Valdosta Utilities got an even higher E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, but a good result at US 84 that same day.

WWALS results downstream in Florida for Thursday were cleanest.

We also have good water quality results for Thursday for reported standing water in a drainage easement at Gornto Road near Sugar Creek in Valdosta.

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, if you can find any water.

It might rain, but not enough to wash much contamination into the river. Maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires.

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

Withlacoochee River filthy upstream 2026-04-20, clean downstream, Plus a drainage easement 2026-04-23

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: Filthy Upstream Clean Downstream Withlacoochee River, 2026-04-23 –WWALS composite chart of water quality and sewage spills
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.

Withlacoochee River

Valdosta Utilities for Monday got 1,080 cfu/100 mL for GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River. That’s over the 1,000 alert limit, and higher than last week.

But they got a pretty clean 80 at US 84, below the Little River Confluence.

Table: GA 133, US 84 Withlacoochee River, 2026-04-20 –Valdosta Utilities

WWALS tester Russ Tatum got a cleanest zero (0) for Thursday on the Withlacoochee at Holly Point, four miles upstream from the Suwannee River.

He noted, “Clean and clear down here!”

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2026-04-23 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

Drainage Ditch near Sugar Creek

A resident of Spring Valley Circle in Valdosta reported Thursday on the smartphone app Click N Fix that:

I don’t know if this is a storm gray or what it is but the water goes from the cul-de-sac on Spring Valley under the ground and it keeps coming out of here but it’s not draining it’s just staying and coming all up into my yard, is rotting out my fence and my dog keeps getting into it and tracking black stinking mud all over my porch. I’ve already reported this. Please fix this

Map: 2407 Spring Valley Circle 2026-04-23 –Seeclickfix

Apparently the same person had previously reported on September 2, 2025 that:

Sidewalk entry/exit between 2007 and 2009 Spring Valley Circle connecting Gornto Rd. to Spring Valley Circle has the following deficiencies: 1) Entry/exit at Gornto Rd. has an unavoidable puddle so deep after days without rain that it still wets sneaker uppers. 2) Entry/exit at Gornto Rd. is very overgrown and hides much of the deep puddle. 3) The sidewalk between houses at 2007 and 2009 Spring Valley Circle is overgrown and has significant concrete breakage.

Valdosta Engineering assigned that September ticket to Public Works and that’s all we see about it.

Gretchen Quarterman went there Thursday afternoon and wrote back:

Ok, it was old home day at the location. I got there about 3:20 an examined the situation and pulled a sample just behind the fence in a pool of water.

Standing water on the Valdosta easement, 2026:04:23 15:26:34, –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS 30.8594528, -83.3189083

I took some photos and went back to the car. As I was pulling out I saw Scotti and a city of Valdosta truck pulled in just where I had been so I got out and went back. It was [Valdosta Stormwater Division Manager] Angela Bray and a cohort (I’m not sure who the guy was).

Looking back west towards the easement, 2026:04:23 15:29:53, –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS 30.8595361, -83.3184806

We discussed that it is clearly not storm water as there is no water running anywhere. The water is clear, not cloudy and had no discernable poop smell.

I had a thermometer and Angela took the water temperature 24C. The air temperature had been 27C.

Scotti Jay watching Valdosta Stormwater Manager Angela Bray take water temperature using Gretchen Quarterman’s WWALS thermometer, 2026:04:23 15:46:36, –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS 30.8596222, -83.3185972

Angela called someone in utilities as she surmises that it is a water line break of some kind.

And the results are: 200 cfu/100 mL, which is an OK result, well below the 410 one-time test limit.

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Kimberly Godden Tanner 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 Water Quality 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, Don Hutchinson, 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/

SVC

Standing water by the power pole, 2026:04:23 15:26:30, –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS 30.8594972, -83.3190139

Running water, 2026:04:23 15:26:34, –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS 30.8594528, -83.3189083

Standing by the tracks so long there are water plants, 2026:04:23 15:29:51, –Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS 30.8595417, -83.3184806

Plates, Spring Valley Circle Easement at Gornto Road near Sugar Creek, 2026-04-23, Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS

Maps

Map: Spring Valley Circle Easements Sewer Line 2026-04-23 –VALORGIS

Map: Spring Valley Circle Sewer Line 2026-04-23 –VALORGIS

HP

Plates, Holly Point 2026-04-23 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

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