Category Archives: River

Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle: Troupville to Spook Bridge, Withlacoochee River, 2022-01-29

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Join us for a leisurely paddle on the Withlacoochee River past the clean outfall of the Valdosta Withlacoochee Wastewater Plant, which has not spilled in years. See turtles, fish, birds, cypress, pines, oaks, palmetto, and maybe otters. Probably no alligators, although you could be lucky. You will see the signs where the notorious Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline leaked drilling fluid into the river.

Previously called the Mayor’s Paddle, this third annual is the Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, as in the Chairman of Lowndes County and the Mayor of Valdosta, who are working to purchase land you will see at the Little River Confluence for a future Troupville River Park and Troupville River Camp. The route also runs along Brooks County, and is upstream of Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida: y’all come.

When: Gather 8 AM, launch 10 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, January 29, 2022

Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602: on GA 133 off I-75 exit 18. Lowndes County. Go west across I-75 on St. Augustine Road (GA 133), turn left at the light for Val Tech Road.

GPS: 30.652536, -83.34586

Take Out: Spook Bridge. Park outside the gate at the corner of Old Quitman Highway and Martin Lane. Do not drive onto the private property; we will have shuttle golf carts and such for the last half mile up from the river. Thanks to The Langdale Company for access for the lunch spot and the takeout below Spook Bridge.

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.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net/outings

We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

Event: facebook, meetup

[Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, WWTP clean outfall, Spook Bridge, Takeout]
Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River, WWTP clean outfall, Spook Bridge, Takeout; Photos: John S. Quarterman on the previous Mayor’s Paddle 2021-03-27

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Pictures: Troupville to Spook Bridge, Withlacoochee River, Mayor’s Paddle 2021-03-27

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Third scheduled time was the charm for the Second Annual Mayor’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River, Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge. In addition to the nice writeup in the Valdosta Daily Times, here are some pictures. Only two or three people capsized, nobody was mad, and everybody had a good time.

[Troupville Boat Ramp, WWTP Outfall, Spring Branch, Lunch banners, Spook Bridge Landing, VSU CORE, Ride]
Troupville Boat Ramp, WWTP Outfall, Spring Branch, Lunch banners, Spook Bridge Landing, VSU CORE, Ride

The 2022 version will be the Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, coming up Saturday, January 29, 2021. Stay tuned.

Thanks to The Langdale Company for access at the lunch spot and at Spook Bridge. Thanks to the Boys and Girls Club for shuttling. Thanks to Steve Miller for his ATV for shuttling people up from the river at Spook Bridge to the road. Thanks to Bobby McKenzie for leading the outing.

We found some landmarks, such as where the Valdosta, Moultrie, and Western (VMW) Railroad used to cross the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

River gauges, Comprehensive Plan, Planning Commission: Three Lowndes County Meetings 2021-10-25

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In Lowndes County, Georgia, three meetings today and tomorrow affect water, including the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, upstream from Florida:

That’s right: two of the meetings are at the same time today, and two of the meetings have no agendas posted. What we know so far is below. For detailed updates of these Lowndes County meetings, follow Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE):
http://www.l-a-k-e.org

If there are especially interesting water developments, I will also post here for WWALS.

[Character Area Map, River Gauges]
Character Area Map, River Gauges

Comprehensive Plan Update

5:30 PM Tuesday 2021-10-26: No agenda posted for Public Hearing to Review and Transmit the 2021 Comprehensive Plan Update by Lowndes County Commission

Address: 327 N. Ashley Street, 2nd Floor Commission Chamber, Valdosta, GA 31601

This is the meeting that could have the most effect on water. No agenda is posted, and no updates to the Lowndes County Character Area map since the one shown here, which was prepared for a September 28th meeting.

We’ll find out at 5:30 PM this Tuesday whether the Character Area Map for Lowndes County will change. Two sources tell me that it won’t for this update of the Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan, except for some tinkery fixes not in the northwest part of the county.

But many of us thought Continue reading →

All clean: Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2021-10-21

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WWALS Thursday water quality samples all tested clean, just in time for the WWALS Boomerang paddle race tomorrow, at State Line Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing on the Withlacoochee, and on the Alapaha and Little Rivers, too, according to the data we have.

[Chart, Little River, Alapaha River; Withlacoochee River; Map: Swim Guide 2021-10-21]
Chart, Little River, Alapaha River; Withlacoochee River; Map: Swim Guide 2021-10-21

Valdosta data through Monday upstream and Friday downstream concurs. Plus there’s been no rain all week, so there’s been nothing to wash cow or hog manure into Okapilco Creek or anything else anywhere else. And no sewage spills have been reported. Continue reading →

Permit application, pellet mill, Spectrum Energy Georgia, Adel, GA 2021-10-22

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Eric Cornwell of GA-EPD says “they have yet to submit the toxic impact assessment modeling demonstration. If you are familiar with Adel, the proposed plant site is the former SierraPine engineered wood plant (I think that old plant used to make particleboard or MDF )”. Thanks to Eric for a speedy response to my open records request about this wood pellet plant proposed by Spectrum Energy Georgia LLC on a site owned by Green Tree Biomass LLC.

