Category Archives: River

Two wells, a lift station, water meters, and drainage eminent domain @ LCC 2026-01-26

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Update 2026-01-26: Videos: Water treatment upgrade because GA-EPD Consent Order, Lift Station Pump Repair, Condemnation along Twin Lakes Road, VAWA, Extension Office, Red Cross @ LCC Work 2026-01-26.

Lowndes County is under a GA-EPD Consent Order about drinking water for a well near Pine Grove Middle School. They did try for multiple bids to fix that but only got one.

And they’re fixing a sewage lift station near Ocean Pond in Lake Park. Before it breaks: good. It’s a sole source bid, though.

The Consent Order is revealed by the agenda packet page for 5.a. Spring Creek Water Treatment Plant Design Build Project. Neither the board packet materials nor the ad for bids mentions where this is. However, previous research indicates it’s the well with water tower at 4245 Hattie Pl, Valdosta, GA 31605, near a creek that runs west by Pine Grove Middle School to the Withlacoochee River.

They will vote on spending $214,412.00 on the Spring Creek plant. Which also mysteriously includes “add a lift station.” Lift stations usually refer to sewer lines, and Lowndes County’s sewer lines do not go up Hattie Place to the well site. Maybe an open records request for the Consent Order will clarify that.

And another $24,400.00 on a sewage pump repair at the Peterson Road Lift Station. The packet materials don’t say where that is, either, but it appears to be in the southeast corner of 6201 Peterson Road (the Home Depo Distribution Center), east of the I-75 Georgia Visitor Center. The sign on the fence says Roadway Lift Station.

And the county thinks $12,400.00 is a fair condemnation price to get some road and drainage right of way along Twin Lakes Road.

[Two wells, a lift station, surplus water meter components, and drainage eminent domain @ Lowndes County Commission 2026-01-26]
Two wells, a lift station, surplus water meter components, and drainage eminent domain @ Lowndes County Commission 2026-01-26

That’s about a quarter million dollars they may approve Tuesday, before even adding in the $26,371.00 cash match for a VAWA grant. Continue reading →

Santa Fe River Clean, Withlacoochee Clean Upstream, Bad Downstream 2026-01-22

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WWALS got good river results on the Santa Fe River for Wednesday and upstream on the Withlacoochee River for Thursday.

Valdosta Utilities got bad E. coli results downstream at GA 133 and US 84 for Thursday.

We have no new creek test results.

I wonder if some of the contamination I detected Sunday on feeder creeks just upstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp had not washed downstream to GA 133 and beyond by Thursday. Or did something else come down Hightower Creek and Sugar Creek into the Withlacoochee River?

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in Georgia or Florida.

So if you can find a river with enough water, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend before the big freeze next week.

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

[Santa Fe River Clean, Withlacoochee Clean Upstream, Withlacoochee Bad Downstream at GA 133 & US 84, 2026-01-22]
Santa Fe River Clean, Withlacoochee Clean Upstream, Withlacoochee Bad Downstream at GA 133 & US 84, 2026-01-22

Withlacoochee River

Please welcome back WWALS tester Cindy Vedas. For Thursday she got:

  • a very clean 33 cfu/100 mL at Franklinville Landing, “Looks great at this location.”
  • a perfect zero (0) at Staten Road, “River looks good here.”
  • and 66 at Langdale Park Boat Ramp, “River not flowing much at all. New No Hunting signs are posted.”

Valdosta Utilities for Thursday got 770 at GA 133 and 650 at US 84, both above the 410 one-time test limit.

Santa Fe River

WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for Wednesday at Mills Dock, a bit upstream from Poe Springs Ramp, bot a very clean 33, with 6.2 C air temperature and 17.0 C water temperature. And a beaver!

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 →

Valdosta Force Main alongside Hightower Creek 2026-01-09

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It’s not obvious that Valdosta’s Force Main from its Remer Pump Station on Sugar Creek runs alongside Hightower Creek up across St. Augustine Road, Norman Drive, and I-75, then along various county roads, to the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), whose treated wastewater outfall is to the nearby Withlacoochee River.

Here are some pictures in the other direction, west to east, across the land just west of I-75 (thanks to the landowners), across I-75, to Norman Drive.

[Valdosta Force Main alongside Hightower Creek, Across I-75 and Norman Drive 2026-01-09]
Valdosta Force Main alongside Hightower Creek, Across I-75 and Norman Drive 2026-01-09

See also Filthy Hightower Creek 2026-01-08 but clean upstream ILM Pond 2026-01-09.

https://wwals.net/?p=69215

You can find this force main on the VALORGIS map. You have to turn on the layer ValdostaEasements. Then it appears in black.

Also turn on Streams to make the creeks show up, although VALORGIS only shows Hightower Creek as far as St. Augustine Road.

And turn off Zoning to reduce distractions. Continue reading →

OK One Mile Branch 2026-01-13, Filthy Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18

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Update 2026-01-23: Santa Fe River Clean, Withlacoochee Clean Upstream, Bad Downstream 2026-01-22.

