PDF of Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics in the Upper Suwannee River Basin by Prof. George Vellidis, Crop & Soil Sciences Dept., University of Georgia, Tifton, GA. He used these slides when he discussed the dynamics of dissolved oxygen concentrations in WWALS waterways at the 8 May 2013 WWALS board meeting.
More later.
-jsq
Got pictures of a designated Wilderness Area in Georgia? Send them to the Georgia Sierra Club
by June 1 with $25 for the
2013 Wilderness Georgia Photo Contest
or by November for the
Smithsonian Photocontest 2013
or bring them to the silent auction tomorrow at
the WWALS Janisse Ray fundraiser in Tifton.
A few excerpts: Continue reading
Water issues strongly affect economic development, so I talked about
the new WWALS Watershed Coalition at the
16 April 2013 Board Meeting
of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.
The VDT declined to speak, so I did. After apologizing for no okra today, I commended the Authority for talking about the missing agenda items and for mentioning due diligence and flood control.
Mostly I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition,
www.wwals.net,
incorporated in June 2012, which is about watershed issues
such as flooding, water quality, and invasive species related to the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee,
Alapaha, and Little River System.
I mentioned
arsenic in some local well water,
which
the Department of Health has finally said should be tested,
three years after
Janet McMahan discovered it was a problem.
I invited VLCIA board and staff to two upcoming WWALS events:
WWALS board meetings are every second Wednesday of the month, usually at the IHOP in Adel because it’s centrally located. WWALS is communicating with Valdosta and various organizations about flooding and other watershed-wide issues, which in my opinion have to do with things like too much clearcutting without consideration for where the water goes, too much development without consideration for what the impervious surface would do, (to my surprise, the Executive Director and several board members nodded along with that) so it was good to hear them mention flood containment.
Here’s the video:
Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland, Chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton, Attorney, Tom Davis, CPA, Allan Ricketts, Project Manager,S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 April 2013.
-jsq
American Rivers
released Wednesday its list of
America’s Most Endangered Rivers® 2013,
and our neighbor to the west, the Flint River, is on it.
Some of the Flint’s problems are the same as in our WWALS watersheds,
including
drought and floods.
The writeup doesn’t mention it, but I think
the arsenic wellwater problem
extends over there, too.
The Flint does have Atlanta at its headwaters,
and Flint Riverkeeper and others just had to fight off
a legislative attempt to frack Flint water for Atlanta.
However,
the overpumping problem was apparently already much worse
in parts of our watersheds way back in 1980.
And the Flint doesn’t have
the Lowndes County Commission, which prefers to
close its only public access to the Alapaha River
rather than
listen to 350 people wanting to keep it open for demonstrated
public uses. -jsq
| Flint River, Georgia | Take Action |
At Risk: Water supply for communities, farms, recreation, and wildlifeContinue reading
Threat: Outdated water managementThe Flint River provides water for over one million people, 10,000 farms, unique wildlife, and 300 miles of exceptional fishing and paddling. Despite being in a historically wet area of the country, in recent years many Flint River tributaries are drying up completely and the river’s low flows have dropped dramatically.
American Rivers and Flint Riverkeeper are working in collaboration with diverse partners to restore the flows and health of the Flint. The State of Georgia also has a role to play and must act to protect the Flint in droughts and at all times to safeguard the river’s health for today and future generations.
The Threat
The Flint is a river running dry. The reasons are many, and include
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | PDF of event flyer |
Tifton, GA, April 17, 2013, WWALS Watershed Coalition brings Janisse Ray, a South Georgia naturalist and conservation writer to Tifton for fundraising, food and fun on Saturday May 11th at Blackshank Pavilion, 457 N. Carpenter Road.
A native to South Georgia, Ray writes about the places that are
familiar to us. She is an American writer, naturalist, and environmental
activist. Ray will read to us from some of her works which include:
Ecology of a Cracker Childhood,
Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home,
Between Two Rivers: Stories from the Red Hills to the Gulf,
Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land,
A House of Branches,
Drifting into Darien: a Personal and Natural History of the Altamaha River
and
The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food.
Ray lives and works on a family farm in southern Georgia.
Cost: Family Event $5-Individual/$10-Family
Come paddle the Withlacoochee River from GA 122 to Franklinville, 10 AM 20 April 2013, in the monthly WWALS outing.
Update 2016-02-01: Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman.
Franklinville Road Bridge (closed):
Withlacoochee River:
Continue readingApril Ingle opening Weekend for Rivers 2013:
April Ingle at Chattahoochee Nature Center, talking about the agenda
Continue readingGoogling for Diane Shearer’s “A-lap-a-WHAT?” at Weekend for Rivers by Georgia River Network 31 March 2012, I ran across “Ala…alapa…what?” by Christy Ramsey, 22 Sep 2011.
-jsq
The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) didn’t know there was
a large water problem hereabouts, but now they do, and they want
to take a watershed-wide approach, from the headwaters to the Gulf of
Mexico, including both surface water and aquifer issues,
perhaps starting with redrawing FEMA’s flood maps,
and maybe even including once again funding the state water council.
Thursday 11 April 2013 there was a rather large governmental meeting
organized by USACE in response to
the City of Valdosta’s request of 11 March 2103.
Yesterday,
Valdosta City Council District 5 Tim Carroll sent the appended
list of attendees, augmented by a conversation with him on the phone just now.
We know little else, because no media or private citizens were invited.
Those state and national agencies were brought by:
Continue reading