side of Naylor Beach, but there is no trash. One of the swimmers shared that he always keeps a bucket in his truck and picks up trash anytime he visits. He is also a kayaker from Hahira and has one of the lake houses on Banks Lake. I shared with him that we will be at the Honeybee Festival so he should stop by our booth. Maybe he will join us on a future full moon paddle.”

Withlacoochee River

Cindy Vedas tested her usual three Withlacoochee River sites Thursday.

At Tyler Bridge on Franklinville Road she got 2,1,0 / 3 x 100 = 100 cfu/100 mL.

At Staten Road she got 0,0,2 /3 x 100 = 66 cfu/100 mL and noted, “River level at Skipper Bridge was 5’.09” at 7:30am. Then yesterday afternoon we received 2.4” of rain. Today’s river level at 10:35 was 7’.09”. And rising!”

At Langdale Park below North Valdosta Road she got 0,0,0 = 0 / 3 x 100= 0 cfu/100 mL and note, “River looked clean. Some trash not in the trash cans though. I did a quick clean up.”

The City of Valdosta tested the Withlacoochee River Thursday at GA 133 and US 84, and got 370 and 70 cfu/100 mL, respectively.

Mark Coppage tested the Withlacoochee River Tuesday at State Line Boat Ramp (GA 31, Madison Highway, Mozell Spells, and several other names). He got zero E. coli there.

Santa Fe River

Joanne Tremblay tested the Santa Fe River at US 27 (River Rise Ramp), and got 0+0+2 = 2 / 3 * 100 = 66 cfu/100 mL. She said the river there, “leaving the High Springs loop at heading towards Rum Island is looking clean. There are several houses on the stretch from River Rise to this bridge. There is also a great deal of wildlife, the birds and otters are quite active along this stretch. This spot is also right below a 2nd magnitude mid river spring: Alligator Spring.”

Suzy Hall reviewed all the results.

Chart: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers 2024-07-25
For context, see: https://wwals.net/issues/testing

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.

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS Water Quality Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman scheduled dates and locations for training up to a dozen new testing candidates.

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/

-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/

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