Category Archives: VLPRA

Pictures: Mayor and Chairmans Paddle 2026-03-07

All 29 paddlers had fun, on the Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Saturday, March 7, 2026.

We went from Troupville Boat Ramp, down the Little River to its Confluence, near where some day will be Troupville River Camp.

Then we went down the Withlacoochee River over some small shoals, to the cleaned-up outflow of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Plant.

And out at Paul Deloach’s Private Boat Ramp; thanks to him for access.

[Pictures 2026-03-07, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Little River and Withlacoochee River]
Pictures 2026-03-07, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Little River and Withlacoochee River

Here are some videos:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QzGPpfQY6qOBC-qQF-M9gex&si=6QY4Fu4LslnLV_6e

Thanks to Continue reading →

Radio: Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper on talk921.com 2026-03-05

Join us on the radio, talk921.com, at 8 AM tomorrow morning, Thursday, March 5, 2026, to hear about the Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper this Saturday.

https://wwals.net/?p=69525

[Radio: talk921.com, 8 AM, Thursday, March 5, 2026, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper]
Radio: talk921.com, 8 AM, Thursday, March 5, 2026, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper

Here’s a facebook event to remind you:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2273100159762397/

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for the generous grant that makes this paddle free for everyone. Thanks to Paul Deloach and The Langdale Company for river access. Thanks to Paul Batts and Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority for shuttle vans. Thanks to Steve Miller for his 4-wheeler for the takeout. And thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this paddle.

Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman may also talk about other current topics such as: Continue reading →

Radio: Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper on talk921.com 2026-03-05

Join us on the radio, talk921.com, at 8 AM tomorrow morning, Thursday, March 5, 2026, to hear about the Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper this Saturday.

https://wwals.net/?p=69525

[Radio: talk921.com, 8 AM, Thursday, March 5, 2026, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper]
Radio: talk921.com, 8 AM, Thursday, March 5, 2026, Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper

Here’s a facebook event to remind you:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2273100159762397/

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for the generous grant that makes this paddle free for everyone. Thanks to Paul Deloach and The Langdale Company for river access. Thanks to Paul Batts and Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority for shuttle vans. Thanks to Steve Miller for his 4-wheeler for the takeout. And thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this paddle.

Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman may also talk about other current topics such as: Continue reading →

Interview: Trails4Valdosta 2026-02-16

Update 2026-03-20: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29 with Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta.

She wants to make 2026 the Year of Outdoor Recreation in Lowndes County. Sound like a fine idea!

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman interviewed Brianna Schawalder about Trails4Valdosta, where her group is clearing hurricane debris from trails in Langdale Park. That’s Trails4Valdosta on Instagram, or trails4valdosta@gmail.com.

[Interview: trails4valdosta, Brianna Schawalder, Langdale Park, 2026-02-16]
Interview: trails4valdosta, Brianna Schawalder, Langdale Park, 2026-02-16

That’s on the Withlacoochee River, off of Hyta Mederer Drive, from North Valdosta Road (US 41), I-75 Exit 22, just west of Valdosta, Georgia. Most of the trails are in Lowndes County, but not in Valdosta. The park extends south slightly past Three Mile Branch, which drains much of North Valdosta Road, as well as Five Points, where the roundabouts are going in.

Here is the interview video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1270068585041228/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVYv6PfiNnt/

https://youtu.be/-rqGj-VcylU

This is the map I referred to, with trails walked by Sev Williams: Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Camps on-land tour 2025-09-27

Many thanks to Edwin McCook, formerly of SRWMD, who invented the Suwannee River Camps, and Nic Brown, who is in charge of them at Florida Parks, as well as Shell Simmons for assisting.

Even more thanks to Lowndes County, Georgia, Chairman Bill Slaughter and Paul Batts of Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) and his wife Melanie for attending.