People in the Foxborough subdivision have been complaining of smells coming from Lowndes County’s Foxborough Lift Station. Turns out there’s also a downstream water quality issue. We don’t know that’s because of that lift station, but it needs further investigation.

I went out there Sunday afternoon with one such neighbor. We could smell the lift station in the woods. Apparently hanging big urinal cakes on the fence was not adequate.

I also took water quality samples downstream, and the results were far worse than I expected. All results were several times the 1,000 cfu/100 mL alert limit for E. coli.

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

[OK One Mile Branch 2026-01-13, Filthy Foxborough Lift Station Run and creek to Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18]
OK One Mile Branch 2026-01-13, Filthy Foxborough Lift Station Run and creek to Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18

I took samples from the tiny run just downhill from the lift station, from the creek it runs into just before it joins the Withlacoochee River, and across the river and slightly downstream near Langdale Park Boat Ramp. Results: 5,533, 5,133, and 2,700. This may help explain why results at Langdale Park Boat Ramp are often higher than at the North Valdosta Road Bridge: this creek that comes in between those two points.

Now this does not mean that the lift station caused this contamination. There was rain that same morning. It could simply be first flush, which is a utilities term for when the first rain after a drought washes the woods that animals have been using as a latrine. In this case, probably plus domestic pets in Foxborough.

But these results warrant further investigation.

Please note that Lowndes County has its own sewer system, which has not reported a sewage spill in years. It is separate from Valdosta’s sewage system.

Also, the previous Tuesday, January 13, WWALS tester Scotti Jay noticed a strange coloration in One Mile Branch. He sampled at Wainwright Drive Bridge. The result was OK: 266 cfu/100 mL.

And Valdosta Utilities has finally posted its Withlacoochee River results from Wednesday last week: an OK 280 at GA 133 and a quite clean 50 at US 84. These were before the Sunday morning rain.

No new sewage spills have been reported since our last Friday water quality report in Georgia or Florida.

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 →

Six hours and no decision @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13

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Update 2026-01-20: In the next meeting, Tuesday, January 20, 2026, the vote was 4:0 to deny, by the City of Alachua Planning and Zoning Commission. So it’s dead for now, but watch for it to come back later.

The City of Alachua Planning Commissioners seemed inclined to approve the Special Exception Permit for the Tara April detention ponds and trails next to I-75.

But after the applicant’s case was countered by the National Speleological Society (NSS) and others, the Commissioners seemed ready to deny.

However, at midnight the court recorder had to leave, so they had to adjourn until Tuesday, April January 20, 2026, at 6 PM, also at Alachua City Hall, 15100 NW 142 Terrace, Alachua, FL 32615.

Get there early. It was standing room only this Tuesday, with some people outside the doors.

[Six hours and no decision, @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13, They meet again about Tara April, and Mill Creek Sink, 6 PM 2026-01-20]
Six hours and no decision, @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13, They meet again about Tara April, and Mill Creek Sink, 6 PM 2026-01-20

You can see the relevant parts of the meeting (minus the other two items on the agenda) in this video by Richie Denmark for NSS:

https://youtu.be/g2yNv9MtRBY?si=dtbvAtyaEnXwmvVw

That video does not include the images projected by the various speakers. But I took stills of many of them, which you can see below.

The video starts with me photographing the Tara April Master Plan. You can see my photographs below. Continue reading →

Clean Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, Withlacoochee Rivers 2026-01-14

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Update 2026-01-20: OK One Mile Branch 2026-01-13, Filthy Langdale Park Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2026-01-18.

WWALS testers found the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Ichetucknee Rivers clean for this Wednesday.

We have no new creek results and no results this week from Valdosta Utilities.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in Georgia or Florida.

The weather is supposed to be sunny Saturday, but colder and rainy Sunday. If you can find a river with enough water and you don’t mind cole, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing.

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

[Clean Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers; No Valdosta Utilities results, 2026-01-14]
Clean Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee Rivers; No Valdosta Utilities results, 2026-01-14

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 →

Power, water, and datacenters –Suwannee Riverkeeper 2025-11-17

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Update 2026-01-17: the next such Workshop is being rescheduled; we don’t yet know until when.

Reliable power and water are needed for economic development. Let’s not jeopardize those for AI datacenters which may not even be needed in a few years. Don’t assume just because the governor says we’re doing datacenters that they will expand everywhere. Remember the dotcom bust and how cheap PCs took over, then smartphones. Somebody will invent a much less expensive method of doing so-called artificial intelligence, a method that does not require huge datacenters.

I discussed that as Suwannee Riverkeeper with others at the second Workshop for the five-year Update of the Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan, on November 17, 2025.

Further, there are natural limits on water beyond economic limits of running water and sewer lines. Witness Barber Pool, which used to be a popular swimming venue on River Street in Valdosta. It was fed by a spring that now hardly ever trickles, because of argricultural water withdrawals for irrigation.

