Many thanks to Southwings and pilot Roy Zimmer for the ride on Roy’s Rollercoaster. The wind did pick up a bit towards mid-day but that only made it more fun.
Chris Mericle, John S. Quarterman, Roy Zimmer of Southwings, Can Denizman
We saw what we flew to see. More on that later.
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
A public hearing already happened last week, but you can still send comments
until next Friday, June 24th 2016, about Madison Blue Spring State Park.
Maybe you’d like to comment on the specific improvements they plan,
or maybe something about Nestle or maybe how close Sabal Trail wants to come with its fracked methane pipeline.
That’s the deadline in the Green Publishing notice, but the Public Comment Form says Thursday June 23rd, so to be safe, get your comments in by next Thursday. Continue reading
Update 2016-06-22: Dye test into the Dead River Sink: it came back up several days later and eighteen river miles south, in the Alapaha River Rise and Holton Bluff Spring, both on the Suwannee River.
The Alapaha River disappears underground in dry seasons,
and nobody has ever known where it comes back up.
Soon, we will know.
Green Publishing, 16 June 2016, Dye test held for river basins,
The Florida Geological Survey will be conducing a dye test for the Suwannee River Water Management District in the Upper Suwannee/Alapaha River basins later this month. They will introduce dye into the Dead River Swallet (swallets are sinkholes that capture flow) and a swallet that is located on privately owned land. They will also have sampling devices setup at Continue reading
Yet another map,
this one from the
Suwannee River Basin and Estuary Integrated Science Workshop,
USGS, 22-24 September 2004,
Cedar Key, Florida, Compiled by Brian Katz and Ellen Raabe.
Here are
the slides from that workshop.
This map is a bit odd in that it does not show the biggest city in the entire Suwannee River Basin.
However, it shows nearby larger cities. I never really realized Jacksonville is closer than Tallahassee to most of the Basin.
For more maps, see the WWALS Suwannee River Basin web page.
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
It’s time for more people and organizations, especially Congress members,
to ask the Corps for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement,
after
Sabal Trail side-stepped many of the questions
in a 130-page claim that it had already addressed every recent point from
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop GA-02, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Flint Riverkeeper,
and Dennis Price P.G. in recent letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
If karst concerns alone were enough to move Sabal Trail off of the Withlacoochee River in Florida, and the Itchetucknee River, and to move it to a different
crossing for the Santa Fe River, they should be enough to move it off the
Suwannee River, where the conditions are quite similar.
In case anybody wondered whether Sabal Trail is watching the web for anything posted by its opponents, note where Sabal Trail said in its included 6 June 2016 letter to Mark R. Evans of the Corps that it first saw Sanford Bishop’s letter: Continue reading
Join us for a summer morning paddle on the iconic Suwannee River in Florida.
When: 8AM Saturday August 13th 2016
Put in: Roline Launch, 30°33’51.0″N 82°43’30.6″W or 30.564185, -82.725167
Directions: From Jasper: east on CR 6 approx. 15 miles, left on Woodpecker Rd. (Dirt) about 3 miles, follow sign to launch.
Take out: Cypress Creek South Launch
Duration: 7.5 miles, about 4 hours.
Shuttle: Continue reading
Water and property rights are the same when fighting a natural gas pipeline: Georgia Trend understands what Georgia Water Coalition is doing to stop the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline.
Ben Young, Georgia Trend, June 2016,
Sustainable Georgia: Collecting Water,
…Nearly every county can claim scenic waterways — some 15 established water trails are highlighted by the Georgia River Network, with another 17 in the works.
But clean water is vital for more than tourism — as evidenced by the continuing news out of Flint, Mich., and the spectacle of that state utterly failing to provide basic services to residents in a way we are more used to seeing in the Third World.
Closer to home, Georgia lawmakers Continue reading
Did you know there’s an almost mile-long cave system under the Withlacoochee River between Lowndes and Brooks Counties, Georgia?
Valdosta cave-diver Guy Bryant wrote
a fascinating in-depth blog about McIntyre Spring, including this map he drew, and the picture below of him in this cave system that starts in the river bottom.
There’s no land access, so don’t trespass. And don’t try to go in the cave even from boats unless you really know what you’re doing. It’s been visited by some of the most famous cave divers in the world, a couple of whom are no longer with us due to accidents in other underground caverns.
But do please go read Guy Bryant’s blog post. Continue reading
What a gorgeous day. 19 boats, 22 paddlers and 2 dogs made the trip on the Withlacoochee River from Florida Campsites ramp to Suwannee River State Park. The water was so clear we could see all but the very deepest portions of the river bottom. Springs, shoals, rock formations, beautiful scenery and great company made this a day to remember.- cjm
The Pinetta gauge was at 6.8′ (53.3′ NAVD88).
See also pictures on facebook by Continue reading
Here are the winners of the
Fourth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race held Saturday May 21, 2016 at Reed Bingham State Park.
Including four time winner… see below.
On a fine Saturday morning, 34 people paddled, 18 male and 16 female, 19 in kayaks and 15 in canoes.
At this event to benefit Friends of Reed Bingham Park (FORB) and WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS), WWALS board member Bret Wagenhorst officiated as usual, this time assisted in handing out prizes by WWALS PR Committee member Amy Wiegenstein. Other board members of FORB and WWALS were present
Overall winner: Continue reading