Bobby McKenzie reported yesterday, “I’m at Freedom Park and what is new? I count 11 trash receptacles strategical placed in the baseball parking lot….guess what in them..😆 trash”
![[Trash cans at Freedom Park 2022-11-21]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-21--freedom-park-trash-cans/many.jpg)
Trash cans at Freedom Park 2022-11-21
Imagine that: trash cans in a parking lot, like Valdosta city ordinances require.
And people do use them. Continue reading
Update 2022-12-09: Almost clean rivers 2022-12-08.
All test results good, no rain, no sewage spill reports: happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend!
I hate to be right, but when I warned last Friday that the rain the day before would probably wash contamination into the creeks and rivers, Valdosta’s testing that Friday caught the contamination. US 41, GA 133, and even US 84 showed far too much E. coli, with Fecal coliform at US 41 and GA 133 ten times the E. coli. Knights Ferry also showed E. coli higher than the one-time test limit.
By the time WWALS tested Sunday, most of that had already washed downstream or gotten diluted. We did still see high results at Franklinville and Langdale Park on the Withlacoochee River, and at several creek locations. Continue reading
On-land cleanup in Georgia and Florida on the Alapaha River. You can bring a boat if you want to, so you can clean up on the river near the ramps.
These locations are on both sides of the GA-FL line on the https://wwals.net/maps/alapaha-water-trail/.
When: 9 AM – noon, Saturday, January 7, 2023
First Site: Statenville Boat Ramp, 206 GA 94 West, Statenville, GA 31648, right bank, west of river, north of highway bridge, in Echols County, Georgia.
GPS: 30.704437, -83.03468
Second Site: Sasser Landing, From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel east on CR 150; cross the Alapaha River; turn left onto NW 72 Court and follow to river, in Hamilton County, Florida.
GPS2: 30.599562, -83.069828
Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along.
Free: This outing is free to everyone!
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
![[Statenville and Sasser, 2019-07-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-01-07--alapaha-river-cleanup/many.jpg)
Statenville and Sasser, 2019-07-06
Update 2023-02-07: Water budget, limit water withdrawals, do better aquifer recharge –WWALS to NFRWSP 2023-01-31.
Almost all the attendees were SRWMD staff; no board members. The only public comment was by me, at the NFRWSP Constraint Meeting, at SRWMD HQ yesterday.
You can comment in writing to partnership@sjrwmd.com by January 31, 2023.
The presentations were informative, although they omitted a major subject, which I addressed: limits on water withdrawal permits. Will the SRWMD and SJRWMD boards address it this time, or shrug it off like six years ago, after many people suggested it?
SRWMD seemed to be recording video of this meeting, and presumably they will release the slides sometime. Meanwhile, pictures of most of the slides are on the WWALS website. Here is a a WWALS video playlist: Continue reading
Apparently the rain Thursday did not have much effect, although there were E. coli hot spots when we tested again Sunday. The Withlacoochee River from GA 133 on down seems OK for swimming, fishing, and boating, although there’s not much water until you get farther down than that.
![[Chart, Creeks and Rivers, Swim Guide, 2022-11-13]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-13--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Creeks and Rivers, Swim Guide, 2022-11-13
Looks like the Withlacoochee River is also OK from Skipper Bridge on down, except Langdale Park Boat Ramp tested very high. Also, upstream Franklinville Landing was too high. Continue reading
Update 2022-11-16: Videos: North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan meeting @ SRWMD 2022-11-15.
This rather thorough model of the Floridan Aquifer and its relatives is meant to be support planning, but does not actually do that planning. Planning is the topic of the meeting this afternoon about the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP).
![[Collage]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-01--nfseg/many.jpg)
Collage, Figures and Tables from NORTH FLORIDA SOUTHEAST GEORGIA GROUNDWATER MODEL (NFSEG V1.1)
That’s also why we need Right to Clean Water in Florida.
The sentence I’ve bolded below from the Executive Summary is the most important thing about the North Florida-Southeast Georgia (NFSEG) regional groundwater flow model. Continue reading
Hot Damn! It’s the Trashy Bottom Boys!
I went down to Troupville Boat Ramp to collect a water sample, and who should I spy? Bobby McKenzie and Russell Allen McBride, the Trashy Bottom Boys.
They were just back from a mile-and-a-half roundtrip down the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers to clean up trash. That location is now in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail as Trashy Shoals. Continue reading
Update 2022-11-15: Creeks bad, mostly OK River Water Quality 2022-11-13.
For once my recommendation is not directly based on the most recent water quality test results, rather on the weather. Because of the recent rain, I wouldn’t paddle on the Withlacoochee or Little Rivers except downstream from the GA-FL line. The Alapaha and Suwannee will probably be OK.
All WWALS water quality results for Thursday are pretty clean, with several of them actually showing zero E. coli. No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River basin in Georgia or Florida (yet). Valdosta did get high numbers at US 41 and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River last week, but their Monday results (the most recent we’ve seen from them) are normal. Continue reading
Update 2023-04-01: Florida Right to Hunt and Fish breezing through legislature towards 2024 ballot 2023-03-27.
Floridians, now’s the time to get the petition through the first hurdle: Florida Supreme Court review by March 1, 2023. 223,000 signatures is doable if enough people help.
If you’re a registered Florida voter, go here and sign the petition:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/
![[Unite for Clean Water flyer]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-10--rtcw-fl/big/Unite-for-Clean-Water-flyer.jpg)
And join the campaign:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/uniteforcleanwater
Individuals, groups, businesses, or non-profits: all can help get constitutional protection for our rivers, creeks, springs, sinks and swamps, not to mention drinking water.
More about Right to Clean Water in Florida and Georgia here:
https://wwals.net/issues/right-to-clean-water/
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/
Update 2022-11-16: Videos: North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan meeting @ SRWMD 2022-11-15.
Update 2022-11-15: Figures and Tables from NORTH FLORIDA SOUTHEAST GEORGIA GROUNDWATER MODEL (NFSEG V1.1) 2019-08-01.
January will be six years since SRWMD and SJRWMD passed the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP), mostly ignoring input from interested parties. It’s back for renovations, with public comment at the end of the workshops. Maybe you’d like to attend and comment, or send them written comments.
When: 2 PM, Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Put In: District Headquarters, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060
Figure C3: Aquifer surface change due to withdrawals in north Florida and south Georgia
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-17--wq/many.jpg)
![[Presenters, Commenter]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-15--nfrwsp-videos/many.jpg)
![[Trash, Boats, Shoals]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-13--trash-troupville-boat-ramp/many.jpg)
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-11-10--wq/many.jpg)