Clean New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers and Sugar Creek 2026-02-26

Not only did the Santa Fe and Withlacoochee Rivers test clean, the New River at 18th Street did too, for once. And Sugar Creek tested clean even at the WaterGoat, just above the Withlacoochee River.

This was all before the rain today (Friday), but chances are most lingering on-land contamination was washed down by the previous rain.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida. There was one in Georgia, a Valdosta dry land sewage spill Wednesday at 718 Georgia Avenue, that from what little we know did not get into any waterways.

https://wwals.net/?p=69533

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

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

Clean New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers, and Sugar Creek, 2026-02-26

We’re going ahead with the Withlacoochee River chainsaw cleanup tomorrow, meeting at the Salty Snapper parking lot at 9 AM:

https://wwals.net/?p=69438

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 New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers and Sugar Creek, 2026-02-26 –WWALS water quality spreadsheet
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.

Alapaha River

We don’t have any new Alapaha River test results since last week’s pretty clean results.

https://wwals.net/?p=69458

But we do have a candidate for what Mike Paulk saw in his video of Nasty water, Alapaha River, GA 135 2026-02-16, at GA 135, south of Willacoochee, Georgia.

https://wwals.net/?p=69417

See Solid Waste Open Dump Consent Order on Dwight Caton in Berrien County, GA 2025-12-22.

https://wwals.net/?p=69496

New River

In a welcome change from too-high results at 18th Street for the New River, Isis Swartz got 100 cfu/100 mL for Wednesday.

Plates, 716 18th Street, Tifton, GA 2026-02-26 –Isis Swartz for WWALS

And she got an even cleaner 33 downstream at US 82.

Plates, US 82 New River Bridge, Tifton, GA 2026-02-24 –Isis Swartz for WWALS

Santa Fe River

WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler got a cleanest 0 cfu/100 mL for Thursday at Mills Dock, slightly upstream from Poe Spring.

Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-02-26 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Creeks

Suzy Hall tested way up on a branch of Sugar Creek at Saunders Park on River Road, and got an OK 233 cfu/100 mL for Saturday. She remarked, “There are a lot of cats and homeless folks that frequent this park. The water didn’t look that great but the results weren’t bad.”

Sugar Creek @ Saunders Park, Sugar Creek @ River Road 2026-02-21 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

For Thursday at the WaterGoat, she got 166 cfu/100mL. She noted, “Cleanest results in quite sometime. Or perhaps the leaf that snuck in the whirlpack absorbed it all 😂”

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-02-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

She added, “I didn’t remove the errant leaf because I didn’t want to risk contaminating the sample so I left it.”

Leaf in Sample, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-02-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Withlacoochee River

WWALS tester Cindy Vedas sampled Tuesday at her usual three Withlacoochee River sites.

She got a clean 100 cfu/100 mL at Franklinville Road.

Franklinville, Withlacoochee River @ Frankinville Road 2026-02-24 –Cindy Vedas for WWALS

At Staten Road she got a cleanest zero.

Staten Road, Withlacoochee River @ Staten Road 2026-02-24 –Cindy Vedas for WWALS

And at Langdale Park Boat Ramp she also got a cleanest zero.

Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River @ North Valdosta Road 2026-02-24 –Cindy Vedas for WWALS

Valdosta Utilities posted results for Monday at GA 133 and US 84: an OK 280 and a very clean 80.

Table: GA 133 and US 84, Withlacoochee River, 2026-02-23 –Valdosta Utilities

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Christiaan Ard, Cindy Vedas, Suzy Hall, and Scotti Jay reviewed the WWALS results. Such review is part of the WWALS standard ongoing testing quality analysis.

If you want to get trained by WWALS 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/