Category Archives: creeks

Bad Water Quality Creeks and Withlacoochee River 2022-08-11

Update 2022-08-26: Quitman’s 2022-08-08 sewage spill did strongly affect the Withlacoochee River.

Update 2022-08-19: Good Withlacoochee River water quality 2022-08-18.

Update 2022-08-16: Good water quality, Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers 2022-08-12.

Update 2022-08-15: Valdosta sewer spill, Meadowbrook Drive at Gornto Road 2022-08-14.

WWALS sampled 19 locations yesterday, and found bad water quality upstream on the Withlacoochee River, with worse on Beaverdam Creek, Cat Creek, and Beatty Branch. Valdosta had another small sewage spill Wednesday a week ago, but that probably did not get into the river, and is gone by now.

Quality was surprisingly good downstream of Okapilco Creek, which usually has cattle manure runoff coming out of Brooks County, Georgia, but apparently did not yesterday. Even Quitman’s Monday sewage spill of unknown quantity apparently had little effect or was washed away by yesterday.

[Chart + Little River, Creeks, Withlacoochee River, Alapaha River, Swim Guide]
Chart + Little River, Creeks, Withlacoochee River, Alapaha River, Swim Guide

Still, I would worry about that upstream contamination washing downstream. Instead of the Withlacoochee River, maybe you’d like to come along on the Suwannee River tomorrow. Continue reading →

Trash behind Family Dollar, Inner Perimeter, Valdosta, GA 2022-08-08

Bobby McKenzie wrote Monday, “I swear I’m not looking for these! I just pulled into Family Dollar by my house to get a drink….which I never do and it’s staring me in the face.

[Trash down ditch beside Family Dollar, Inner Perimeter]
Trash down ditch beside Family Dollar, Inner Perimeter

Bobby added, “Any meeting discussing ways to fix this problem MUST HAVE City Marshalls in it!”

Seems like that would be necessary, since City Marshals are supposed to enforce Valdosta’s ordinances, which include parking lot owners are supposed to have so many garbage cans per number of parking spaces, and are not supposed to let trash off their property.

This is Family Dollar #10742, at 3820 Inner Perimeter Road, Valdosta, GA 31602. That’s next just across Barack Obama Blvd. from the old Valdosta High School. That drainage ditch appears to go towards Northway Community Church, and seems to be uphill from a row of houses on Highland Heights Lane. This trash may wash down past Newbern Middle School. Continue reading →

Pictures: Florida Campsites to Allen Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-04

Update 2022-08-08: Pictures: David’s Disappointment Spring, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-04.

That was not far, but took a while, because there was a slough, spring, or sandbar every mile or so, Florida Campsites to Allen Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-04. Thanks to Robert Weldon for leading this one.

[Banners, River, Springs]
Banners, River, Springs

I think that was seven springs, including first magnitude Madison Blue Spring, and one distributary: Sullivan Slough. Didn’t get a good picture of Pot Spring; can’t really see it from the river, and too many people up there to climb up. I had the WWALS GOPRO360 going, so you’ll see those 360-degree views soon. Meanwhile, here are some ordinary pictures. See also facebook photosets by: Continue reading →

Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup, Sugar Creek to Troupville, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-30

Update 2022-10-17: Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup with pizza, Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16.

Update 2022-08-09: What made them? Pictures: Tracks, GA 133, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-30.

Everything went exactly as planned for Chainsaw Cleanup Returns, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, if the plans included two trucks getting stuck, several chainsaws getting stuck, and the whole thing taking more like ten hours than three, with no lunch.

[Banners, Chainsaws, Trash, River]
Banners, Chainsaws, Trash, River

But we cleared a bunch of deadfalls, collected many bags of trash, and recorded where the remaining deadfalls and trash are for later expeditions. That makes this stretch much more paddlable between Sugar Creek and Troupville on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

The water level on the Valdosta US 41 gauge was 6.05′ (116.35′ NAVD88).

Thanks to the three new chainsawers, Shawn O’Connor and Grant and Art Herring, and regulars Bobby McKenzie and Russell Allen McBride. And thanks to the Good Samaritan who gave me a ride to my truck so I could use my logging chain to pull Bobby’s truck out at the take-out. Plus thanks to the two different vehicles that were used to pull my truck out at the put-in.

Note for next time: if you add a four-mile river paddle with a slow boat to chainsawing many deadfalls and the same people picking up many bags of trash, it takes longer.

There are many more Continue reading →

Training: Water Quality Testing, 2022-09-10

You can learn how to help test water quality in the Suwannee River Basin.

