Incorporated in June 8, 2012, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is ten years old.
Since December 2016, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® is a project and staff position at WWALS as the Member of Waterkeeper Alliance® for the Suwannee River Basin.
Here’s what we’ve been doing all that time.
![[Outings and Water Quality Testing]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-01-01--wwals-accomplishments/many.jpg)
Follow this link for WWALS Accomplishments:
https://wwals.net/about/wwals-accomplishments/
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Update 2022-10-02: Directions: Sasser Landing and Jennings Bluff, Alapaha River 2022-10-02.
Rescheduled a day later, to Sunday, October 2, 2022. Yes, probably the fastest reschedule ever. Turns out that Saturday is the Hahira Honeybee Parade, and we don’t want to disappoint 25,000 of our closest friends. So Sunday, October 2nd it is for the Alapaha River paddle and Dead River Sink hike.
A two-hour paddle down the Alapaha River, and a two-hour hike roundtrip up the Dead River to the Dead River Sink and back, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price. If the Alapaha is low enough, we will also see two sinks in that river just before the Dead River Confluence.
There is nothing else quite like this in Florida (or Georgia). Dennis Price for years has been recommending a state park here, at these jewels of the Alapaha River Water Trail. Hamilton County is making a county park nearby on land it owns.
The Dead River itself is a distributary: the Alapaha River runs into it, down into the Dead River Sink, and does not come back up for twenty miles and three days until the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River.
![[Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-01-27--hike-dead-river-sink/20180127_131130.jpg)
Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756, 2018-01-27.
Update 2022-06-20: Rescheduled a day later, to Sunday, October 2, 2022. Yes, probably the fastest reschedule ever. Turns out that Saturday is the Hahira Honeybee Parade, and we don’t want to disappoint 25,000 of our closest friends. So Sunday, October 2nd it is for the Alapaha River paddle and Dead River Sink hike.
A two-hour paddle down the Alapaha River, and a two-hour hike roundtrip up the Dead River to the Dead River Sink and back, with Practicing Geologist Dennis Price. If the Alapaha is low enough, we will also see two sinks in that river just before the Dead River Confluence.
There is nothing else quite like this in Florida (or Georgia). Dennis Price for years has been recommending a state park here, at these jewels of the Alapaha River Water Trail. Hamilton County is making a county park nearby on land it owns.
The Dead River itself is a distributary: the Alapaha River runs into it, down into the Dead River Sink, and does not come back up for twenty miles and three days until the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River.
You can also paddle to the Rise on August 13, 2022.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, October 1, Sunday, October 2, 2022
Put In: Sasser Landing. Left bank, east of river, north of CR 150. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river.
Take Out: Jennings Bluff Landing. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel south on US 41 to NW 25 Lane; turn left; travel east to NW 82 Court and the entrance into the SRWMD Jennings Bluff tract; turn left and follow road to canoe launch.
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. For the hike, boots and long pants: stickers and ticks.
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
Say karst, 13:11:30, 30.5837121, -83.0531756, 2018-01-27.
Update 2022-07-11: Pictures.
Leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle, probably with bats.
When: Gather 7:30 PM, launch 8 PM, moonrise 9:19 PM, sunset 8:37 PM, end 10 PM, Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).
![[bm-0-boats-in-cypress-204040291_10221770130814864_9203863038532809013_n]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-06-24--banks-lake-full-strawberry-moon-pictures/bm-0-boats-in-cypress-204040291_10221770130814864_9203863038532809013_n.jpg)
Boats in Cypreas, Photo: Bobby McKenzie 2021-06-24
Update 2022-08-08: Pictures: Florida Campsites to Allen Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-04.
Because of low water, we’re shifting downstream, to put in at Florida Campsites Ramp and take out at Allen Ramp. That’s a shorter paddle, 5.39 river miles. It still goes by Sullivan Slough and first-magnitude Madison Blue Spring, and there are more springs downstream from there, including second-magnitude Pot Spring, as well as some nice swimming and lunching beaches.
WWALS and Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida, invite you to paddle and to clean up the Withlacoochee River.
When: Gather 10 AM, launch 11 AM, moonrise 10:40 AM, sunset 8:34 PM, end 2 PM, Saturday, June 4, 2022
Put In: Florida Campsites Ramp, 2137 NW 47th St, Jasper, FL 32052, in Hamilton County, Florida. From Jasper, Hamilton County, FL, travel north on US 41 to SR 6; turn left; travel west on SR 6 to CR 143; turn right and travel north to NW 44 Street; turn left; follow road to NW 45 Street; turn right; follow road to NW 22 Avenue; turn left and follow road to NW 21 Place and ramp is on the right.
