More waterbodies heard from since the Friday weekly water quality report:

Sugar Creek tested clean for the first time anybody can remember, and the Alapaha River also clean.

Still no rain, and still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

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

Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling

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 River and Sugar Creek, 2026-04-10 –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.

Sugar Creek

Suzy Hall remarked, “This may actually be a first.”

For a Friday sample at the WaterGoat on Sugar Creek, she got zero (0) cfu/100 mL.

Nobody can ever seeing that result for that site.

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat, 2026-04-10 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Alapaha River

Kimberly Godden Tanner noted, “Finally back in town and able to test my locations. Both sites look good.”

She got 66 cfu/100 mL at Lakeland Boat Ramp on GA 122 in Lanier County.

Lakeland Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ GA 122 2026-04-09 –Kim Tanner for WWALS

She got 0 cfu/100 mL at Naylor Park Beach on US 84 in Lowndes County.

She added, “While there are no longer trash receptacles on the beach, there is no trash. Looks like someone is keeping it clean.”

We’ll alert Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) about the missing trash cans.

Naylor Park Beach, Alapaha River @ US 84 2026-04-09 –Kim Tanner for WWALS

Water quality testing training and funding

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

If you want to get trained by WWALS testing 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/

LBR

NPB

WG

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