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

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 River, Sugar Creek, and Santa Fe River, 2026-07-22

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 River, Sugar Creek, and Santa Fe River 2026-07-22 –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.

Withlacoochee River Upstream

New WWALS tester Jimmy LeFiles sampled Friday, July 17, 2026, near his house on River Chase Drive, and got a quite clean 66 cfu/100 mL E. coli.

Withlacoochee River @ River Chase Drive 2026-07-17 –Jimmy LeFiles for WWALS

Sugar Creek

WWALS tester Suzy Hall sampled Wednesday, July 22 at the Watergoat on Sugar Creek, downstream from Gornto Road, below the bottom of the Salty Snapper parking lot. She got 200 cfu/100 mL E. coli, cleaner than last week.

She noted, “I have included an individual shot of #3 to show which coliforms I counted. On the photo, there are a couple around 10 and 11 o’clock that look blueish red, dark enough to consider counting. However, they do not look that way in person. So I put arrows pointing to the four counted. The creek is extremely low, but not stagnant.”

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –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 Downstream

For Monday, July 20, 2026, Valdosta Utilities got a cleaner than last week 95 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 55 at US 84. That’s downstream from the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River.

Table: GA 133 & US 84, Withlacoochee River, 2026-07-20 –Valdosta Utilities

Santa Fe River

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

They got a quite clean 33 cfu/100 mL. Air Temp – 27.6
Water temp – 29.3

They remarked, “Drought persists. Poe Springs closed until further notice for swimming.”

Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-07-22 –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 ordered and received testing materials and delivered some 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/

riverchase

upstream, Withlacoochee River @ River Chase Drive 2026-07-17 –Jimmy LeFiles for WWALS

Data, Withlacoochee River @ River Chase Drive 2026-07-17 –Jimmy LeFiles for WWALS

Plates, Withlacoochee River @ River Chase Drive 2026-07-17 –Jimmy LeFiles for WWALS

WG

Dog, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Upstream, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Two Mile Branch, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Cool, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Context, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Plate3, WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Plates, WaterGoat 2026-07-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

MillsDock

Data, Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-07-22 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Plates, Mills Dock 2026-07-22 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Short Link: