Water quality results from WWALS and Valdosta Utilities agree: the Withlacoochee River is clean again, upstream and down, as of Wednesday.

And WWALS tests say the Alapaha River is clean as of Thursday.

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

No rain is predicted until Monday.

So happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-09-03, Clean Alapaha River 2025-09-04

Or join us inside tomorrow evening, 5-9 PM this Saturday, for a sit-down dinner with drinks and a silent auction in the WWALS River Revue and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Withlacoochee River

WWALS tester Cindy Vedas got 33 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Wednesday for both Staten Road and Langdale Park Boat Ramp, where she noticed a Valdosta Sewage Spill sign. But those are very good results. The sign is because Langdale Park Boat Ramp is where you put in to paddle downstream past Sugar Creek, which had very high test results for Sunday.

Signs, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River @ North Valdosta Road 2025-09-03 –Cindy Vedas for WWALS

Valdosta Utilities tested the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 and US 84 both Monday and Tuesday.

GA 133, not far downstream from Sugar Creek, was bad at 540 on Monday, but OK at 180 on Tuesday.

US 84, downstream of the Little River, was OK on Monday at 190 and good at 40 on Tuesday.

Once again, the City of Valdosta is the only one in Georgia I know of that posts its water quality test results on its own website.
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/august-2025-sanitary-sewer-spills

Table: Withlacoochee River Quality, 2025-09-02 –Valdosta Utilities

WWALS tester Russ Tatum sampled Wednesday at Holly Point, only a few miles upstream from the Suwannee River, and got zero, same as he got for Sunday and Monday. He noted, “Clean Withlacoochee down here! Though the river doesn’t look that clean, quite silty and muddy brown, testing results for bacteria seem to be improving. Zero E-coli.”

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2025-09-03 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Kim Tanner sampled Thursday, and got zero at Lakeland Boat Ramp and 33 at Naylor Park Beach.

Lakeland Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ GA 122 2025-09-04 –Kim Tanner for WWALS

She wrote, “Both sites looked great.”

Naylor Park Beach, Alapaha River @ US 84 2025-09-04 –Kim Tanner for WWALS

Here is an excerpt from the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills.

Chart: Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-09-03 and Alapaha River 2025-09-04
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 testers Cindy Vedas, Suzy Hall, Kim Tanner, and John S. Quarterman reviewed the results. Such review is part of WWALS quality control.

WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman prepared test kits to take to new Florida testers next week.

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/

LBR

NPB

staten

Staten Road, Withlacoochee River @ Staten Road 2025-09-03 –Cindy Vedas for WWALS

LPBR –Cindy Vedas for WWALS

HP

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