Lucille M. Norton Bridge across Grand Bay Creek dedicated 2006-07-09

Here’s a bridge named after a schoolteacher, the Lucille M. Norton Bridge across Grand Bay Creek in Lanier County, Georgia, on GA 31, aka US 221 and Lakeland Highway.

[Lucille M. Norton Bridge]
Lucille M. Norton Bridge

Kenna Walsh, Valdosta Daily Times, July 7, 2006, Updated September 12, 2014, Bridge to be named for Lucille Norton,

LAKELAND — This Sunday, a well known and loved Lakeland teacher will receive an eternal dedication. Lucille Norton, a native of Lanier County who died at age 86, taught home economics in Lakeland for 58 years. This Sunday, the bridge over Grand Bay Pond on U.S. 221 will be named in her honor at a 2 p.m. ceremony in the Lanier County Courthouse.

Continue reading →

Road widening south of Grand Bay, Lakeland Highway, Lightsey Road to Shiner Pond Road 2023-07-18

Watch out for road work on Lakeland Highway across Grand Bay Creek.

[Map and Grand Bay Creek Bridge]
Map and Grand Bay Creek Bridge

The Public Notice doesn’t say when the work will start on GA 31 aka US 221 aka Lakeland Highway, but you have 30 days from yesterday to comment. I will ask for a copy of the application. Meanwhile, the Public Notice is below, and here is the gist of it (I added the links):

State Route 31 from State Route 7 to State Route 135
(GPS Coordinates: 30.97284, -83.10488; 30.90854, -83.18506)

…

The proposed project will impact the buffer of Open Water (OW) 4, OW 13, and OW 31. The project will add passing lanes at four sites in two interconnected corridors along State Route (SR) 31 in Lanier and Lowndes Counties. The project will impact the state mandated 25-ft buffer within the Suwannee Watershed (HUC 03110202). The disturbance will cover 5,903 square feet and include discharging of fill and clearing and grubbing to widen SR 31, culvert replacement, and the installation of Best Management Practices (BMPs).

GA 31 is commonly known as Lakeland Highway, and also as US 221.

The coordinates supplied actually put the southwest end of the road work just east of Lightsey Road aka CCC Road in Lowndes County, and the northeast end east of Shiner Pond Road aka Spells Road CR 12 in Lanier County.

[Map: Lakeland Highway widening in ARWT]
Map: Lakeland Highway widening in the WWALS map of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT)

OW 4, 13, and 31 presumably are numbered for this particular project. I would guess Continue reading →

Another Valdosta River Street Spill into Hightower Creek 2023-07-17

Update 2023-07-21: Clean Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, but warning 2023-07-20.

At least they got the press release out in a more timely manner this time: only the day after the sewage spill. They also included an estimated number of gallons and a sort of precise location, as well as a cause of the spill.

[Map: 1700 River Street into Hightower Creek in WLRWT]
Map: 1700 River Street into Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River
in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Speaking of cause, notice no mention of rain, which is probably because there was no significant rain on Valdosta Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.

Indeed, rain can cause sewage spills, but Valdosta does not seem to have many of those these days, and that’s a good thing. However, Valdosta still has spills for other reasons, mostly related to sewer system infrastructure that was not updated for decades. In recent years the city has spent upwards of $100 million on sewer system fixes, but there is still a long way to go.

This 6,000 gallon sewage spill is in the same place as a 1,170 gallon spill on February 8, 2023.

The Valdosta press release does not name “the creek”, but it’s a branch of Hightower Creek, which runs into Sugar Creek, the Withlacoochee River, and then the Suwannee River. I wonder if the erosion was partly caused by the previous spill.

WWALS received this press release from Valdosta at 5:16 PM today. Which is interesting, because I was in a meeting with City Manager Richard Hardy and Assistant City Manager Catherine Ammons from 2:15 to almost 3 PM, with one of the topics discussed being sewage spills, and they did not mention this spill.

One thing I mentioned to them was that the two previous Valdosta spills (into Knights Creek and into One Mile Branch) finally showed up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report yesterday, after I asked the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) why they had not already appeared. We shall see how long this one takes to show up there.

The Valdosta Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
DATE: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 Continue reading →

Knights Creek tested too high for E. coli before Valdosta reported the latest spill 2023-07-10

Update 2023-07-26: Valdosta notified GA-EPD four days after the latest Knights Creek sewage spill 2023-07-06.

Update 2023-07-18: Another Valdosta River Street Spill into Hightower Creek 2023-07-17.

Valdosta’s own water quality tests of Knights Creek showed way too high E. coli for the day before Valdosta’s press release about its most recent sewage spill into Knights Creek.

[Map and Report]
Map and Report

I don’t know whether these tests were done by Valdosta’s downstream testing contractors or by their in-house people. If the latter, it seems likely that Valdosta knew of these Monday results before the city issued a press release the next day at 6:24 PM Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Yet there is no mention of them in the press release.

Valdosta got even higher results for March 29th, with a note: “Possible cause of high results on 3/29 was substantial rainfall in area.”

