Trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta, 2022-10-21

Update 2022-10-23: Pictures: Lee St. Detention Pond Cleanup 2022-10-21.

Update 2022-10-18: Or come to this other one, Sunday trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta’s Lee Street detention pond 2022-11-23.

Come help make the creeks and rivers cleaner by stopping trash from getting into them.

We will teach trash (and other) reporting and followup at multiple locations in Valdosta, using Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app.

More people involved will improve public health, quality of life, and eco-tourism, while providing community involvement.

City Council Sandra Tooley will be there to help encourage participants: it’s her district.

We invite all Valdosta City officials, especially Stormwater Division and Public Works, to come instruct us in how it should be done.

[Trash, clean, map]
Trash, clean, map

Continue reading →

Pictures: State Line to Turner Bridge, Suwannee River 2022-03-06

Maybe the most remote section of the Suwannee River, from the GA-FL line to Roline and Turner Bridge: here are pictures of the second day of the WWALS March 5-6, 2022, riverbank camping outing.

[Decamping, GA-FL line, Roline, Turner Bridge]
Decamping, GA-FL line, Roline, Turner Bridge

As usual, expedition leader Shirley Kokidko was worried before we were even on the water. Many thanks for leading this one, Shirley. Continue reading →

Kayakers wanted for TCT7 Mile Swim 2022-09-11

The Eunice Foundation and Valdosta Aquatics are looking for kayak volunteers for the annual TCT7 Mile Swim.

As the swimmers race on Long Pond, here’s your role: “On water to help with water safety, hand out water and watch for course infractinos.”

This is not a WWALS event, but at least two WWALS kayakers have already signed up to help. You could join them to support this worthy event.

[2018 TCT7 Gallery -- TCT7 Mile Swim]
2018 TCT7 Gallery — TCT7 Mile Swim

Sign Up: online

When: 7:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Sunday, September 11, 2022

Where: Lake Park 4H Camp, 6048 4-H Club Rd, Lake Park, GA 31636

Event: facebook

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Good river water quality 2022-09-01

Update 2022-09-09: Tifton sewage spill, Little River 2022-09-04.

All WWALS water quality results for Thursday came in below the one-time test limit of 410 cfu/100 mL. There has been rain, but not as much as it usually takes to wash significant contamination into the rivers. More rain is predicted for the next week, but no more than what we’ve seen this week.

Ashburn got around to reporting two sewage spills this week, but those are both old and on Hat Creek, far upstream from the top of the Alapaha River Water Trail, so probably they did not have much effect on that river.

Starke reported a sewage spill from two manholes, but it was small and not near a waterbody, so it probably had no effect on the Santa Fe River.

So by what we know today, happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend. Conditions could change rapidly, of course.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

Thanks to Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Harvest Moon Paddle, 2022-09-10

Update 2022-09-20: Pictures: Banks Lake Full Harvest Moon 2022-09-10.

Leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle. It’s a Saturday, and it should be cooler, so join us on our watery living room.

When: Gather 6:45 PM, launch 7:15 PM, moonrise 8:17 PM, sunset 7:44 PM, end 9 PM, Saturday, September 10, 2022

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

[Sunset and moonrise, 2020-10-01]
Sunset and moonrise, 2020-10-01

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725 Continue reading →

Videos: Intentional swimming, Suwannee River, Echols County, GA, 2022-03-05

Update 2022-09-06: Pictures: State Line to Turner Bridge, Suwannee River 2022-03-06.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division wants evidence of intentional full-immersion swimming to redesignate river segments from Fishing to Recreational for tighter pollution limits. OK, here are some movies. Plus grandmas in a tree.

[Movie: Full immersion swimming, 16:30:59, 30.6006764, -82.6839565 (161M)]
Movie: Full immersion swimming, 16:30:59, (161M) 30.6006764, -82.6839565

Here is a WWALS video playlist.


Intentional swimming, Suwannee River, Echols County, GA 2022-03-05
30.6006764, -82.6839565
Videos by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.

For more swimming, see the still pictures from the same stretch of the river.

For context, see the WWALS map of the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail. While the SRWT formally runs from White Springs, Florida, to the Gulf, WWALS maps the entire Suwannee River.

For more WWALS outings, see:
https://wwals.net/outings/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Tickets: WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2022-10-22

Tickets are now available on eventbrite for the WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia into Florida and back on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-2022-tickets-411307641227

That’s $20 online until October 15, 2022, then $30 online or at the event.

[Tickets]
Tickets

For everything else about this event, see:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-10-22–boomerang

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2022-10-22

Update 2022-08-31: Tickets now available.

Hahira, GA, August 30, 2022 — Paddle down the Withlacoochee River from Georgia three miles into Florida, and back upstream, in the WWALS Boomerang! Canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards are welcome to register starting at 9 AM, Saturday, October 22, 2022, to be on the water by 10:45 AM. There will be prizes, and food, and drink.

“Bringing the outdoors community together and showcasing the recreational opportunities we have to offer locally, for the fifth year,” said Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie. “You can blaze ahead and take first place overall, or push yourself for a personal achievement on the main course or one of the modified routes. Or just come do a leisurely paddle with like minded outdoor enthusiasts. Remember to make your way back within 2.5 hours.”

[Flyer]
Flyer
PDF

Tickets will be on sale soon, $20 online until October 15, then $30 online or at the event. For tickets and everything else, see:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-10-22–boomerang

State Line Boat Ramp is Continue reading →

Video: One Mile Branch Backflow 2022-08-09

Bobby McKenzie videoed in the rain: One Mile Branch backflowing upstream from Lakeland Avenue, with runoff under and beside the street carrying trash on past Fire Station No. 2 and under E Park Ave.

[One Mile Branch and Fire Station No. 2]
One Mile Branch and Fire Station No. 2

All that rain no doubt scoured trash from all the yards and parking lots around into the creek. One Mile Branch continues down to Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River.

Here’s the video. Continue reading →

FERC must close regulatory gaps in small-scale inland LNG export facilities –Cecile Scofield 2022-08-11

Update 2022-09-19: Comment on FERC LNG Export Rulemaking with Florida Physicians for Social Responsibility 2022-09-20.

Update 2022-09-13: One week left to comment on FERC LNG Rulemaking, deadline 2022-09-20.

Should citizens be expected to pay $33,690 to file a Petition for Declaratory Order just to get FERC to oversee LNG facilities like the law says they should?

Cecile Scofield details many other problems FERC created back in 2014 and 2015 when it abdicated oversight of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export facilities that do not load directly onto onceangoing tanker ships.

[Flaws in FERC's reasoning; citizens cannot be expected to police LNG]
Flaws in FERC’s reasoning; citizens cannot be expected to police LNG

You can also file comments on FERC Rulemakeing for small inland LNG export facilities, started at the request of WWALS et. al. Your comments do not have to be as elaborate as Cecile’s, and you have until September 20, 2022.

Your organization could also intervene on FERC Docket RM22-21, as two organizations have done: Public Citizen and Food and Water Watch.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

FERC Accession Number 20220811-5068 in FERC Docket RM22-21, SMALL-SCALE INLAND LNG EXPORT FACILITIES: FERC MUST CLOSE REGULATORY GAPS (see also PDF)

Purpose of Petition for Rulemaking:

The proposed Rulemaking is needed to clear up ambiguity as to Continue reading →