Category Archives: Blueway

Full house at Cook County Comp. Plan Workshop 2019-09-16

Cook County had the most people I’ve ever seen at one of these meetings in any county! SGRC’s Elizabeth Backe corroborated my remark, noting I had recently been to the Charlton County meeting.

Cook County and its four cities

The next meeting will be 3 PM, Monday, October 7, 2019, at the Cook County Commissioners Conference Room, 1200 S Hutchinson Ave., Adel, GA.

The purpose of the first meeting was: “we will review the community vision, goals, issues, and opportunities — for the county and all four cities (Adel, Lenox, Cecil, and Sparks).” All four cities were at the meeting, and each of them spoke at various times. Also unlike most other such meetings in other counties, nobody was sitting up front; everybody was in the audience.

Here is marked up document from the first Workshop: Word, PDF.

As usual, I suggested adding more about rivers and water trails. This additional Opportunity on page 2 I think was my suggestion: Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Hunter’s Moon Paddle 2019-10-13

Join us for a Full Moon paddle and star gazing at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge. This is a leisurely paddle around the refuge that lies in the Grand Bay–Banks Lake ecosystem, in the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

When: Gather 5:45 PM, launch 6:15 PM, Sunday, October 13, 2019

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635.

GPS: 31.035097, -83.097045

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.
And a light! It’s going to be dark.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Yellow Sunset
Photo: John S. Quarterman, sun setting at Banks Lake, July 16, 2019.

Continue reading →

Free boat rental at WWALS Boomerang, from Georgia to Florida and Back Again 2019-10-26

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, GA, September 16, 2019 — Two outfitters will have boats for free rental; thanks, NWXpeditions and VSU Core! Or bring your own, of course. Again this year, Boy Scouts of America, South Georgia Council, will be there. TNT Hot Dogs will have food, and paddlers each get a ticket for a beer at Georgia Beer Company. “There’s still time for more sponsors to sign up!” said Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie, “And you can wear your Halloween costumes!”

Flyer
PDF

“This is the sort of cross-state-line ecotourism all the local counties say they want to promote, maybe including some friendly Georgia-Florida rivalry,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, “Paddle racing and leisurely paddling on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River. Plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals!”

Gathering at 11AM, Saturday, October 26, 2019, at State Line Ramp in Georgia, we will paddle into Florida, with staggered starts for turnarounds at 1, 2, and 3 miles, then back to where we started.

Tickets are $20 until October 15th, then $30.

Vendor space is free for nonprofits vested in conservation or stewardship of our waters. There is a $20 fee for for-profit vendors, and because it’s a park a selling permit is required. Thanks to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks & Recreation Authority (VLPRA) for use of State Line Boat Ramp.

Sponsors get their name and logo on a banner, in announcements, and in flyers, with various other perks at different levels of sponsorship.

Everything about WWALS Boomerang 2019 is here:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-26–boomerang/

Continue reading →

Moody AFB sewage spill, Mission Lake 2019-08-06

Update 2021-04-02: Moody AFB NPDES Permit No. GA0020001, which affects not only Beatty Branch in the Withlacoochee River Basin, but also Mission Lake and Grand Bay in the Alapaha River Basin, via “Sanitary, groundwater infiltration, runoff, potable water treatment plant, and vehicle maintenance.”

Did you know Moody Air Force Base had two sewage spills this month? Thanks to GA-EPD, we knew about them, and Moody AFB posted news reports on both of them. One went into Mission Lake, upstream from Grand Bay and the Alapaha River. The other went into Beatty Branch, upstream from Cat Creek and the Withlacoochee River.

Building 769 and Mission Lake

23d Wing Public Affairs, News, 7 August 2019, Sewage Spill Notification, Continue reading →

WWALS Boomerang paddle race in Albany Herald

Picked up from the WWALS PR, in the Albany Herald, 11 August 2019, Watershed coalition to host ‘Boomerang’ paddle event,

VALDOSTA — WWALS Watershed Coalition will host a fun-filled day of “Boomerang” paddle racing and leisurely paddling on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River on Oct. 26 with plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals. Participants will paddle from State Line Ramp in Georgia, with staggered starts for turnarounds in Florida at 1, 2 and 3 miles, then back to where the event started.

Tickets are $20 until Oct. 15, then $30.

Flyer
PDF

“Sign up to race and get a beer for participating,” Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie said in a news release. “Thanks to Georgia Beer Company.”

Vendors vested in conservation or stewardship of the state’s waters already Continue reading →

WWALS Boomerang: Paddle and a Pint, from Georgia to Florida and Back Again 2019-08-08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, GA, August 8, 2019 — Join us for a fun filled day of paddle racing and leisurely paddling on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River. Plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals! We will paddle from State Line Ramp in Georgia, with staggered starts for turnarounds in Florida at 1, 2, and 3 miles, then back to where we started. Tickets are $20 until October 15th, then $30.

“Sign up to race and get a beer for participating!” said Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie. “Thanks to Georgia Beer Company!”

Vendors vested in conservation or stewardship of our waters already signed up include VSU CORE, Boy Scouts, and TNT Hot Dogs. Nonprofit vendors are free, and $20 fee for for-profit vendors.

“This is good ecotourism for Lowndes and Brooks Counties, Georgia, and Hamilton and Madison Counties, Florida,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Maybe we can get a little friendly state-line rivalry going on!”

McKenzie added, “Also another fun opportunity to wear your Halloween Costumes!”

Sponsors get their name and logo on a banner, in announcements, and in flyers, with various other perks at different levels of sponsorship.

Simple Flyer

Everything about WWALS Boomerang 2019 is here: Continue reading →

Water Trail signs to Lowndes County Museum 2019-07-30

Don Davis of the Lowndes County Museum had asked for copies of some water trail signs, so today I delivered to him duplicates of the ones for Troupville Boat Ramp:

One of them is about the entire Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). As befits a museum, this one is actually a prototype, with Continue reading →

Spooks of the Bridge, Water Trail Signs, and Porta-Potties: #PaddleGA2019 Day 2 2019-06-16

Spooks! Daredevil dry-land kayaker! Bridge climber! Gnarly jerky and the golf cart! Also the Withlacoochee River at Spook Bridge, Knight’s Ferry Boat Ramp, Nankin Boat Ramp, each with road and kiosk signs for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, plus briefly Port-A-Potties at all those places and halfway back up towards Troupville Boat Ramp, and a gopher tortoise, all during Day 2 of #PaddleGA2019.

Joe Cook and Harold Harbert