The Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek, and the Santa Fe River tested clean in the results we have for this week.

So did Poe Springs for Wednesday, even though Alachua County closed its swimming area Thursday due to “due to poor water clarity.”

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

According to the results we have, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, before the rains starting tomorrow afternoon.

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

Clean Withlacoochee 2026-07-13, OK Sugar Creek 2026-07-15, Clean Santa Fe 2026-07-15, Happy paddling, swimming, etc.

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 Withlacoochee 2026-07-13, Clean Sugar Creek & Santa Fe River 2026-07-15 –WWALS Composite Spreadsheet of Water Quality Data
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

WWALS tester Suzy Hall sampled Wednesday at the Watergoat on Sugar Creek, downstream from Gornto Road, below the bottom of the Salty Snapper parking lot. She got 300 cfu/100 mL E. coli, which is a good result.

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-15 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

She remarked, “The creek looked really good. The ever-changing sandbars are in good spots right now. Lots of the newly removed log jam cuts have made their way on down stream now and the massive amount of trash that had been trapped within it was removed by independent volunteers during a chainsaw and trash cleanup last weekend. That has made a difference I believe, at least until more storm water trash gets moved back in. But the jam is gone, so that should help as it won’t be backing up upstream for now with huge amounts releasing during big rain events.”

Withlacoochee River

For Monday, July 6, 2026, Valdosta Utilities got a clean 120 cfu/100 mL at the GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) bridge over the Withlacoochee River. That’s downstream from Sugar Creek.

They got a quite clean 20 at US 84. That’s downstream from the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River.

Table: GA 133 & US 84, Withlacoochee River, 2026-07-13 –Valdosta Utilities

Santa Fe River

Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler sampled Thursday at Mills Dock, somewhat upstream from Poe Springs on the Santa Fe River.

They got 0 cfu/100 mL
Air temp 30.1
Water temp 27.6

Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-07-15 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Bob and Kurt also sampled Wednesday at Poe Springs. Remember Alachua County closed the swimming area there Thursday, due to “poor water clarity.”

https://wwals.net/?p=70696

Due to the drought water in the spring is very low and not really flowing.

Hoever, Bob and Kurt got a clean 100 cfu/100 mL of E. coli, with
Air temp 31.1
Water temp 25.7

Poe Springs, Santa Fe River @ CR 340 2026-07-25 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Water quality testing training and funding

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

WWALS Water Quality Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman did annual retrainings and followup trainings for new testers, and delivered testing materials to several testers.

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, 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/

WG

Two Mile Branch @ Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-15 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Plates, WaterGoat 2026-07-15 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

MillsDock

Data, Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-07-15 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Plates, Mills Dock 2026-07-15 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

PoeSprings

Data, Poe Springs, Santa Fe River @ CR 340 2026-07-25 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Plates, Poe Springs, 2026-07-25 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Short Link: