Category Archives: creeks

Clean Rivers and some dirty creeks 2023-10-26

Update 2023-11-03: Clean rivers, dirty Sugar Creek 2023-11-02.

This was another week with no rain, and the rivers were mostly clean: the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers. Not clean were Franks Creek that runs into the Little River and Sugar Creek that runs into the Withlacoochee River. Crawford Creek of the Withlacoochee was just below the E. coli one-time test limit. That’s 11 WWALS test sites on three rivers and three creeks in two states.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-26]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-26

Joanne Tremblay got clean results at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 and at US 27, both on the Santa Fe River.

Reina Lingle got very clean results at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford and at Royal Springs, both on the Suwannee River.

New WWALS tester Debbie Smith got too-high results for Franks Creek at GA 122 just west of Hahira. Which is interesting, because that is upstream of Hahira’s Land Application Site.

Cindy Vedas got good results at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (well, OK results there), Staten Road, and Langdale Park, on the Withlacoochee River. She photographed the trash still at Langdale Park Boat Ramp from at the WWALS Langdale Park Withlacoochee River Cleanup of last Saturday. I will nudge Lowndes County Public Works to pick it up.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, and got too-high results. She also double-checked everybody else’s results. And the other testers cross-checked each others’ results.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

And, as previosly noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Mostly Clean Rivers 2023-10-19

Update 2023-10-27: Clean Rivers and some dirty creeks 2023-10-26.

With no rain this week, the rivers were mostly clean: the Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, plus Sugar Creek in Valdosta and Alligator Lake in Lake City. Except not clean were Langdale Park Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River, and Crawford Creek upstream.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-19]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-19

Please welcome new WWALS testers Joanne Tremblay and Reina Lingle.

Joanne got very clean results at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 on the Santa Fe River.

Reina got very clean results at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford on the Suwannee River.

Kimberly Tanner got very clean results at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach on the Alapaha River.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, just upstream from the Withlacoochee River, and got suprisingly clean results.

Cindy Vedas was out sick, but she reviewed most everybody else’s results. I tested her sites at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (bad), and Langdale Park (worse), plus Hagan Bridge and GA 133, all on the Withlacoochee River, and Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman tested at Clyattville-Nankin and State Line Boat Ramps, plus Sullivan Launch, all on the Withlacoochee River, and at Alligator Lake Boat Ramp in Lake City, where she taught some students and delivered a test kit to Joanne.

About Nankin, she notes, “The pile of trash just off to the side of the turn around drive is still there.” Continue reading →

Sewage inside Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Valdosta 2023-10-16

Numerous reports say Ollie’s has been closed since Monday morning, and apparently T.J. Maxx, apparently due to sewage backing up into the building, at 1200 N St Augustine Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602. This is concerning, since that building is at the top of the creek that runs into Lake Sheri, and then into the Withlacoochee River.

[Sheri Run, Lake Sheri, Withlacoochee River in WLRWT]
Sheri Run, Lake Sheri, Withlacoochee River in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

However, Valdosta City Marshall Josh Hunt says the issue has been fixed and the stores reopened this morning.

I also checked with Valdosta Acting Utilities Director Jason Barnes, and he says the problem was entirely on private property, and did not escape the building. He also confirmed that Valdosta did not have any sewage spills during last week’s rains. Continue reading →

Filthy creeks and Withlacoochee River 2023-10-12

Update 2023-10-20: Mostly Clean Rivers 2023-10-19.

The big rains Thursday drove much contamination into the Withlacoochee River, way above the alert limit for E. coli, as far down as Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp. Down at State Line Boat Ramp the river is quite clean. It seems likely that the contamination had not yet travelled that far by yesterday afternoon.

I’d wait a few days before going in the Withlacoochee River, for boating, swimming, or fishing.

It’s just as well we already rescheduled tomorrow’s chainsaw outing at Langdale Park to Saturday, December 16, 2023.

However, the regular cleanup at Langdale Park is still on for Friday, October 20, 2023. Probably this contamination will have washed away or been diluted by then.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-12]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-12

Please welcome Cindy Vedas back from temporary retirement back to active testing, at Franklinville, Crawford Branch, Staten Road, and US 41.

And thanks to WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman for testing at Clyattville-Nankin and State Line Boat Ramps.

For Nankin State Line she noted, “Water was not particularly high. The dryer door that was there near the river was still there. Trash can was in place. Small oil spill on ramp (probably from truck or boat motor).”

About State Line Nankin, she wrote, “Water level was not significantly different from the last time I was there. There was a load of trash in the bushes, just to the right of the little circle turn around area. Puddles on the drive in were full-ish but not impassible in the Prius-C.”

Thursday Gretchen also delivered test kits to several newly trained testers, and this morning she trained two more testers.

Thanks to WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall for reviewing all the test results and for finding the above-corrected typos in this report.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream, which were good except for just-over-the one-time test limit at GA 133. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week. Except Valdosta does not test Sugar Creek.

The final Valdosta downstream results were for September 1, 2023. According to Valdosta’s Acting Utility Director Jason Barnes, GA-EPD agreed with Valdosta that the 2020 Consent Order does not require those downstream tests, so after three years Valdosta has ceased doing them.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. Don’t be surprised if some are reported later. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers, filthy Sugar Creek 2023-10-05

The Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers all tested good for Thursday, October 5, 2023.

But Sugar Creek was way too high in E. coli. Is Valdosta still leaking sewage from that River Street spill?

Yet downstream at GA 133 the Withlacoochee River was good.

There has been no rain this week.

So happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Except Langdale Park, which is still walk-in only.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-05]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-05

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream (good) and the Friday five weeks ago, September 1st, downstream (not bad).

Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw after last week’s rain.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Thanks to Kimberly Tanner for testing the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach: both showed very little E. coli.

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman for testing State Line and Nankin Boat Ramps and Folsom Bridge Landing @ GA 122 on the Little River.

Thanks to Heather Brasell for testing upstream on the Alapaha River last Saturday. Continue reading →

Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council in Valdosta 2023-09-27

Yesterday I presented slides about the draft VSU & WWALS GA-EPD Seed Grant application to the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council at their meeting in Valdosta. The slides for that presentation are on the WWALS website.

[Collage @ SSRWPC 27 September 2023]
Collage @ SSRWPC 27 September 2023

The longest item in the agenda was about the Lake Beatrice project. For more about that, see Videos: Lake Beatrice, Alapaha River, GA-EPD Seed Grants @ SSRWPC 2023-03-14.

Also, Cliff Lewis of GA-EPD talked about gradual relaxation of the moratorium on water withdrawals in the Flint River Basin and its effect on mussels.

Here is the agenda: Continue reading →

ANNUAL REPORT, Lowndes County Impaired Streams Monitoring 2022-04-07

This third annual report on Lowndes County Impaired Streams Monitoring, as required by GA-EPD, maybe the last. Unfortunately, this monitoring has not discovered any sources of impairment.

[Collage, 2022 Annual Report: Lowndes County Impaired Streams Monitoring]
Collage, 2022 Annual Report: Lowndes County Impaired Streams Monitoring

Their conclusion for Fecal Coliform, E. coli, and Mercury is, “Lowndes County has not identified any point sources within the drainage areas that can be attributed to the widespread exceedances. Based on the limited data collected to date, it is the opinion of Lowndes County that the cause of the exceedances is from natural conditions.”

They do have speculations on Dissolved Oxygen (DO) in Cat Creek, Continue reading →

Please keep Quarterman Road in agriculture and forestry –WWALS to Greater Lowndes Planning Commission 2023-08-28

Update 2023-09-17: Videos: Quarterman Road rezoning unanimously denied @ LCC 2023-09-12.

Update 2023-09-09: Packet: Board of Health appointment, two rezonings, 4 water, mosquitoes @ LCC 2023-09-11.

Thanks to the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) for voting 7:1 to recommend denial of a proposed rezoning on Quarterman Road that would have injected 2.5-acre lots into a 5-acre minimum agricultural and forestry area.

[WWALS Letter, maps, speakers 2023-08-28]
WWALS Letter, maps, speakers 2023-08-28

Thanks to all the neighbors and others who helped get that done, with a petition, by speaking in the Public Hearing, and by calling and writing their Commissioners.

GLPC only recommends. The actual decision will be by the Lowndes County Commission at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, September 12, 2023, in Commission Chambers, second floor, 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. You can speak in that Public Hearing, as well as call and write your County Commissioners, and sign the petition.

Meanwhile, thanks to WWALS President Sara Jay for sending the letter below to GLPC. Continue reading →

Valdosta Utilities equipment at Hightower Creek, River Street 2023-08-29

WWALS board member Scotti Jay yesterday noted, “They still have a bypass pump running on River St. Next to Academy Sports.”

[Manhole, pipes, pump, generator, Hightower Creek, River Street, Valdosta, GA]
Manhole, pipes, pump, generator, Hightower Creek, River Street, Valdosta, GA

They is Valdosta Utilities, after the July 17, 2023, River Street sewage spill into Hightower Creek.

Let’s hope they’ve got that generator and others fueled up as Hurricane Idalia arrives in Valdosta this morning.

FYI, Hightower Creek runs into Sugar Creek into the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

8,400 gallons of sewage into Dukes Bay Canal, Valdosta, GA, due to unknown obstruction 2023-08-28

Update 2023-09-08: Filthy upstream Withlacoochee, clean downstream and Little and Alapaha Rivers 2023-09-07.

Update 2023-09-03: This spill finally showed up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report on 2023-09-01. I don’t know why it took Monday to Friday to appear. I will inquire.

Slightly less than a major spill, and for once not due to collapsed infrastructure: yes, another Valdosta sewage spill.

This one went into Dukes Bay Canal, then Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River.

[Valdosta 819 Bunche Dr. spill and Dukes Bay Canal East in WWALS ARWT map]
Valdosta 819 Bunche Dr. spill and Dukes Bay Canal East in the WWALS map of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT)

Points to Valdosta for getting a press release out the same day as a spill, which I don’t recall ever happening before. Also for a specific street address. And for keeping it below the 10,000 gallons of a major spill.

[Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman]
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman

Of course, as I told WTXL TV about a previous Valdosta sewage spill, “There have been a number of things they’ve done better lately, they don’t have as bad or as frequent spills as they used to. The ideal number however is none.”

And neither this spill nor the previous one have yet shown up in the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) Sewage Spills Report.

Meanwhile, add one to Valdosta’s previous nine sewage spills this year.

Received 4:14 PM yesterday. Continue reading →