Category Archives: Weather

Georgia declares State of Emergency for Hurricane Idalia 2023-08-29

Update 2023-08-30: Hurricane Idalia landing in Florida, more Georgia counties on Hurricane Watch 2023-08-30.

The Georgia governor has declared a State of Emergency about Hurricane Idalia for the entire state.

[Georgia State of Emergency, Hurricane Watch Counties 2023-08-29 14:27]
Georgia State of Emergency, Hurricane Watch Counties 2023-08-29 14:27

Like the earlier Florida State of Emergency, this Georgia one mobilizes numerous state agencies and enables cooperation with relevant federal agencies.

The Executive Order does not name any counties, but the press release names almost all the Suwannee River Basin Counties on the GA-FL line (Brooks, Lowndes, Echols, Clinch, Ware, and Charlton), plus Lanier, but not Thomas. Continue reading →

Cancelled: Banks Lake Full Blue Moon Paddle 2023-08-30

Due to Hurricane Idalia heading straight for the Suwannee River Basin, Shirley Kokidko has cancelled tomorrow’s evening paddle on Banks Lake.

She wrote, “Even if the rain stops Wed. evening, gusty winds at the lake could be unsafe for paddlers, especially after dark. The full moon will not be visible with the cloud cover, bats aren’t active during rainy weather either.”

[Cancelled: Banks Lake Full Blue Moon Paddle 2023-08-30]
Cancelled: Banks Lake Full Blue Moon Paddle 2023-08-30

Join us next month for the Banks Lake Full Harvest Moon Paddle 2023-09-29.

More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations

Hurricane Idalia heading for Suwannee River Basin 2023-08-29

Update 2023-08-29: Georgia declares State of Emergency for Hurricane Idalia 2023-08-29.

Hurricane Idalia is now Category 1 and is headed a bit farther west, taking it straight up the Suwannee River Basin.

[Hurricane Idalia probable path cone and collapsed road]
Hurricane Idalia probable path cone and collapsed road

Cat 1 means sustained winds of at least 74 mph, up to 95 mph. Inland it will probably rapidly degrade to a Tropical Storm. That still means 39-73 mph winds.

Before landfall, Hurricane Idalia may strengthen to cat 2 (96-110 mph with extensive damage) or cat 3 (111-129 mph with devastating damage).

I’m going out and securing anything that might turn into a projectile, even though I’m about a hundred miles from the Gulf Coast.

For those who are tired of being warned: this is a hurricane. It’s much better to be prepared than sorry.

I drove up from Gainesville yesterday, and there were already rain gusts strong enough to buffet my car and to cause everyone on I-75 to slow to 45 MPH. When the wind gets up to 50 MPH, you don’t want to be driving, even if you don’t run into flooding or bridges out. At 74 MPH, you want to be inside something solid. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-08-24

Update 2023-08-29: 8,400 gallons of sewage into Dukes Bay Canal, Valdosta, GA, due to unknown obstruction 2023-08-28.

No rain for a week means clean Withlacoochee River, and that’s what WWALS testers found for Thursday.

Crawford Creek was too high in E. coli, but Staten Road and US 41 downstream on the Withlacoochee River were clean, with Franklinville Road pretty clean upstream.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-08-24]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-08-24

We are still short-handed for WWALS volunteer water quality testers. Maybe you’d like to become one.
https://wwals.net/2018/11/16/sign-up-for-water-quality-testing-training/

Only one new sewage spill has been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida: Continue reading →

Rivers clean again 2023-08-17

Update 2023-08-25: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-08-24.

2023-08-23: Valdosta spilled 15,000 gallons of wastewater into Knights Creek 2023-08-22.

After Valdosta’s sky-high Wednesday upstream Withlacoochee River results, WWALS got much better results upstream and down for Thursday samples on the Withlacoochee River plus the Little River. Even the usual problem creeks, Crawford and Sugar, were pretty clean. WWALS Alapaha River Wednesday results were very clean.

We are still short-handed for WWALS volunteer water quality testers. Maybe you’d like to become one. There’s a testing training coming up August 25th at Suwannee River State Park:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

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

There has been no rain today to wash more contamination into the rivers and creeks.

We already rescheduled tomorrow’s Withlacoochee River paddle: Re-reschedule Retry Sugar Creek to Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-09-02.

But so far as we can see in the test results, happy swimming, fishing, and paddling on the rivers this weekend.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-08-17]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-08-17

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and Friday before last downstream.

For Wednesday Valdosta got way too-high results for US 41, GA 133, and US 84.

Thanks to WWALS testers Cindy and David Vedas for testing Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River and creeks bad upstream 2023-08-10

Franklinville Road on the Withlacoochee River above Valdosta was above the one-time test limit for E. coli, as was Crawford Branch, plus Sugar Creek which drains most of Valdosta was even higher, in WWALS sampling for Thursday.

