Category Archives: Aquifer

The Floridan Aquifer is our main drinking water source under our entire WWALS watershed, east to south Carolina, west through Alabama to Mississippi, and under all of Florida.

Bridge to Bridge Suwannee River paddle for White Springs Wild Azalea Festival 2022-03-19

Update 2022-03-15: Due to high water, replaced by Hike: Bell Springs to Big Shoals, Suwannee River 2022-03-19.

Join us for a geologic education paddle through millions of years, on a scenic two-mile stretch of the Suwannee River. Led by Practicing Geologist Dennis J. Price of Hamilton County, Florida, we will pass White Sulphur Spring, the first Floridan Aquifer Spring encountered on the Suwannee River.

Once you land, you can go on up to the Wild Azalea Festival! The festival is conveniently located at the corner of Spring and Bridge Street, 10499 Spring St, White Springs, FL 32096.

[US 41 Bridge past FL 136 Bridge, Suwannee River, White Springs, Florida]
US 41 Bridge past FL 136 Bridge, Suwannee River, White Springs, Florida

Dennis Price explains, “For millions of years, Florida was a limestone platform not connected to the now North American continent. For eons the limestone bed would emerge, the bed surface would erode then sink again, several times. Each time the limestone would build again with a different set of fossils. The last limestone bed to deposit was the Suwannee Limestone. Florida thru this time was separated from the continent by the Suwannee Straits, similar to the Florida straits separating Florida from Cuba. Erosional sediments from the continent was slowly filling the Straits and when finally filled, sediments began covering the limestone that was Florida. These sediments are known as the Hawthorne formation today.”

When: Gather 8 AM, launch 8:30 AM, end 10 AM, Saturday, March 19, 2022

Put In: Suwannee River Wayside Park Ramp @ US 41. From White Springs, travel south on US 41 to the river; the ramp is on the south side in the town park, in Hamilton County.
This is where the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail officially starts, although the WWALS web pages and map include the entire river up into Georgia and the Okefenokee Swamp.

GPS: 30.3255, -82.739167 ,

Take Out: Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park Launch, 11016 Lillian Saunders Drive/U.S. Highway 41, White Springs FL 32096.
$5.00 per vehicle (up to 8 people) State Park entry fee.

White Sulphur Springs is after the second bridge but before the takeout. It was one of the first tourist attractions in Florida. Nowadays you can visit the empty bathhouse, see the trickle of water coming out, and read what Dennis wrote: The NFRWSP’s job is to figure out how to increase water levels in the aquifer. –Dennis J. Price 2016-12-12.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup. Mosquitoes can be bad at dusk so come prepared.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings

We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

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Georgia Okefenokee protection bill HB 1289 filed on Okefenokee Swamp Day 2022-02-08

On newly-proclaimed Okefenokee Swamp Day, a bipartisan bill to ban mining on Trail Ridge by the Okefenokee Swamp appeared in the Georgia legislature: HB 1289.

[Bill, Proclamation, Trail Ridge]
Bill, Proclamation, Trail Ridge

What You Can Do

You can ask Georgia Governor Kemp to get the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) to deny the permit request from Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, for a titanium dioxide strip mine within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers. Or ask your city or county government to pass a resolution supporting the Swamp and opposing the mine, as half a dozen have already done.

Or write directly to GA-EPD: TwinPines.Comment@dnr.ga.gov

Or use this convenient Georgia Water Coalition action alert form to ask your statehouse delegation to pass HB 1289 and to ask GA-EPD to deny the permits.

Why

Continue reading →

US 41 Little Alapaha River Bridge

Actually, there is a US 41 Little Alapaha River bridge, and it may even be historic. So that’s five bridges across the Little Alapaha River, four above the Swallet, and one below, before its Confluence with the Alapaha River.

[Composite US 41 Little Alapaha River Bridge]
Composite US 41 Little Alapaha River Bridge

The US 41 bridge is the first bridge listed by bridgereports.com for Hamilton County, mislabled as “US-41 (SR-6 & 25) over ALAPAHA RIVER OVERFLOW”. But at 30.52389, -83.01550, it’s much closer to the Little Alapaha River.

At more than a mile east of the Alapaha River, that’s a bit far to be overflow. Continue reading →

Groundwater considered important: WWALS to EPA 2022-02-07

WWALS sent EPA some comments on groundwater, which is very important here above the Floridan Aquifer in south Georgia and north Florida.

WWALS also signed on to comments by Waterkeeper Alliance and SELC, but SELC wrote almost nothing about groundwater, and there was more to say than was in the WKA comments. Those other comments are on the WWALS website.

The WWALS comments should appear on regulations.gov, Docket number EPA-HQ-OW-2021-0602, with Comment Tracking Number kzd-8bdc-p6xf, after EPA finishes reviewing it. Here they are in PDF and inline below.

[Dead River Sink, Alapaha River Rise, WWALS Letter to EPA]
Dead River Sink, Alapaha River Rise, WWALS Letter to EPA

Continue reading →

Little Alapaha River, Swallet, Bridges, Source, Mouth 2022-02-07

Update 2022-02-09: US 41 Little Alapaha River Bridge.

During Sunday’s paddle on the last stretch of the Alapaha River, people got curious about a distributary which turned out to be the Little Alapaha River absorbing water from the Alapaha River.

[Source, Bridge, Swallet, Confluence: Little Alapaha River]
Source, Bridge, Swallet, Confluence: Little Alapaha River

Here is a bit more about the Little Alapaha River: map, Source, Bridges (one wooden), Confluence, where two days ago we found the Alapaha River running into the Little Alapaha River as a distributary. Continue reading →

GA Suwannee-Satilla RWPC Meeting 2022-03-09

Water gaps and water quality: the Georgia Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meets 10-15 AM to 2 PM, Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at Coastal Pines Technical College, 1701 Carswell Ave, Waycross, GA 31503. There is an online method of attendance, unfortunately via Microsoft Teams.

