Something is wrong with Sugar Creek that is hard to explain by first flush, yet no sewage spills have been found.

WWALS tested Sugar Creek filthy Saturday and Wednesday at the WaterGoat. Valdosta Utilities corroborated that for Wednesday at Gornto Road. Upstream on Hightower Creek at Gornto Road, Valdosta Utilities got too high for Monday, and way-too high for Wednesday, matching WWALS the result for that site. Valdosta also got too high for Wednesday on One Mile Branch at West Gordon Street, but not nearly as high as on Hightower Branch. More on all that below.

Meanwhile, Valdosta Utilities got OK results for the Withlacoochee River upstream at US 41 (North Valdosta Road) and downstream at GA 133 and US 84. WWALS got clean results at Holly Point, only four miles upstream from the Suwannee River.

And WWALS got clean Thursday results for the Santa Fe River.

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

So according to the results we have, avoid Sugar Creek and its tributaries One Mile Branch and Hightower Creek. But on the rivers, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, if you can avoid the rains.

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

Filthy Sugar Creek 2026-08-26, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Santa Fe River 2026-08-27

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 Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River 2026-08-26, Clean Santa Fe River 2026-08-27 –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 sampled Sugar Creek Saturday, August 22, 2026, at the WaterGoat, below the Salty Snapper parking lot on Gornto Road, and got 1,366 cfu/100 mL, which is above the 1,000 alert limit.

She wrote, “Obviously, I counted all due to background color. We’ve had a few strong flushes of rain, but I don’t think this is all attributed to animal flush. I caught a somewhat chemical whiff that is often a sewage odor. I think that bypass may need inspection. Or, there could still be an issue on Hightower. I’ll make a point to test there too this week.

Plates, WaterGoat 2026-08-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Also, “I should add that kids have been seen swimming and fishing down there.. also a red horse had what resembles a lesion to me but was thrown back in water before I could request it be preserver. It wasn’t dead, bit was not well either.”

She clarified that a red horse is a sucker type fish.

Dead fish, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Suzy sampled again on Wednesday at the WaterGoat, and got 2,300 cfu/100 mL, more than twice the alert limit.

Plates, WaterGoat 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

She noted, “As before, all are counted even though there is gas associated with nearly all anyway.”

Clearly the Sugar Creek had risen with the recent rains, but first flush (animal waste washing into waterways) does not seem enough to account for these high readings.

Suzy added, “There did not appear to be any issues with the continued [sewer system] bypass on Sugar Creek.”

Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Hightower Creek

Suzy also sampled Wednesday upstream, at St. Augustine Road at Hightower Creek, and got 1,433 cfu/100 mL, well above the alert limit.

Plates, Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

She said, “Still can’t help but think this creek is where current issues are coming from. But where?”

Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road, Hightower Creek @ St. Augustine Road 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

I alerted Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes about this Sugar Creek issue Monday morrning.

Today he sent this:

These are the E. Coli results for the spills* from 8/24 Monday’s sampling before the rain and 8/26 Wednesday’s sampling after the rain. We haven’t seen any signs of any spills for any of these sites.

	Monday	Wednesday
Gordon	145	400
Gornto	300	1,800
St Augustine	615	2,300
NVR	125	1,000
Hwy 84	70	385

* “These were past spills from a year ago that we had to pulled samples for these sites.”

Here’s a bit of explanation of his email.

The St. Augustine and Gornto results validate Suzy’s results.

I assume Gordon means the West Gordon Street One Mile Branch Bridge, which is also upstream from Sugar Creek.

Gornto is Gornto Road at Sugar Creek, a bit upstream from the WaterGoat.

St Augustine is St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek.

NVR is North Valdosta Road, aka US 41.

US 84 is downstream from the Little River Confluence.

It looks like the contamination is getting into Sugar Creek from Hightower Creek. So where is it getting into Hightower Creek?

Map: Hightower Creek 2026-08-28 in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Tributaries of Hightower Creek come down from Martin Stadium in Lowndes High School, and across River Street, where Valdosta has had previous sewage spills, as you can see marked on the WWALS map.

The Sams Club detention pond just below I-75 could be a contamination source.

Map: Manholes 2026-08-20 WWALS map of manholes using data from Valdosta Utilities.

There are numerous sewer system manholes all around Hightower Creek and its tributaries. Any of them could be leaking.

Map: Sewer Lines 2026-08-28 —VALORGIS

The Valdosta force main from the Remer Pump Station parallels Hightower Creek across I-75 to the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. It could be leaking.

It could be runoff from I-75, although it’s not clear why that should have high E. coli.

In principal it could be coming from ILM Pond across I-75, but I doubt there has been enough rain for that pond to fill to overflowing, and that wouldn’t account for Suzy’s Saturday result.

Withlacoochee River

Valdosta also posted an OK Monday result of 160 at the GA 133 Withlacoochee River bridge, which is downstream from Sugar Creek, but upstream from the Little River.

Table: GA 133 & US 84, Withlacoochee River 2026-08-24 —Valdosta Utilities

WWALS tester Russ Tatum sampled Wednesday, August 26, at Holly Point, downstream from Allen Ramp on the Withlacoochee River, about four miles upstream from the Suwannee River, and got a pretty clean 66 cfu/100 mL, not quite as clean as last week.

He noted, “The water has come up slightly but clarity has improved.”

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2026-08-26 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

Santa Fe River

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

They got a 100 cfu/100 mL, which is still clean, but higher than last week’s zero.

Also:
Air temp – 24.3 c
Water temp = 28.7 c

They wrote about the river, “No changes noted.”

Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-08-27 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS testers Suzy Hall and John S. Quarterman 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 some testing supplies, distributed some to testers, and retrained three testers in the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) methods we use.

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

WaterGoat, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Deadfall, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Again, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-22 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Muddy, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Recently washed, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

Again, Sugar Creek @ WaterGoat 2026-08-26 –Suzy Hall for WWALS

HP

Plates, Holly Point 2026-08-26 –Russ Tatum for WWALS

MillsDock

Data, Mills Dock, Santa Fe River @ NW 282nd Dr 2026-08-27 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

Plates, Mills Dock 2026-08-27 –Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for WWALS

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