[Location, Title, Boundary, Plan]
Location, Title, Boundary, Plan

The permit application files are on the WWALS website:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-22–spectrum-energy-pellet-plant-adel

Why would WWALS, a water organization be concerned about an air quality permit application? Well, this plant sits on the divide between the Little and Withlacoochee River Basins, between Morrison Creek of the Little River and Bear Creek of the Withlacoochee River. Any contaminant spills could end up in one or the other. Continue reading →

Video: Titanium strip mine too near Okefenokee Swamp; Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 2021-10-18

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That titanium strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp is still in permitting, as Scott James and I discussed on his radio show Monday morning; here’s video. You can help stop that mine.

There’s serious doubt about the legitimacy of the decision last October by the Army Corps of Engineers to abdicate responsibility, since a District Court revoked last year’s EPA decision that the Corps used to decide. Meanwhile, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) has five permit applications from those Alabama coal miners, Twin Pines Minerals LLC. For details, see Mining moratorium: NWPR WOTUS and Army Corps on Okefenokee mine site –WWALS to EPD 2021-09-27.

[Strip mine discussion and location]
Strip mine discussion and location

You can ask GA-EPD for a moratorium on all mining, until the effects of that District Court decision get sorted out, or to deny the permits for that mine, or at the very least to examine the permits very thoroughly and produce the equivalent of the Environmental Impact Statement that the Corps should be working on.
https://wwals.net/?p=55092

And don’t forget the WWALS Boomerang paddle race tomorrow morning, Saturday, October 23, 2021, from Georgia into Florida and back!
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-23–boomerang/

Here’s WWALS video of that radio discussion: Continue reading →

Videos: Boomerang paddle race, mine too close to Okefenokee Swamp, Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 2021-10-19

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On his radio show Monday morning, Scott James and I talked about the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, coming up this Saturday, 9AM, October 23, 2021, at State Line Boat Ramp, aka Madison Highway Boat Ramp or Mozell Spells or GA 31 Ramp or CR 145 Bridge Launch. We’ll paddle downstream into Florida and back up into Georgia! Food, drink, and a silent auction. Fun for the whole family.

The overall winner wins a $100 First Prize. Others will win in many categories.

[Radio, WWALS Boomerang paddle race]
Radio, WWALS Boomerang paddle race

Tickets for this WWALS fundraiser are available online or at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2021-tickets-168646372841

Registration opens at 9AM, where you can say whether you want to paddle 1, 2, or 3 miles downstream, and the same back up.

Everything about the Boomerang is here:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-10-23–boomerang/

Below are links to each of the video segments about the Boomerang on the radio, followed by a WWALS video playlist. Continue reading →

Appointment of Nominating Committee for Officers @ DSSWA 2021-10-20

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Business as usual, plus preparing to nomimate officers for 2022, at the Authority that in some sense oversees the landfill in Lowndes County, Georgia, next to the Withlacoochee River.

That’s not sugar cane grinding in “6. City of Valdosta Grinding Reimbursement Request”. It’s for grinding up mulch. That seems to be the main thing DSSWA does: distribute grants for grinding from fees received from the landfill.

[DSSWA-Agenda-10-20-2021-0001]
DSSWA-Agenda 10.0000000, 0.0000000
PDF

DEEP SOUTH
REGIONAL MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

Meeting of the Board of Directors
Deep South Regional Municipal Solid Waste Management Authority

October 20, 2021
6:00 PM
Southern Georgia Regional Commission
Valdosta, Georgia

AGENDA

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Mining moratorium: NWPR WOTUS and Army Corps on Okefenokee mine site –WWALS to EPD 2021-09-27

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The Army Corps’ excuse to abdicate oversight over the strip mine site near the Okefenokee Swamp was overturned in a court case this August, so the Corps should take that back up.

Meanwhile, WWALS asked GA-EPD to impose a moratorium on all mining permit applications until the ramifications of that court case are sorted out, which could take months or years.

You can ask GA-EPD for that moratorium, or to deny the permits, or at the very least to examine them very thoroughly and produce the equivalent of the Environmental Impact Statement that the Corps should be working on.
https://wwals.net/?p=55092

[Moratorium, please, GA-EPD, since District Court vacated Army Corps' excuse]
Moratorium, please, GA-EPD, since District Court vacated Army Corps’ excuse

The Letter: WWALS to GA-EPD

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Sponsors: WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia to Florida and back 2021-10-23

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Thanks to all our sponsors of the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, this Saturday, October 23, 2021, down the Withlacoochee River from Georgia three miles into Florida, and back.

Thank you Adel Outfitters, Azalea City Music Academy, Banks Lake Outdoors, B’s Backporch BBQ, Dry Pocket Apparel, Madison Outpost Adventures, Okra Paradise Farms, Olympia Shooting Range Paintball, Sunbelt Running CLub, and Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA),

[Sponsor Banner]
Sponsor Banner

Tickets are $30 online or at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2021-tickets-168646372841

You could be the winner of the $100 First Prize, or win in one of the many categories.

Canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards are welcome to register starting at 9 AM, Saturday, October 23, 2021, to be on the water by 10:45 AM. There will be prizes, and food, and drink.

You do not even have to bring a boat, if you reserve soon and let us know what type of boat you need: kayak or canoe, single or tandem. Free boat rental is provided by Madison Outpost Adventures of Lee, Madison County, Florida, and VSU CORE of Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie says, Continue reading →