Dollar Tree Trash Pile, 1801 Norman Drive, Valdosta, GA 2022-07-31

Bobby McKenzie reported yesterday, “Well again without wanting to and without trying…I found yet another mother load…”

This one is behind the Target, 1801 Norman Driver, Valdosta, GA 31601.

[Trash, drain, Hightower and Sugar Creeks]
Trash, drain, Hightower and Sugar Creeks

It drains into Hightower Creek, then Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River.

Sure, the WaterGoat near the bottom of Sugar Creek, will probably catch this trash when it gets that far. We thank Valdosta again for buying that WaterGoat, and we look forward to Valdosta’s plan for cleaning it out.

And we are still looking for Valdosta to come up with a plan for education and enforcement of its quite good trash ordinances to get parking lot owners to keep trash from getting off their property and to put out trash cans and keep them emptied, as their own 2010 Stormwater Master Plan said they should do “immediately” twelve years ago.

Sure, people shouldn’t litter. But the fast food outlets sell this single-use packaging, and the parking lot owners let it get into the creeks despite the city ordinances. They should bear responsibility.

The City of Valdosta doesn’t expect volunteers to clean up sewage spills, even though city employees do not produce most of that sewage. Why should volunteers be expected to clean up Valdosta’s ongoing trash spills? Continue reading →

Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up, Alapaha River, Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, 2022-09-24

Update 2022-09-30: Pictures.

Get a Rivers Alive t-shirt for picking up river trash. Come to Berrien Beach Boat Ramp with gloves and trash pickers if you have them. No boat required, but those of us who bring one will also float across to Berrien Beach itself and clean up there, or you can drive across the bridge and get there by land.

When: 9 AM – noon, Saturday, September 24, 2022

Put In: Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, 12496 Highway 168, Nashville, GA 31639, N side of GA 168, right bank, west side of Alapaha River, in Berrien County, Georgia.

GPS: 31.159076, -83.045554

[Volunteers at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, Rivers Alive t-shirt 2020-09-12]
Volunteers at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp, Rivers Alive t-shirt 2020-09-12

Bring: No boat required, but you can bring one if you like, with the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: this WWALS outing is a cleanup. Continue reading →

Valdosta homemade trash trap, detention pond, One Mile Branch, Ashley Street 2022-07-29

Update 2022-09-06: Trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta 2022-10-21.

Update 2022-08-01: Plus a response from the Valdosta Stormwater Manager.

Twelve years late is better than never.

Bobby McKenzie reported Friday:

[Movie, Detention Pond, One Mile Branch, Sugar Creek]
Movie, Detention Pond, One Mile Branch, Sugar Creek

This is a complete shocker! One step closer Continue reading →

Madison Health lifts Withlacoochee River Health Advisory 2022-07-29

Update 2022-08-05: Rivers probably OK water quality 2022-08-04.

Madison Health has lifted its Health Advisory for the Withlacoochee River, after two days of good results.

Crossed in the email: that came in while I was finishing Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28.

[Advisory Lifted, Underlying Data 2022-07-29]
Advisory Lifted, Underlying Data 2022-07-29

The FDOH data is not yet in floridadep.gov/dear/watershed-monitoring-section/content/suwannee-river-basin-sampling-locations, but Lisa B. Hayes of Madison Health emailed them to us, and here they are in the WWALS composite spreadsheet, along with the Valdosta and WWALS results for Wednesday and Thursday. Continue reading →

Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28

Update 2022-08-05: Rivers probably OK water quality 2022-08-04.

Update 2022-07-29: Madison Health lifts Withlacoochee River Health Advisory 2022-07-29.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing on the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Little Rivers this weekend, according to the most recent water quality test results we have.

No significant rain has fallen in the past two days, and none is predicted for the weekend. And no significant new sewage spills have been reported, so chances are good for all weekend.

Madison Health has not yet lifted its Withlacoochee River Health Alert, because they want successive good results. But we call them according to the most recent data we have.

