Category Archives: creeks

Update 2026-01-09: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-01-07.

It sure looks like there is some sort of leak upstream of Norman Drive on Hightower Creek.

WWALS tester Suzy Hall got 833 cfu/100 mL for Thursday, only slightly lower than her 866 half a mile downstream at St. Augustine Road. Both results are above the one-time test limit of 410. Both WWALS and Valdosta Utilities have been getting too-high results at St. Augustine Road for many weeks.

And Valdosta Utilities got 880 at GA 133 for Wednesday on the Withlacoochee River.

That could be the contamination Suzy saw Tuesday washing downstream. If so, where is the water coming from to wash it down? There was no rain until today.

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

Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01, And Withlacoochee River at GA 133 2025-12-31

Suzy’s Norman Drive number is way worse than when I sampled the same location a year ago, December 12 02, 2024. That was part of a ten-site effort with Suzy Hall all the way down Hightower Creek and Sugar Creek to just above the Withlacoochee River. That project localized a likely sewer leak within 2,000 feet.

And a month later, the City of Valdosta found that major sewage spill in Sugar Creek that had been spilling for months.

Will Valdosta Utilities find this sewer system leak?

Fortunately, Valdosta Utilities got an OK 200 downstream at US 84 on the Withlacoochee River for Wednesday.

Today’s rain is supposed to be gone by tomorrow.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us, weather permitting for Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:07 PM, sunset 5:55 PM, end 7 PM, Saturday, January 3, 2026.

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. Continue reading →

Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-30

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Update 2026-01-03: Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01.

Update 2026-01-02: And clean Santa Fe River. At Mills Dock for Wednesday, Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler got 0 E. coli at 7 C air temp. and 17.9 C water temp.

Yet again, Hightower Creek tested dirty with E. coli at St. Augustine Road for Tuesday in Valdosta.

It still appears there is some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

Sugar Creek at the WaterGoat tested much cleaner, but the next rain will wash down whatever that is upstream.

The most recent results we have for the Withlacoochee River are for last week, but they were clean.

The Alapaha River tested clean upstream for Wednesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. The Florida Pollution Notices Map is broken again: “Unable to create map: Cannot read properties of null (reading ‘insertBefore’)”.

Rain is predicted for Saturday.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us, weather permitting for Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:07 PM, sunset 5:55 PM, end 7 PM, Saturday, January 3, 2026.

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

Hightower Creek still dirty 2025-12-30, Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31, Withlacoochee River Clean last week

Valdosta Creeks

Continue reading →

Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break @ VCC 2025-12-11

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Update 2026-01-01: Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31.

The Valdosta City Council approved two sole-source vendor items among seven water and wastewater items at its December 11, 2025, Regular Session.

A sole-source vendor is a single point of failure, and sometimes a very expensive one, as we saw with the Valdosta drinking water meter sole-source issue 2025-10-19.

In that case Valdosta had to completely replace 25,000 water meters.

Sole-source vendors can also be expensive, due to lack of competition.

Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break, Still, sole-source vendors are a problem @ VCC 2025-12-11

The sole-source vendor items were 6.d) about the Force Main Pump Stations, and 6.d) about a new Decanter Unit for the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, among these seven water and wastewater items:

5.e) about the Knights Academy Road and Goodyear Lift Stations,
5.f) also about the Knights Academy Road Lift Station,
5.g) about cost recovery for those same two Lift Stations,
5.h) about the Barack Obama Boulevard North Widening Project, with an agreement with LEA for a 16-inch water main,
6.b) about emergency repairs at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Station (WWTP),
6.c) about rebuilding pumps at the Gornto and Remer Master Lift Stations on the Force Main, and
6.d) about a new Decanter Unit for the WWTP.

Continue reading →

Videos: Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

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History Instructor Vickie Everitte conducted a historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction to this WWALS Webinar. Questions and answers were at the end, including a distinguished guest.

Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

Here is a zoom video of this WWALS Webinar:

https://youtu.be/ULUwKQEOh10

Her slides are on the WWALS website in PowerPoint and PDF. Images of each page are below.

Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region¹

As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian Removal Policy of the 1830s.

Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much, they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”²

About the Speaker

Continue reading →

Valdosta groundbreaking on additional drinking water plant 2025-12-18

Valdosta has been talking about building a second drinking water plant for a long time, and this week they broke ground for it, just south of Valdosta Airport.

That’s a good thing, since it helps direct development close in to Valdosta, instead of sprawling into agricultural and forestry land.

