Author Archives: jsq

Pictures: WWALS at Hahira Pride 2024-06-01

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Thanks to Rindy and Jo for organizing the WWALS booth at South Georgia Pride, art of Music and Art on Main, in Hahira, Georgia.

[WWALS Booth, Pride Festival, Hahira, Georgia, June 1, 2024]
WWALS Booth, Pride Festival, Hahira, Georgia, June 1, 2024

Thanks to Margaret Stewart for helping.

This is on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. Hahira is about in the middle between Folsom Bridge on the Little River to the west and Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River to the east, around 8 miles either way.

For more WWALS outings and events, see:
https://wwals.net/outings Continue reading →

Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16

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Thursday WWALS water quality samples showed the Alapaha River clean at Lakeland and Naylor.

But Valdosta Thursday samples showed Sugar Creek worse again at Gornto Road.

As noted yesterday, the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers also seem clean, although I’d avoid the Withlacoochee near Sugar Creek, and Sugar Creek itself.

We hear there is a Sugar Creek bypass, but that creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

If you like rain (Saturday) or cold (Sunday), this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16, Rain coming Saturday, Cold all next week]
Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16, Rain coming Saturday, Cold all next week

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Kimberly Godden Tanner for Thursday got zero (0) E. coli at Lakeland Boat Ramp. Can’t get cleaner than that. Continue reading →

Pictures: Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13

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It was fun, the Sasser Landing Cleanup on the Alapaha River 2024-07-13. We also went to Jannings Bluff Landing and the Dead River Sink, all by land.

[Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink]
Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink

Thanks to Dennis J. Price for leading this expedition in Hamilton County, Florida.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter. Continue reading →

OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15

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Upate 2025-01-18: Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16.

For Wednesday water quality samples, The Little River at US 82 west of Tifton, Georgia, tested OK, as did the Withlacoochee River at GA 133, US 84, and Holly Point four miles from the Suwannee.

The New River on 18th Street in Tifton tested too high in E. coli.

We hear there is a Sugar Creek bypass, but that creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia one new Valdosta spill showed up, although it apparently did not get into waterways.

This weekend, I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near downstream from it. If you like rain (Saturday) or cold (Sunday), this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[OK Little, Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek, 2025-01-15]
OK Little, Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek, 2025-01-15

New River

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Pictures: Cancelled Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-01-13

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Expedition leader Janet Martin prudently cancelled the Full Wolf Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, because it was cold and still raining.

[Cancelled Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Quite cold, still raining]
Cancelled Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Quite cold, still raining

The sky was uniformly moon colored, but no moon or sun was to be seen.

Thanks to Lanier County, WWALS does have access to the kayaks and canoes, PFDs and paddles. Continue reading →

Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11

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Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

GA-EPD has updated the Valdosta Sugar Creek spill to 15,000 gallons. That’s more than 10,000 gallons, which is a major spill. Valdosta’s state-required reporting after it shows Sugar Creek still filthy for Saturday.

[Sugar Creek still filthy in Valdosta testing 2025-01-11, follow-up after Major Sewage Spill]
Sugar Creek still filthy in Valdosta testing 2025-01-11, follow-up after Major Sewage Spill

Valdosta’s new web page on 2025 Sugar Creek Spill Testing shows 5,300 Fecal coliform and 5,500 cfu/100 mL E. coli at Gornto Road for Saturday. That’s 5.5 times the 1,000 alert limit. Continue reading →

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2025-01-12

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WWALS President Sara Squires Jones will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting. The public is invited to this regular business meeting.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

When: 6-8 PM, Sunday, October 20, 2024

Where: Online via zoom. Registration required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/SFkUD_5OTpWmXgnpchRRVw

[WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting Agenda 2025-01-12]
WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting Agenda 2025-01-12

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Samantha Carr, WWALS Intern and water quality tester 2025-01-10

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Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

Update 2025-01-13: Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11.

WWALS has a new intern, who will also do water quality testing in Tifton, Georgia, on the New and Little Rivers.

[New WWALS Intern, Samantha Carr, Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton, Georgia]
New WWALS Intern, Samantha Carr, Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton, Georgia

New WWALS Intern Samantha Carr passed the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) Chemical and Bacterial training. Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River 2025-01-09

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Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

Update 2025-01-13: Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11.

Update: 2025-01-11: Samantha Carr, WWALS Intern and water quality tester 2025-01-10.

Sugar Creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

The Little River tested clean at Troupville Boat Ramp Sunday, and the Withlacoochee River tested clean Thursday at Langdale Park upstream of Valdosta and OK Wednesday at Holly Point, a few miles from the Suwannee River.

The Alapaha River tested clean Thursday at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach.

Valdosta Utilities has not yet posted its Withlacoochee River results for this week.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia the Valdosta Sugar Creek broken sewer pipe finally showed up today.

This weekend, I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near downstream from it. If you like cold, this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River, 2025-01-09]
Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River, 2025-01-09

Sugar Creek

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Sewer line break, Sugar Creek 2025-01-07

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Update 2025-01-10: Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River 2025-01-09.

Does that look like sewage is spilling out of it?

[Open sewer line in Sugar Creek, 700 feet north of RR trestle]
Open sewer line in Sugar Creek, 700 feet north of RR trestle

Looks to me like darker water coming from that pipe into Sugar Creek, when I was there yesterday. Continue reading →