Category Archives: River

BIG Little River Paddle Race on Scott James Radio 8AM 2017-04-27

At least three people are seriously training for the Fifth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race. Maybe it won’t be the usual winner this time! Plus there are prizes in a wide range of categories (solo, double, male, female, ages, etc.) this Saturday April 29th, at Reed Bingham State Park between Adel and Moultrie, GA.

I’ll be on the radio 8AM this Thursday April 27th talking about that and related matters, such as WWALS is now also Suwannee Riverkeeper, with Scott James on his Talk 92.1 drive-time radio show, out of Valdosta, Georgia.

When: 8AM, Thursday, April 27, 2017

Where: You can listen on the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through several online listening services.

Register: Don’t forget to register for the paddle race, either online or at the event. Continue reading →

BMAPs: Agriculture and water at the Suwannee River Basin crossroads 2017-04-13

The conclusion from FDEP in their BMAP presented to an almost-full SRWMD boardroom on April 13, 2017 was: nitrogen runoff into springs and rivers from all sources (the biggest being agriculture, dairies, and poultry) must decrease 83 to 93 percent. For once nobody seemed to argue with research by state agencies. Rather everyone, from representatives of the biggest of farmers to Pilgrim’s Pride to a wide variety of environmental groups seemed aghast at the severity of the situation.

Title slide

This Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) for the Lower and Middle Suwannee River Basin turns out to include the Withlacoochee River almost to the Georgia line, because Continue reading →

Morgan Murray, Collier County Waterkeeper Harrison Langley, WWALS Science Committee Chair Tom Potter, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman

Update 2017-10-04: Pictures from all four days of Wanee.

At Wanee
Morgan Murray, Collier County Waterkeeper Harrison Langley, WWALS Science Committee Chair Tom Potter, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman

We’ll be at Wanee through Saturday.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

WWALS at Wanee Wednesday through Saturday 2017-04-19-22

Wanee snuck in an extra afternoon this starting 2:30 PM Wednesday April 19th for Remembering Butch Trucks, and yes, WWALS will be there tomorrow through Saturday, so look for the WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper banners.

For more about the music festival that started them all, see the previous post.

If you want to help at the WWALS table, send email to wwalswatershed@gmail.com or call 229-242-0102 or come by the Suwannee Riverkeeper table.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Protests across Florida against Sabal Trail, which is worse than reporters think

It’s not just two connected pipelines; it’s at least five just in Florida. Audubon Florida did endorse Sabal Trail starting with FPL’s first announcement. And sure, Ms. Grover, your “safety programs are designed to prevent pipeline failures”, but they haven’t actually stopped numerous incidents of corrosion, leaks, explosions, and compressor station blowouts. Other than those things, it’s a pretty good story.

Beth Kassab and Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 2017-04-01, Gas pipeline across Central Florida brings cheap energy and protests,

The WWALS Watershed Coalition, which advocates for protection of Florida and Georgia rivers, has staunchly opposed nearly every aspect of Sabal Trail, which crosses under the Suwannee, Santa Fe and many other rivers.


South to Suwannee River, HDD Suwannee County, RoW with pipe already buried, 30.4117310, -83.1566490

Coalition spokesman John Quarterman called the pipeline a profit bonanza for private companies and a boondoggle for utility customers.

Well, I said it’s a boondoggle for the utility, namely FPL, at the expense of its customers. Here’s why I say that, including Continue reading →

Lower and Middle Suwannee River Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) Meeting 2017-04-13

Today in Live Oak: what FDEP is doing about water quality and quantity in the Suwannee Basin below the Withlacoochee Confluence. Agenda

See the PDF or the transcription below.

Lower and Middle Suwannee River Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) Meeting

DATE: Thursday, April 13, 2017
TIME: 6:00 PM
PLACE: Suwannee River Water Management District
Board Room
9225 CR 49
Live Oak, FL 32060

THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

AGENDA Continue reading →

Agenda, Santa Fe River Springs Protection Forum 2017-04-13

The agenda says it’s for a Santa Fe River Springs Protection Forum, but the venue at Otter Springs is on the Suwannee River downstream of the Santa Fe River, and Potash Corp Field Trip Summary is about the phosphate mine in Hamilton County well upstream on the Suwannee River, using pictures from the WWALS Southwings flight of 22 October 2016. Many people and organizations are concerned about an attempt to start another phosphate mine in Union and Bradford Counties, which are upstream of the Santa Fe River.

Follow the link for the agenda PDF, and there’s an image below.

When: 9:30 am – 3:00 pm, Thursday, April 13, 2017

Where: Otter Springs Campground
6470 SW 80th Avenue, Trenton FL, 32693

What: Santa Fe River Springs Protection Forum

Bee Haven Bay, now PCS Phosphate mine, 30.5089370, -82.8682070

Bee Haven Bay, now PCS Phosphate mine,
Picture by WWALS member Jim Tatum of Our Santa Fe River on WWALS Southwings flight 2017-10-22 piloted by Roy Zimmer, with Continue reading →

River spraying erosion, Withlacoochee River

Received yesterday:

The property owner sprayed this section of bank along the Withlacoochee with roundup several years ago. This picture clearly shows why we need to protect and leave intact the vegetation along the river banks. The erosion has only occurred at the section that was denuded of vegetation.

Chris Mericle

Denuded bluff,
Madison County side, 30.4162370, -83.2077630.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Sabal Trail a month late and still sending the press disinformation

No, Ms. Grover, your pipeline is not a job generator for Florida, Georgia, or Alabama, and yes, you’ve slipped your schedule.

“Florida is swarming with protests, like an antbed stirred up by a 600-mile pipeline stick,” John S. Quarterman, president, WWALS Watershed Coalition

You know what would bring economic benefits to the Sunshine State? Solar power, which already employs more people than coal, oil, and natural gas combined, which produced 1 in 20 new jobs last year, and last year solar power produced more new electricity than any other source.

Ms. Grover is paid to picture that fossil-fuel cash-out in the best possible light. Yet once you know the actual facts, it looks more like the Picture of Dorian Gray.


“How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June…. If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that—for that—I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!” —Dorian Gray, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Joseph A. Mann Jr., FloridaBulldog.org, 23 March 2017, With help from investor-Gov. Scott, Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline looks to open in June, Continue reading →

Sullivan Launch to Madison Blue Springs, Withlacoochee River, 2017-06-24

Update 2017-06-26: A fine day on the Withlacoochee River from Sullivan Landing to Madison Blue Spring 2017-06-24.

Paddle with WWALS to one of the most beautiful springs on the Withlacoochee River, from Sullivan Launch to Madison Blue Spring, about 6.5 hours including shuttle, with lunch, swim stops, and bon-bons, of course.

Shuttle map Bring the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Bring a canoe or kayak if you’ve got one, otherwise there are plenty of outfitters, or let us know and many of us have extra boats.

When: 9AM Saturday 24 May June 2017

Put In: Sullivan Launch, river mile 21.9
From Pinetta, travel east on CR 150; turn right at the bridge and follow road to launch.

GPS: 30.595667, -83.26

Duration: 6.5 hours

Event: facebook

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Take Out: Continue reading →