Everyone please note: drinking water plant. Not wastewater plant.

Valdosta groundbreaking on additional drinking water plant, on Race Track Road SE, South of Valdosta Airport

Here’s hoping Valdosta’s contractors tested sufficiently to be sure the new wells will not draw in river water, like what happened at the old drinking water plant on Guest Road, where they had to sink the wells twice as deep.

Also, we shall see what effect withdrawing 2.5 million gallons a day of groundwater will have. This plant appears to be under the same permit number, GA1850002, as the old one.

Valdosta posted a YouTube video, with voiceover by Mayor Scott James Matheson:

https://youtu.be/8x-mtomtSX8?si=uGSwUsWMCJCj_Q5G

The Mayor said the plant may help direct growth to the south side of Valdosta. That is something that has been lacking for a long time.

The Mayor posted some pictures on facebook, including this one. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek 2025-12-17

Update 2026-01-01: Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean upstream and down this week, and Sugar Creek and One Mile Branch in Valdosta tested pretty clean.

But Hightower Creek remained dirty in Valdosta Utilities’ result.

It still appears there is some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee River near the Suwannee, WWALS tester Russ Tatum got a near-perfect 33 cfu/100 mL E. coli. All these results are for Wednesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. FDEP’s Pollution Notice reporting is still half broken: see below.

After a little drizzle yesterday, no rain is predicted for the next ten days.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek, 2025-12-17

Valdosta Utilities sampled its creeks again this week after its August 23, 2025 20,000 gallon sewage spill into One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive. Valdosta has since replaced both manholes at Wainwright Drive with taller ones, so maybe that is finally starting to have an effect of reduced sewage in the creeks.
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/august-2025-sanitary-sewer-spills

Thanks again for those tests, and thanks for posting results earlier this week.

Also, Valdosta could take back up testing the Withlacoochee River down to the state line, plus Okapilco Creek, as they stopped doing after the four years required in the 2020 GA-EPD Consent Order. This would be to the advantage of the City of Valdosta, because such results help find sewage spills, and they also demonstrate when the creeks and rivers are clean, and when there are problems that are not Valdosta’s fault.

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. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers and Creeks, except Hightower Creek 2025-12-11

Update 2025-12-19: Clean Withlacoochee River and most creeks; Dirty Hightower Creek 2025-12-17.

The Withlacoochee River tested pretty clean this week, as did the Santa Fe River, and the Ichetucknee River for Friday last week.

Even Valdosta’s problem Sugar Creek and One Mile Branch tested OK.

But Hightower Creek was bad in Valdosta Utilities’ result, although the WWALS result the same day at the same site was OK.

It appears there is still some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida, although FDEP’s Pollution Notice reporting is half broken: see below.

No rain is predicted for the next ten days.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

Clean Withlacoochee, Santa Fe Rivers, Mostly Good 2025-12-11, OK One Mile Branch and Sugar Creek, But not Hightower Creek

Sugar Creek and its feeder creeks

For Thursday at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek, Valdosta Utilities got Continue reading →

Packet: SRWMD Board plus Workshop on Drought Conditions 2025-12-09

Update 2025-12-17: Drought Workshop Presentation –SRWMD 2025-12-09.

Update 2025-12-14: Hydrologic Conditions Report –SRWMD 2025-11-30.

Maybe you’d like to come to the Workshop on “Drought Conditions and Review of the District’s Water Shortage Process” that the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) is holding. That’s this Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 9 AM in Live Oak, after the SRWMD Board meeting.

If I’m not mistaken, a drought declaration by the Suwannee River Water Management District would mean numerous water withdrawal permit holders would have to reduce their withdrawals.

Packet: SRWMD Board, Live Oak, FL 2025-12-09, plus Workshop on Drought Conditions

Also, Board agenda item 26. Water Resources Division Updates, will probably include an update on the Water First North Florida billion-dollar aquifer recharge project. It would pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville to wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin, and from there into sinks to recharge Ichetucknee Headspring and maybe others. Limiting water withdrawals would be less expensive and more effective, without risking contaminating our springs and aquifers with PFAS and other chemicals that wastewater treatment does not remove.

Two weeks ago I asked, Why hasn’t SRWMD declared a drought yet?

Already then, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the entire Suwannee River Basin in both Georgia and Florida was in drought.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?Southeast

Conditions have only gotten worse since then. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.

Category Archives: creeks

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-01-07

Lake City Wastewater Treatment Plant 2025-12-20

Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01