[Suwannee River Camps, on-land tour 2025-09-27, Dowling Park River Camp, Adams Tract River Camp]
Suwannee River Camps, on-land tour 2025-09-27, Dowling Park River Camp, Adams Tract River Camp

The visitors got to hear from the experts how Florida does it. Many topics were discussed, from access to finances. Continue reading →

Foraged Wreath Make and Take 2025-12-13

Join floral artist Amanda Hall-Phillips for a hands-on wreath-making workshop using natural, foraged greenery—think cedar, pine, eucalyptus, seed pods, cones, vines, and other beautiful finds from our own woods and waterways. You’ll learn how to identify local plants, build a lush, oversized wreath, and style it for the season.

It’s fun and educational. For example, the venue is in the watershed of Sugar Creek, which has had many sewage spills on the way to the Withlacoochee River.

And you’re helping all that WWALS does, including water quality testing!

When: Gather 10 AM, launch NA, end 12 PM, Saturday, December 13, 2025

Put In: Wood Valley Community Center Pavilion, 1907 Gornto Road, Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.849573, -83.323239

[Foraged Wreath Make and Take, Fundraiser 2025-12-13, Amanda Hall-Phillips, Wood Valley Community Center]
Foraged Wreath Make and Take, Fundraiser 2025-12-13, Amanda Hall-Phillips, Wood Valley Community Center

Continue reading →

Former Artesian Spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta, GA 2017-09-16

Excerpted from another post eight years ago. This barely trickling spring is on Sugar Creek, which flows to the Withlacoochee River. It is a cautionary tale for overpumping groundwater.

[Former Artesian Spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta, GA 2017-09-16, On Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River]
Former Artesian Spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta, GA 2017-09-16, On Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River

My father told me there used to be a bath house on River Street west of downtown Valdosta, fed by an artesian well. I remember decades ago there being tumble-down buildings. In recent years I never could locate them.

Turns out that’s because it became John W. Saunders Park, 1151 River Street, Valdosta, Georgia. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-05-29

Update 2025-06-06: Clean Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers 2025-06-04.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean E. coli this week, upstream and down.

Whatever was amiss at Langdale Park last week is gone now. We don’t know the state of Sugar Creek: nobody tested there.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s some chance of rain today, then sunny for the weekend.

So happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend!

[Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-05-29]
Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-05-29

Maybe join us tomorrow for Big Shoals St Pk to Suwannee Wayside, Suwannee River 2025-05-31.
https://wwals.net/?p=67042 Continue reading →

Filthy Langdale Park Withlacoochee River 2025-05-22

Update 2025-05-30: Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-05-29.

The Withlacoochee River tested too high for E. coli for Thursday at Langdale Park, but clean upstream and OK downstream.

Whatever is amiss at Langdale Park, it’s not Sugar Creek, which is downstream. It could be Cherry Creek or Stillhouse Branch coming out of the Country Club. Or it could be coming from septic tanks west of Valdosta and the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County. Or something else that washed in with the spotty rains Wednesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

No rain is predicted until Monday.

So happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend!

[Filthy Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River 2025-02-22, Clean upstream and downstream]
Filthy Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River 2025-02-22, Clean upstream and downstream

Or join us this weekend at Florida Folk Festival in White Springs, Florida, on the banks of the Suwannee River.
https://wwals.net/?p=67238 Continue reading →

Installed: Troupville Boat Ramp water trail signs 2025-04-01

New water trail signs replace the old, shot-up ones at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River just downstream from GA 133.

[Installed: water trail signs at Troupville Boat Ramp, Little River @ GA 133, Thanks, VLPRA & GA-DNR 2025-04-01]
Installed: water trail signs at Troupville Boat Ramp, Little River @ GA 133, Thanks, VLPRA & GA-DNR 2025-04-01

Thanks to Herman Gordon of Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) for coming down to help install the new signs for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

Herman is preparing for the April 19th Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. I think he was relieved that WWALS, Valdosta, and Lowndes County rescheduled it because of high water on the previous date.
https://wwals.net/?p=67242

Thanks to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) that paid for (most of) the cost of these and other signs.

GA-DNR’s own signs about “Clean Your Gear” and “Don’t Release It Here!” have also been shot up. Gordon and I are contacting them about that.

And I’ve already left a message for Lowndes County Public Works about the large potholes on the entrance road. Continue reading →