Category Archives: Trash

Valdosta will maintain Berkley Drive trash trap 2023-02-22

The City of Valdosta says it will maintain its forthcoming trash trap location on Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive.

[Picture and Map, Two Mile Branch @ Berkeley Drive]
Picture and Map, Two Mile Branch @ Berkeley Drive

City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd also write that the city had cleaned up some trash there with a vac truck. He thanked volunteer Russell Allen McBride for his cleanup of the trash trap on Sugar Creek.

WWALS thanks the Engineer and the City for all those things.

These are some small steps towards keeping trash out of the Withlacoochee River, for example out of the path of next week’s Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. Continue reading →

Valdosta promises an upgraded Watergoat; offers no plan for cleaning it out or nearby woods 2023-02-17

Update 2023-02-22: Valdosta will maintain Berkley Drive trash trap 2023-02-22.

Valdosta City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd says Valdosta has purchased an upgraded Watergoat trash trap, to be installed in approximately March.

It will go in Sugar Creek, he says, and the old one will go into Two Mile Branch below Berkley Drive.

[Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash]
Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash

That’s all good. Thanks for doing that, Engineer O’Dowd, and City of Valdosta.

But he did not mention any plan for cleaning out that new trash trap location on Two Mile Branch. Remember, Continue reading →

Pictures: A boatload of tires out of Sugar Creek 2020-10-10

We got 577 pounds of trash and a bunch of tires out of Sugar Creek, as part of the River and Creek Cleanup, Lowndes County, Valdosta, and WWALS 2020-10-10. Probably more than that; that number is from one record sheet.

[Tire boat, trash ashore and recorded]
Tire boat, trash ashore and recorded

WLRWT, Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, Withlacoochee River, Special thanks to Bobby McKenzie, Scotti Jay, Tom Potter, Sara Jay, Elizabeth Brunner, and Joe Johnson, among WWALS regulars, plus at least seventeen more volunteers. And thanks to Current Problems for coming up from Gainesville, Florida, to help.

This was a very productive cleanup, getting some trash out of Sugar Creek before it got to the Withlacoochee River. It makes Continue reading →

Pictures: Trash at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2023-02-09

Will Hart and Amy Meyers got some interesting pictures at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp while practicing their new skill of water quality testing.

Really, boaters and outdoor partiers, leaving the places like this does not encourage people to paddle on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

[Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, trash, firepit, underwear]
Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, trash, firepit, underwear

I know Lowndes County Litter Control comes by weekly and cleans up. But people who leave this mess are wasting tax dollars with extra work.

The individual pictures are below. Continue reading →

Dukes Bay Canal Trash 2023-02-12

Not just for the Withlacoochee River! There’s Valdosta trash in Dukes Bay Canal, which drains to the Alapaha River.

Valdosta Stormwater Division did remove trash from culverts near Southside Recreation Center, one somebody reported them via Click ‘n’ Fix. Then they declared the problem fixed, archived the tickets, and left trash floating in Dukes Bay Canal.

[Tire, Dukes Bay Canal, Church's, Map]
Tire, Dukes Bay Canal, Church’s, Map

I know Valdosta’s liability insurance does not cover any city employee getting into water. That’s right: Stormwater can’t get in water. But it’s hard to believe they don’t have long-handled nets that would reach halfway across the canal from each side.

Plus, how about find out where the trash is coming from, and stop it at the source? There’s a hint below.

The Oak Street location is in Valdosta City Council District 3, Thomas B. McIntyre, Sr.

The Toombs Street and Bay Street locations are in District 2, Sandra Tooley. Continue reading →

Two Mile Branch Trash 2023-02-11

Update 2023-02-18: Valdosta promises an upgraded Watergoat; offers no plan for cleaning it out or nearby woods 2023-02-17.

Lots of trash is on land owned by the City of Valdosta at Berkley Drive, upstream on Two Mile Branch, especially after the recent rains.

[Trash and fire extinguisher, Two Mile Branch 2023-02-11]
Trash and fire extinguisher, Two Mile Branch 2023-02-11

This is in City Council District 5, Tim Carroll.

I’ve heard that the city goes out and cleans this up, but it just comes back. If I were them, I’d start to wonder where it’s all coming from, and how to stop it. Like maybe by enforcing the city’s own ordinances prohibiting letting trash escape parking lots, and requiring trash cans.