But Valdosta also got too-high results for March 30th (above the one-time test limit of 410), on June 13th (above the alert limit of 1,000), and on June 21st (above the one-time test limit). I’m not finding records of rain on Valdosta at all these dates. Plus if that was the cause, why are the too-high results all only for the BELOW location and not the ABOVE location? Has Valdosta had more sewage spills than they have reported?

Speaking of reported, neither this spill nor Valdosta’s previous spill have shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. I have asked GA-EPD about that.

These Knights Creek test results are according to data on the city of Valdosta Utilties Department web pages, 2023 Knight’s Creek Biological Monitoring Results. Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest returns –Valdosta Today 2023-07-14

Valdosta Today, July 14, 2023, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest returns,

HAHIRA — The Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest returns with Chuck Roberts as M.C. plus WWALS River Revue.

Release:

[Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest returns --Valdosta Today 2023-07-14]
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest returns –Valdosta Today 2023-07-14
in Pictures: Portage Big Shoals, Paddle Little Shoals, Suwannee River, by John S. Quarterman, for WWALS.net, 20 May 2023, MC Chuck Roberts, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023

Chuck Roberts returns as M.C. for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest plus WWALS River Revue.

Master of Ceremonies Chuck Roberts says about himself, “I grew up in Quitman and Valdosta, raised by two loving musical parents to enjoy and appreciate ALL kinds of music, because the arts enrich the mind and nourish the soul. Presbyterian Church Minister of Music for over 30 years. St. James Episcopal Soloist for over 25 years. Sang with Botie Chitty and The Singing Americans for 10 years. Recently sang two solos with Ed Barr Orchestra for Turner Center Arts AMERICAN SOUNDTRACK VOL. IX. I have the sweetest wife in the world, Sheila and three beautiful and talented daughters and two talented sons, and a new Golden Doodle puppy.”

“I’m very pleased to welcome Chuck Roberts back again as M.C.,” said WWALS President Sara Jay Jones.

This first-ever WWALS gala is an indoor fundraising gala, with catered sit-down meal, speakers, silent auction, and kayak raffle. It will be held 6-10 PM, Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Follow this link for tickets, sponsorship opportunities, and more:

https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2023/ Continue reading →

Yes Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05

Come help us clean up more trash jams we found last time.

Most of it is legacy trash from Valdosta.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, August 5, 2023

Put In: Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, 6499 Knights Ferry Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.71205, -83.45554

[Floating trash jam 2023-04-08 and on-land trash 2022-12-17]
Floating trash jam 2023-04-08 and on-land trash 2022-12-17

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 →

Slot machines from Mozell’s Place, sea food restaurant, Withlacoochee River, GA-FL line 2023-06-08

Making a deposit down at Citizens Community Bank of Hahira, I was waylaid by Senior VP Charles Henry Hobrat, who revealed what those odd machines are in his office.

[Slots, Mozell's Place]
Slots, Mozell’s Place

They are slot machines from Mozell’s Place, which was a seafood restaurant near the GA-FL line and the Withlacoochee River. That restaurant is why State Line Boat Ramp is commonly referred to as Mozell Spells. Anybody who remembers exactly where the restaurant was, please let me know.

CH said he found those slots in an old barn near Barney, Georgia, in Brooks County. Which is like him: he find all sorts of antique things; I’ve known him since junior high school. He speculated that they may not have been entirely legal in Georgia, and maybe were hidden away before the restaurant closed. Continue reading →

Pictures: Two Mile Branch Berkley Drive Cleanup 2023-03-25

It went well, the joint WWALS and City of Valdosta cleanup of Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive, on March 25, 2023.

Many good things have happened since then.

However, there is still plenty the City needs to do about trash.

[Collage @ Two Mile Branch Cleanup 2023-03-25]
Collage @ Two Mile Branch Cleanup 2023-03-25

Thanks to Bobby McKenzie for leading, neighbor Jan Powell for rustling up some participants and helping at the table, to City Engineer Ben O’Dowd, City Council Tim Carroll, and Mayor Scott James Matheson for helping, along with quite a few other volunteers.

See also facebook photosets and videos by:

Some of the things the Engineer and Mayor promised have happened. Continue reading →

Yet another Valdosta sewage spill, five days ago, at 1800 E. Park Ave., Knights Creek 2023-07-06

2023-07-17: Knights Creek tested too high for E. coli before Valdosta reported the latest spill 2023-07-10.

Update 2023-07-14: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-07-13.

Obviously informing the public of dangers to public health is not a top priority of the City of Valdosta.

[Map: 1800 E. Park Avenue and Knights Creek in ARWT]
Map: 1800 E. Park Avenue and Knights Creek
in the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT)

Valdosta spilled 194,251 gallons of raw sewage, starting about five days ago, and today they get around to telling the public at 6:24 PM.

That’s more than 10,000 gallons, which means it is a major spill.

At least this time, unlike last sewage spill, Valdosta bothered to say how many gallons and a relatively precise location. Yet this spill is not in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, and that last one still is not.

There was no need to put another marker on the ARWT map for this most recent spill, because it is the same location as the series of spills this February. Unlike in February, this today’s press release does name Knights Creek. It does not say Knights Creek flows into Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River, then the Suwannee River to the Gulf.

Still, five days to inform the public? Why, Valdosta? Continue reading →