And happy chainsawing and picking up trash tomorrow on the Withlacoochee River next to Valdosta.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-07-28]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-07-28

Valdosta’s results upstream were OK for Wednesday a week ago, Friday, Monday, and this Wednesday, but they were various colors of bad downstream for those same days. Thanks to Scott Fowler of Valdosta Utilities for getting those results updated on Valdosta’s website today. Continue reading →

Valdosta Sewage Spill, Sheri Run, Springhill Drive 2022-07-25

Update 2022-08-12: Another Sheri Run sewage spill, 2022-08-03.

Update 2022-07-29: Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-07-28.

Valdosta had an 840-gallon sewage spill Monday, July 25, 2022. It probably did not affect the Withlacoochee River, but nearby residents may be concerned.

[Detail and area maps]
Detail and area maps

It was about 400 feet upstream on Sheri Run from the Baytree Road spill of July 9th. Continue reading →

FERC Requests Comments on Rulemaking for small inland LNG export facilities

Update 2022-10-26: WWALS response to opposition comments by Eagle LNG about small, inland LNG 2022-10-17.

Update 2022-10-04: WWALS response to FERC on opposition comments of Pivotal LNG about small, inland LNG Rulemaking 2022-10-04.

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.

Update 2022-08-29: FERC must close regulatory gaps in small-scale inland LNG export facilities –Cecile Scofield 2022-08-11.

Hahira Georgia, July 26, 2022 — At the request of WWALS Watershed Coalition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has opened a process that could correct its mistakes of eight years ago when it disclaimed oversight of dangerous compressed methane export facilities as long as they did not load directly onto ocean-going ships. Those decisions produced environmental, safety, and economic problems. The request provides FERC with an opportunity to “revisit” and “revise” those old decisions, as FERC Chair Richard Glick has recommended.

LNG tanker truck, Southbound I-75, 2018-03-26; Photo John S. Quarterman
LNG tanker truck, Southbound I-75, 2018-03-26; Photo John S. Quarterman

Anyone can comment and organizations can intervene on this new FERC docket for potential Rulemaking on Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export. The deadline is September 20, 2022. That’s Docket RM22-21 on ferc.gov. Detailed instructions are below.

Please also contact your state and national elected officials and ask them to ask FERC to resume its oversight.

The Introduction of the Petition lays out the problem we want to get solved: Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Sturgeon Moon Paddle, 2022-08-11

Leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle, probably with bats.

When: Gather 7:15 PM, launch 7:45 PM, moonrise 8:33 PM, sunset 8:19 PM, end 9 PM, Thursday, August 11, 2022

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

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Bat tree, sunset, moonrise, 2022-08-03, Photos: Bobby McKenzie]
Bat tree, sunset, moonrise, 2022-08-03, Photos: Bobby McKenzie

Continue reading →

Madison Health Alert, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-25

Yesterday evening at 7:12 PM we got a Health Alert for the Withlacoochee River from Madison Health. I informed them Friday evening of the WWALS test results for Thursday showing bad water quality at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps.

[Chart, Alert, Swim Guide]
Chart, Alert, Swim Guide

No new sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida, although you can see an old one peeking in from the left on the chart: High Springs 500-gallon sewage spill, mostly cleaned up 2022-07-07. Meanwhile, there was heavy rain Sunday on both sides of Brooks County, Georgia: 2.19″ on the west at Dixie, and 1.57″ on the east on the Withlacoochee River at US 84. So it’s likely there was heavy rain across Brooks County, which quite likely washed more cattle manure into Okapilco Creek and then into the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

Another deadline, August 3, for song submissions to Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 20, 2022

Hahira, GA, July 23, 2022 — Here’s another opportunity for new songs about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin or Estuary, including the Okefenokee Swamp and the Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, and Suwannee Rivers, (but not the Santa Fe River; that has its own contest).

Since we’re told some songwriters experienced technical difficulties, we’re re-opening song submissions yet again for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. “”We know there are musicians out there who share our love for nature – especially for our local waterways. Now is the chance to share that inspiration with everybody!” said Organizing Committee Chair and musician Angela Duncan.

[Flyer]

Here is the entry form: https://forms.gle/A2tpW1c7HJK3Tjuf7

Songwriters, if that form does not work for you, Continue reading →