WWALS testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman will do the classroom portion of the course by zoom, followed by hands-on practical training at a waterway with physical distancing. This is both Chemical and Bacterial training by Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) methods.

Yes, we can and do use this in Florida as well as Georgia.

[Map and table, Georgia AAS]
Map and table, Georgia AAS

We currently have testers on the Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers.

We need more of those, and also for the Alapahoochee and Suwannee Rivers, as well as Cat Creek, Beatty Branch, Sugar Creek, and especially Okapilco Creek and Crooked Creek, plus others.

For more, see: https://wwals.net/testing/

Sign up: https://forms.gle/37DawiGAJYoyqtPKA Continue reading →

Rivers probably OK water quality 2022-08-04

Update 2022-08-12: Bad Water Quality Creeks and Withlacoochee River 2022-08-11.

Chances are the rivers are OK today for this weekend.

The test results we have for Thursday from WWALS and for Wednesday from Valdosta are all good. No new sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the Suwannee River Basin.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

However, there was more than an inch of rain on the west side of Brooks County, Georgia, yesterday. We don’t know whether that washed any cattle manure down Okapilco Creek into the Withlacoochee River. That rain fell in the afternoon, after testing times, and our downstream WWALS testers are off this week anyway. More rain is predicted every day for a week. Continue reading →

Draft GA-EPD Hazardous Waste permit to add Post-Closure Care Plan (PCCP) for Perma-Fix 2022-09-08

A draft permit is open for comment until September 8, 2022, on a modification to the GA-EPD Hazardous Waste Permit for the closed Perma-Fix site in Valdosta.

[Notice and Draft Permit]
Notice and Draft Permit

Notice

According to the notice, HW-085-D-ExcaliburRealtyValdosta.pdf “The modified permit, if approved, will incorporate the Post-Closure Care Plan (PCCP) and update the Permit content to reflect changes made by the Director to the groundwater protection standards (GWPS) applicable to the facility.” Continue reading →

Dollar Tree Trash Pile, 1801 Norman Drive, Valdosta, GA 2022-07-31

Bobby McKenzie reported yesterday, “Well again without wanting to and without trying…I found yet another mother load…”

This one is behind the Target, 1801 Norman Driver, Valdosta, GA 31601.

[Trash, drain, Hightower and Sugar Creeks]
Trash, drain, Hightower and Sugar Creeks

It drains into Hightower Creek, then Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River.

Sure, the WaterGoat near the bottom of Sugar Creek, will probably catch this trash when it gets that far. We thank Valdosta again for buying that WaterGoat, and we look forward to Valdosta’s plan for cleaning it out.

And we are still looking for Valdosta to come up with a plan for education and enforcement of its quite good trash ordinances to get parking lot owners to keep trash from getting off their property and to put out trash cans and keep them emptied, as their own 2010 Stormwater Master Plan said they should do “immediately” twelve years ago.

Sure, people shouldn’t litter. But the fast food outlets sell this single-use packaging, and the parking lot owners let it get into the creeks despite the city ordinances. They should bear responsibility.

The City of Valdosta doesn’t expect volunteers to clean up sewage spills, even though city employees do not produce most of that sewage. Why should volunteers be expected to clean up Valdosta’s ongoing trash spills? Continue reading →

Valdosta homemade trash trap, detention pond, One Mile Branch, Ashley Street 2022-07-29

Update 2022-09-06: Trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta 2022-10-21.

Update 2022-08-01: Plus a response from the Valdosta Stormwater Manager.

Twelve years late is better than never.

Bobby McKenzie reported Friday:

[Movie, Detention Pond, One Mile Branch, Sugar Creek]
Movie, Detention Pond, One Mile Branch, Sugar Creek

This is a complete shocker! One step closer Continue reading →

Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28

Update 2022-08-05: Rivers probably OK water quality 2022-08-04.

Update 2022-07-29: Madison Health lifts Withlacoochee River Health Advisory 2022-07-29.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing on the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Little Rivers this weekend, according to the most recent water quality test results we have.

No significant rain has fallen in the past two days, and none is predicted for the weekend. And no significant new sewage spills have been reported, so chances are good for all weekend.

Madison Health has not yet lifted its Withlacoochee River Health Alert, because they want successive good results. But we call them according to the most recent data we have.

And happy chainsawing and picking up trash tomorrow on the Withlacoochee River next to Valdosta.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-07-28]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-07-28

Valdosta’s results upstream were OK for Wednesday a week ago, Friday, Monday, and this Wednesday, but they were various colors of bad downstream for those same days. Thanks to Scott Fowler of Valdosta Utilities for getting those results updated on Valdosta’s website today. Continue reading →