Category Archives: River

Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition @ VLCIA 2013-04-16

Water issues strongly affect economic development, so I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition at the 16 April 2013 Board Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.

The VDT declined to speak, so I did. After apologizing for no okra today, I commended the Authority for talking about the missing agenda items and for mentioning due diligence and flood control.

Mostly I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition, www.wwals.net, incorporated in June 2012, which is about watershed issues such as flooding, water quality, and invasive species related to the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, and Little River System. I mentioned arsenic in some local well water, which the Department of Health has finally said should be tested, three years after Janet McMahan discovered it was a problem. I invited VLCIA board and staff to two upcoming WWALS events:

WWALS board meetings are every second Wednesday of the month, usually at the IHOP in Adel because it’s centrally located. WWALS is communicating with Valdosta and various organizations about flooding and other watershed-wide issues, which in my opinion have to do with things like too much clearcutting without consideration for where the water goes, too much development without consideration for what the impervious surface would do, (to my surprise, the Executive Director and several board members nodded along with that) so it was good to hear them mention flood containment.

Here’s the video:


Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland, Chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett, Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton, Attorney, Tom Davis, CPA, Allan Ricketts, Project Manager,S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 April 2013.

-jsq

Flint River #2 on American Rivers’ Most Endangered Rivers list

American Rivers released Wednesday its list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® 2013, and our neighbor to the west, the Flint River, is on it. Some of the Flint’s problems are the same as in our WWALS watersheds, including drought and floods. The writeup doesn’t mention it, but I think the arsenic wellwater problem extends over there, too. The Flint does have Atlanta at its headwaters, and Flint Riverkeeper and others just had to fight off a legislative attempt to frack Flint water for Atlanta. However, the overpumping problem was apparently already much worse in parts of our watersheds way back in 1980. And the Flint doesn’t have the Lowndes County Commission, which prefers to close its only public access to the Alapaha River rather than listen to 350 people wanting to keep it open for demonstrated public uses. -jsq

Flint River, Georgia Take Action
At Risk: Water supply for communities, farms, recreation, and wildlife
Threat: Outdated water management

The Flint River provides water for over one million people, 10,000 farms, unique wildlife, and 300 miles of exceptional fishing and paddling. Despite being in a historically wet area of the country, in recent years many Flint River tributaries are drying up completely and the river’s low flows have dropped dramatically.

American Rivers and Flint Riverkeeper are working in collaboration with diverse partners to restore the flows and health of the Flint. The State of Georgia also has a role to play and must act to protect the Flint in droughts and at all times to safeguard the river’s health for today and future generations.

The Threat

The Flint is a river running dry. The reasons are many, and include

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Withlacoochee River at Franklinville 16 April 2013 2013-04-20

Come paddle the Withlacoochee River from GA 122 to Franklinville, 10 AM 20 April 2013, in the monthly WWALS outing.

Update 2016-02-01: Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman.

Franklinville Road Bridge (closed):

Franklinville Road Bridge (closed)

Withlacoochee River:

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Nonpoint Source Pollution biggest water quality problem –EPA

EPA found phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizers, bacteria and other pollutants from urban runoff, plus mercury, in most U.S. rivers and streams. And they didn’t even mention low dissolved oxygen.

Ian Simpson wrote for Reuters, carried by NBC, EPA: More than half of U.S. rivers unsuitable for aquatic life,

Fifty-five percent of U.S. river and stream lengths were in poor condition for aquatic life, largely under threat from runoff contaminated by fertilizers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday.

High levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, runoff from urban areas, shrinking ground cover and pollution from mercury and bacteria were putting the 1.2 million miles of streams and rivers surveyed under stress, the EPA said.

“This new science shows that America’s streams and rivers are under significant pressure,” Nancy Stone, acting administrator of the EPA’s Office of Water, said in a statement.

Twenty-one percent of the United States’ river and stream length was

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Reservoirs for control of stormwater –Tim Carroll

Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll spoke about the need for watershed-wide planning to reduce flooding and provide water for agriculture with distributed flood containment reservoirs. He referred to the materials he sent in advance as well as to some additional data about water quality measurements upstream and downstream of selected points. And he sent an update the next day.

Tim Carroll noted that one thing that was clear from the Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson’s 2010 presentation to the Suwannee-Satilla Water Council about the 2009 flood was that the drainage basin study proposed by that Council (which completed its report and disbanded) still needs to be completed. For that purpose, Hanson had just sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting assistance. Apparently they have partial answer, and they’re also talking the state.

Carroll said that with the renewed attention to flooding problems Continue reading →

Tim Carroll of Valdosta at WWALS board meeting tonight

Valdosta City Council member Tim Carroll will speak tonight at the monthly WWALS Watershed Coalition board meeting at 7:30 PM at the IHOP in Adel (exit 39 from I-75, 1200 W 4th St, Adel, GA, 229-896-2662); the public is invited. In advance he sent the appended letter from the City of Valdosta to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting assistance related to flooding and droughts.

March 11, 2013

William Bailey
Chief of Planning Division
US Army Corps of Engineers – Savannah District Office
100 W. Oglethorpe Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31401

Dear Mr. Bailey,

Over the last several years, the City of Valdosta and neighboring communities have been severely impacted by the increase of flood events that have occurred throughout our region and particularly the drainage basin we are located in. The city recognizes the various levels of responsibility throughout government agencies for flood management and flood control and is interested in furthering the discussions to understand the changes that are occurring and to ensure the protection of our communities from future flood events.

In February 2009, the city began updating its 1996 Master Stormwater Management Plan. In April, just two months later, our county along with 46 counties in south Georgia, experienced historic flooding and were declared disaster areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported

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