Unlike Florida’s Suwannee River Water Management District, SSRWPC has no paid staff, no budget to speak of, and no taxing, permitting, or fining ability. Its Council is all volunteers, assisted by a few staff from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) and sometimes a consultant or two.

[Region, Public Notice]
Region, Public Notice

SUWANNEE-SATILLA

REGIONAL WATER PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING

Announcement Date: February 2, 2022

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND PARTIES:

The Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council

will hold a meeting at the following date, time and location:

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Registration: 10:15 A.M. – 10:30 A.M.

Meeting: 10:30 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.

Note: This Meeting may be attended In-Person (with Social Distancing Measures in place) or Virtually via the MS Teams Link with Call-In Information Provided Below

Coastal Pines Technical College
1701 Carswell Ave
Waycross, GA 31503

If you are planning to attend the meeting in-person please send your RSVP notice to woodsh@cdmsmith.com so we can ensure we do not exceed the venue capacity.

For Virtual Attendance use this link: Continue reading →

Sprawl in an aquifer recharge zone back on the Lowndes County Commission agenda 2022-02-08

Update 2022-03-18: Unanimously voted down: Miller Bridge Road subdivision @ LCC 2022-02-08.

The same proposed rezoning in Lowndes County that WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman spoke against in November will be back on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for a decision at 5:30 PM February 8, 2022.

That’s 5:30 PM, Tuesday, February 8, 2022, on the second floor at 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601.

Remember, this is upstream on the Little River from Florida and Brooks County Georgia, as well as Lowndes County. Because it’s a rezoning, anybody from anywhere can speak during the public hearing at that meeting. However, they will only allow a few people to speak for a few minutes.

So even better would be to send a written objection before the meeting to commissioner@lowndescounty.com. You can also try emailing the Commissioners individually, https://lowndescounty.com/directory.aspx?did=19 Beware that some of the Commissioners do not read their county email addresses, so best to also copy the County Clerk, belinda@lowndescounty.com.

Gretchen spoke against the new version of this rezoning (bigger lots) again Monday at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission, this time pointing out that when community wells fail, their owners hand them over to the county, which puts the taxpayers on the hook for fixing them, so we don’t need any more community wells. A room full of opponents raised their hands at that meeting, and more than 300 signed a petition against the rezoning.

[Gretchen Quarterman at Planning Commission, aquifer recharge zone, sinkholes]
Gretchen Quarterman at Planning Commission, aquifer recharge zone, sinkholes

The subject property is also near some notorious sinkholes, the Myers Bluff Sinkhole on the Little River, and the Shiloh Road Sinkhole that fortunately did not take down that road or a nearby house. The Snake Nation Road Sinkhole, a bit farther south, forced the county to reroute that road to the tune of about half a million dollars. Continue reading →

Sullivan Slough and Blue Sink by Amanda Davis 2022-01-18

Thanks, Amanda Davis, for these pictures of Sullivan Slough and Sullivan Blue Sink.

Is it a sink or a spring? Probably a bit of each: a karst window, where the aquifer is exposed. So at high river water levels, the Withlacoochee River probably runs into it. At low river levels, water probably flows into the river.

[Sullivan Blue Sink and Slough, Withlacoochee River]
Sullivan Blue Sink and Slough, Withlacoochee River

Here’s where it ends up. Continue reading →

Blue Sink, Sullivan Slough –Susan Liden 2021-01-18

Update 2022-01-21: Sullivan Slough and Blue Sink by Amanda Davis 2022-01-18.

Sullivan Slough is the real name of what we’ve been calling Chervil Drive Distributary, and Blue Sink is what local people call Chervil Drive Sinkhole.

Sullivan Blue Sink is where Withlacoochee River water ends up after flowing into Sullivan Slough, 0.83 miles downstream from Florida Campsites Boat Ramp, 0.73 miles upstream from the FL 6 bridge, and 0.83 miles up from Madison Blue Spring.

Traditionally, this has been a popular local swimming spot. However, the land containing the sink sold recently, so status is unclear now. We do have an offer from somebody with land nearby to tour the area.

Susan Liden sent these pictures. Thanks, Susan!

[Blue Sink and Sullivan Slough]
Blue Sink and Sullivan Slough

This one I think is particularly impressive. Continue reading →

Chervil Drive Distributary, Withlacoochee River 2022-01-13

Update 2022-01-21: Blue Sink, Sullivan Slough –Susan Liden 2021-01-18.

Another Withlacoochee River distributary to a sinkhole! This one revealed by WWALS member and archaeologist Tom Baird. I’m calling it Chervil Drive Distributary because we don’t know any more traditional or official name for it. It’s downstream from the Chitty Bend East Distributary and on the other side of the river.

[Chervil Distributary, Withlacoochee River, Madison County, FL]
Chervil Distributary, Withlacoochee River, Madison County, FL, in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

Another interesting feature is further down river on the right bank about a mile above Madison Blue Springs. At flood, water pours through a gap in the limestone bank and floods a large channel that goes back to a deep sink. The weight of water in the past broke through the ceiling of a cavern and created a beautiful, clear, good-sized swimming hole. It was evidently a popular swimming and picnic spot in the past. Don’t know the correct name of the feature; my wife and I call it “Thanksgiving Spring”, because we found it while hiking around one Thanksgiving Day. However, it’s not a spring (no water comes from it), but an opening to the water table. Nice and cool on a hot day. J

Continue reading →