Update 2022-06-01: Chainsaw cleanup again, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-05.
Some chainsawed, others cleaned up, on the chainsaw cleanup at the Withlacoochee River.
We met at the Salty Snapper parking lot, but we did not actually go to Sugar Creek. We headed straight for the biggest Withlacoochee River impediment, the infamous NSRR Deadfall, a stack of deadfalls (downed trees) across the river downstream of the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge.
That took the allotted time of nine to noon. We’ll probably do it again next Sunday; stay tuned.
![[Logjam, Sawing, Cleanup, Banners]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-29--chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)
Logjam, Sawing, Cleanup, Banners
Thanks to Phil Hubbard for sawing and Jan Krysa for helping in the boat and in the water. Thanks to Elizabeth Brunner and family for cleaning up.
Also, we did not see much trash actually in the big deadfall, presumably because Continue reading
Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle, probably with bats, on our mini-Okefenokee, Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.
This Outing is honoring Teachers & Nurses, who get free entry.
When: Gather 7:15 PM, launch 7:45 PM, moonrise 9:19 PM, sunset 8:21 PM, end 10 PM, Monday, May 16, 2022
Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).
Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp
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.
Safety: Each person in a boat, no matter how young or old, must wear a PFD. You must have a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow sticks work well, or head lamp, flashlight, etc.) so other boaters can see you in the dark. It will be totally dark after sunset. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark.
Boats:
Bring your own if you have it.
Thanks to Banks Lake Outdoors for free boat rental for these WWALS Full Moon Paddles.
Please ask for boats at least 2 days prior to the event:
on the web form on
https://wwals.net/outings,
or on the facebook event, the meetup,
or call 850-290-2350.
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/
Here are pictures and commentary by WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman at the WWALS Earth Day Pafford’s Landing cleanup on the Alapaha River.
Meanwhile, I’d like to know what we need to do to get people from Lakeland and Lanier County to come clean up? What happened to the regular cleanups apparently promised by the Sheriff and the County Commission? Must we call in the Marines every time to clean up Pafford’s Landing?
After previous cleanups in Lanier County, the county dump accepted all the trash we got from the river, including tires. Why not these three tires this time?
The dump did accept the approximately 300 pounds of bagged trash. Thanks to the Marine recruits for helping bag it.
Also, Hooters, KFC, Hardees, Chick-fil-A, and Budweiser, maybe if you didn’t produce so much single-use trash, there wouldn’t be so much of it thrown away.
![[Begin, Volunteers, Marines, Trash]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2022-04-16--pictures-paffords-landing-cleanup/many.jpg)
Begin, Volunteers, Marines, Trash
Shirley and I were the volunteers to sign in and we waited for other WWALS members or Lanier County people to help out but no more came. We are looking fresh and clean at 9AM. Continue reading
It was a ten!
It was a fine spring day for thirteen miles on the Alapaha River from Mayday to Statenville. Cypress, oaks, pines, tea-colored water, and a sandy lunch spot.
See it in these pictures by Gretchen Quarterman.
The water level was about 9 feet or 85.1′ NAVD88 on the Statenville Gauge. That’s higher than our old recommended maximum, so we’re raising the max to 10 feet (86.1′ NAVD88). Continue reading
Paddle with WWALS down the blackwater Alapaha River over some rapids, with side trip to Turket Creek Waterfall.
![[Jennings Defeat, Turket Creek Waterfall, Statenville Boat Ramp]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-09--statenville-sasser-alapaha/many.jpg)
Jennings Defeat, Turket Creek Waterfall, Statenville Boat Ramp
Bring a rope for each end of your boat, for towing and carrying. Shortly after the GA-FL line are the notorious shoals Jennings Defeat, so named because even the founder of Jennings, Florida, portaged around them. Last time WWALS went through there, only three boats paddled through those shoals. Continue reading
![[River, Route]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-04--florida-campsites-allen-ramp-withlacoochee-river/many.jpg)
![[Happy paddlers 2021-05-26]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-05-26--full-flower-blood-super-moon-pictures/20210526_204947.jpg)
![[Collage]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2019-03-23--wwals-alapaha-mayday/many.jpg)