We are still short-handed for WWALS volunteer water quality testers. Maybe you’d like to become one; please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7

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

There has been no rain in the past few days to wash contamination into the rivers and creeks.

Some got in there anyway.

So I’d avoid the upper reaches of the Withlacoochee River, at least avoid above the Little River Confluence.

Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow morning on to paddle Naylor to Mayday on the Alapaha River. Beware: this paddle has many shoals, and is for experts.

[Chart, River and Creeks, Swim Guide 2023-08-10]
Chart, River and Creeks, Swim Guide 2023-08-10

The Sugar Creek result may be due to ongoing effects from Valdosta’s July 17th 6,000 gallon sewage spill into Hightower Creek “behind the Target,” reported as at 1700 block River Street. We have no new Valdosta test results related to that spill.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and Friday downstream.

For Wednesday Valdosta got too-high results for US 41, Continue reading →

Clean rivers, filthy creeks 2023-08-03

Crawford Branch above Valdosta was above the one-time test limit for E. coli, and Sugar Creek which drains most of Valdosta was even higher, above the alert limit, in WWALS sampling for Thursday.

But the Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers tested good.

More WWALS volunteer water quality testers reported this week, but we are still short-handed. Maybe you’d like to become a WWALS tester; please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7

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

Rain fell hard today, but only briefly, so most of the rivers are probably OK for fishing, swimming and boating this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow morning on Yes Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River, filthy Crawford and Sugar Creeks 2023-07-28

Update 2023-08-02: Very bad water quality at US 41 and GA 133 Monday 2023-07-31.

The Withlacoochee River tested good for Friday in WWALS sampling, but Crawford Branch and Sugar Creek were each above the one-time test limit for E. coli.

The Sugar Creek result is presumably due to ongoing effects from Valdosta’s July 17th 6,000 gallon sewage spill into Hightower Creek “behind the Target,” reported as at 1700 block River Street. This follows the disturbing Sugar Creek results Valdosta Utilities told us about Friday a week ago, after which we converted a cleanup paddle into an on-land cleanup.

We do not have any downstream results because the WWALS volunteer water quality testing program is short-handed this week. Maybe you’d like to become a WWALS tester; please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7

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

Rain fell hard today, but only briefly, so most of the rivers are probably OK for fishing, swimming and boating this weekend, although we have no downstream test results to tell.

I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River downstream from Sugar Creek as far as the Little River Confluence.

[Chart, River and Creeks, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-28]
Chart, River and Creeks, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-28

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and Wednesday two weeks ago downstream. For Monday Valdosta got way-too-high results for US 41 Continue reading →

Clean Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, but warning 2023-07-20

Update 2023-07-29: Clean Withlacoochee River, filthy Crawford and Sugar Creeks 2023-07-28.

Update 2023-07-22: Valdosta sewage spills bad for people, wildlife, economy –Suwannee Riverkeeper on WTXL.TV 2023-07-21.

The Alapaha, Little, and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday in WWALS sampling. But there are ongoing effects from a couple of Valdosta sewage spills, plus a new one from Quitman.

Valdosta Utilities tells us of some disturbing results on Sugar Creek, downstream of the Valdosta spill of July 17th and upstream of the Withlacoochee River. (I would publish those test results, but I do not have them in writing.)

Because of those results, we have converted tomorrow’s cleanup paddle to an on-land cleanup.

If you do paddle this weekend, I recommend the Little or Alapaha Rivers, or the Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, or Suwannee.

Also, Quitman had a 12,500 gallon sewage spill on July 11th that was just reported today. That goes into Okapilco Creek into the Withlacoochee River.

No other sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-20]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-20

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday a week ago downstream. For Monday Valdosta got way-too-high results for US 41, GA 133, and US 84 on the Withlacoochee River. WWALS got a much better result for Thursday at US 41. We did not test at GA 133 or US 84, expecting to get Valdosta’s Wednesday results. No such luck.

FYI, GA 133 is on the route the Valdosta Mayor and City Council member were supposed to paddle with us tomorrow. You’d think Valdosta would have tested and reported in a timely manner before that. But they did not.

Meanwhile, Valdosta’s followup testing after its July 6, 2023, 194,251-gallon raw sewage spill into Knights Creek keeps showing way too-high Fecal coliform and E. coli downstream on Knights Creek, which is upstream of the Alapahoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. I have to wonder whether Valdosta has had more spills that it has not reported, possibly because it does not know about them. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-07-13

The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.

River water levels are well within boatable range.

There was rain today, and more is expected tomorrow, so contamination could wash into the rivers.

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

So fish, swim, and boat at your own risk this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow, Withlacoochee Springs and Slough, Sullivan Launch 2023-07-15.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-13]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-13

Valdosta’s major spill of 2023-07-06 still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager two weeks ago promised to look into that.

Ashburn had three spills two weeks ago, one of them major, all finally reported this Wednesday. We’ll post a writeup on those later. Continue reading →