The yellow lines in this map outline city-owned tracts of land. Continue reading →

Getting an upgrade: Valdosta’s Lee Street Detention Pond Trash Trap 2023-02-09

Bobby McKenzie reports, “So the trash trap at Lee Street pond is getting an upgrade…”

No doubt everyone agrees with Bobby when he says, “Hope it works!”

[Looking upstream, Lee St. trash trap construction, --Bobby McKenzie 2023-01-09]
Looking upstream, Lee St. trash trap construction, –Bobby McKenzie 2023-01-09

He elaborates: Continue reading →

Valdosta needs more trash traps, but can’t expect volunteers to clean them 2023-01-26

Just to see if Russell Allen McBride had changed his mind since December, I asked him again as he waded in to clean out the Sugar Creek WaterGoat: if Valdosta finally buys more trash traps like they’ve been promising for many months, will he clean them out?

Answer: not unless the city makes that his full time job.

[Russell waist-deep in the trash]
Russell waist-deep in the trash

He also mentioned that the recent big rain washed some trash over the current WaterGoat, so Valdosta needs a better model for this location, which is on Sugar Creek just upstream from the Withlacoochee River.

See the video on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/941601463886544

Or on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/y5Zi8es3nLI


Video by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc., 2023-01-26

For much more about the trash situation, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/trash Continue reading →

Phosphate and titanium mining, water withdrawals, and trash @ NCFRPC 2023-01-26

The North Central Florida Regional Planning Council had several public speakers cram topics into their three minutes each.

[Phosphate and Titanium Mines, and Trash @ NCFRPC 2023-01-26]
Phosphate and Titanium Mines, and Trash @ NCFRPC 2023-01-26

Two directly-affected women and Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, a board member of Our Santa Fe River (OSFR), talked about the Cornerstone Crossings mega development on top of Clay Hole Creek and Cannon Creek confluence, a part of the Ichetucknee Trace, which is in the Southwest quadrant of I-75 and SR 47 Hwy interchange, due south of Lake City in Columbia County, Florida. Merillee wondered about the development’s water withdrawal permit, and how much PFAS it might unleash into the waterways and the underlying Floridan Aquifer. She displayed LiDAR maps she got from SRWMD that clearly show the Ichetucknee Trace. Continue reading →

Fourth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2023-03-04

Update 2023-03-03: Clean Rivers 2023-03-02.

Update 2023-03-03: Early takeout for Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle: DeLoach Private Boat Ramp 2023-03-03.

Update 2023-03-01: Boats provided by State Line River Outfitters at Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle 2023-03-04.

Update 2023-02-22: Good water levels for Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle 2023-02-22.

Update 2023-02-16: River Low, Action, and Flood Stages 2023-02-16.

Update 2023-02-15: Paddling in the treetops 2023-02-13 and for real two years ago 2021-02-27 2023-02-13. Don’t worry: the water level should come back down before this year’s paddle date.

Valdosta, Georgia, January 30, 2021 — Join us March 4th for this annual eleven-mile river paddle, past the future site of Troupville River Camp and Nature Park, along the west side of the most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin, past Valdosta’s clean outfall of its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, with many creeks, oaks, cypresses, pines, fish, turtles, and maybe an alligator, down to Spook Bridge, so scary it has its own movie.

“Come on down to where I used to fish as a child, and with my children!” said Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter. ”This event allows our residents to come out and explore the natural beauties of Lowndes County while enjoying our waterways.”

“I am excited to partner once again with WWALS, plus this time with Lowndes County, to show people our fabulous blackwater rivers, only a few miles from City Hall and VSU,” said Valdosta Mayor Scott James. “After the largest infrastructure project and single largest financial commitment in the history of our City was made toward a completely modern sewer system, we are now exploring the next phase toward beautifying our area waterways. Council and City staff will be addressing the most cost effective way to educate our citizens and eliminate the trash littering our streets that eventually makes into our creeks and rivers. The fight will begin with further education of our friends and neighbors combined with additional focus from City staff and volunteers. I invite everyone to come out and join us for a day of fellowship on the river!”

“Welcome to this one of our many paddles,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman. “We have at least one daytime river paddle a month, in Florida or Georgia, plus an evening Full Moon paddle at Banks Lake, near Lakeland, GA. If you’re ill in any way, please stay home.”

[Paddlers on the Withlacoochee River, Photo: John S. Quarterman 2022-02-19]
Paddlers on the Withlacoochee River, Photo: John S. Quarterman 2022-02-19

Come as early as 8 AM, Saturday, March 3, 2023, to Troupville Boat Ramp, Continue reading →