The next such Workshop is this Monday Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at about 6 PM, after the Work Session of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), at 325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, GA.

Update 2026-01-17: the next such Workshop is being rescheduled; we don’t yet know until when.

These Workshops are organized by the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC). They are attended by representatives of a wide range of local governments, nonprofits, and businesses. The resulting Comprehensive Plan will be referenced in every rezoning or variance or special exception.

[Power, water, and datacenters, --Suwannee Riverkeeper 2025-11-17, Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan, Update Workshop 2]
Power, water, and datacenters, –Suwannee Riverkeeper 2025-11-17, Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan, Update Workshop 2

With much other discussion, the attendees agreed on rewording some passages to say: Continue reading →

Mill Creek Sink 2025-01-13

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Update 2026-01-17: Six hours and no decision @ Alachua Planning Commission 2026-01-13.

It took about 12 days for dye put into Mill Creek Sink to show up six miles northwest in Hornsby Spring. That spring is on the far side of High Springs. It runs into the Santa Fe River.

[Mill Creek Sink, Alachua, FL 2026-01-13, Cave complex connects to Hornsby Spring, Santa Fe River]
Mill Creek Sink, Alachua, FL 2026-01-13, Cave complex connects to Hornsby Spring, Santa Fe River

Anything that goes into Mill Creek Sink could affect drinking water for the city of High Springs, as well as Hornsby Spring and the Santa Fe River. And probably other things nearby over the Floridan Aquifer.

The dye trace is according to MILL CREEK and LEE SINKS DYE TRACE ALACHUA COUNTY, FLORIDA JULY-DECEMBER, 2005,
Prepared for: Alachua County Environmental Protection Department, 201 SE 2nd Avenue, Suite 201, Gainesville, FL 32601;
Prepared by: Peter L. Butt, Stephen Boyes, P.G. and Thomas L. Morris, Karst Environmental Services, Inc., 5779 NE County Road 340, High Springs, FL 32643, June 7, 2006.

There are pictures below of Mill Creek Sink that I took on January 13, 2026. Continue reading →

Chemours closed some TiO2 mines, now lays off workers, outsources to contractor 2026-01-06

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A few paragraphs about Chemours layoffs have been circling around north Florida, about the titanium dioxide (TiO2) mines near Starke, Florida. Chemours layoffs actually affect many mines in both Florida and Georgia, and Chemours already closed some mines, due to low prices for the minerals it mines.

No, Krebs Land Development did not buy any mines nor operations from Chemours. Krebs is an earthmoving contractor that has worked for Chemours for some time, in both Georgia and Florida.

Now Chemours is outsourcing more operations to Krebs. Some Chemours former employees may end up working for Krebs, run by Stuart Krebs.

[Chemours closed some TiO2 mines, now lays off workers 2026-01-06, outsources to contractor, because of low prices]
Chemours closed some TiO2 mines, now lays off workers 2026-01-06, outsources to contractor, because of low prices

Why? Housebuilding is down, so there is less demand for white paint. Also, much TiO2 is being imported. So the price of TiO2 is down. This is the most up to date graph I can find, which only goes through October 2025. Apparently it’s gotten worse since then. Continue reading →

Reissuance, Quitman WPCP, GAJ020022 –GA-EPD 2025-12-15

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Quitman has applied for renewal of its wastewater treatment permit. It is lacking a major item: a Watershed Protection Plan (WPP). GA-EPD is giving Quitman about one year to produce such a plan.

Quitman’s wastewater plant consists of ponds on Highland Ave. which pipe waste to a Land Application Site (LAS), aka spray field, east of town, south of US 84. Both parts are next to Okapilco Creek, which runs into the Withlacoochee River between US 84 and Knights Ferry Boat Ramp.

This application was acknowledged December 15, 2025, for NPDES Permit No. GAJ020022 by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). The comment period extends for one month from that date.

[Reissuance, Quitman WPCP, GAJ020022 --GA-EPD 2025-12-15, Lacks Watershed Protection Plan, Must supply one]
Reissuance, Quitman WPCP, GAJ020022 –GA-EPD 2025-12-15, Lacks Watershed Protection Plan, Must supply one

The application packet:
https://geos.epd.georgia.gov/GA/GEOS/Public/EnSuite/Shared/pages/util/StreamDoc.ashx?id=1162182&type=PERMIT_FILLED_OBJECT&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

The WPP must include monitoring and assessment of streams in the Assessment Area (which does not seem to be defined). Also, methods to identify waters not up to designated water uses, i.e., contaminated. And “water sresource concerns and priority issues.”

The WPP must establish a baseline, include long-term monitoring, and a schedule for correcting current water quality problems, with ongoing monitoring to verify such correction. Plus best management practices (BMPs) to prevent future problems, and monitoring to verify BMPs.

Quitman also lacks an industrial pretreatment program for Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). But GA-EPD has not yet determined whether Quitman needs an Industrial Pretreatment Program.

But Quitman does need a WPP, and here’s where the permit document first mentions the WPP: Continue reading →