Back again after several years, Rachel Grubb came from Lake City, Florida, with her song, Cruising Down the Suwannee, and won not only Best Americana Indie-Folk Song, but also First Prize, in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024.
She got plaques for both, and a $300 check for First Prize.
Here are videos of her song and her awards:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QwHgcxLdwOzUQNJDAj4zEi3&si=S6_kNrttvtPm5nd3 Continue reading
An old Civil War law in the way of paddling, motoring, fishing, and swimming,
on WKUB radio from Blackshear, Pierce County, Georgia,
starting at 1:10 in the audio:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-10–wkub-navigable/2000-thurs-am-news.mp3
A meeting of the Georgia House Navigable Streams Committee scheduled for Friday in Nahunta has been postponed due to the anticipated effects from Hurricane Milton.
It was set to take place at Strickland’s Lodge on the Satilla River in Nahunta.
![[Georgia House Navigable Streams Committee Postponed 2024-10-10 -- Suwannee Riverkeeper on WKUB radio]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-10--wkub-navigable/many.jpg)
Georgia House Navigable Streams Committee Postponed 2024-10-10 — Suwannee Riverkeeper on WKUB radioThat committee is currently taking public comment on the legislative efforts to name sections of some of the state’s 64 streams and rivers as navigable and open to the public for boating, fishing, and hunting.
Right now an old Civil War law prohibits a lot of that from happening.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John Quarterman, who was eager to see changes in the present laws, says that postponing the meeting was the right thing to do.
jsq: …which is all sensible, I think. I had thought of asking them, could you, at least, delay this? Because I’ve been asking county commission members and city council members, and naturally they’ve been telling me they’re kind of busy with still doing cleanup, and so this is a good thing, I think.
Continue reading
Update 2024-10-16: Clean Alapaha River 2024-10-13.
There has been very little rain since Hurricane Helene. Hurricane Milton brought rain only to the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers. By what data we have, the rivers are probably clean.
The weather report is sunny and cool for the next week, although you never know what might blow in off the Gulf or the Atlantic.
Many national, state, and local parks are still closed, especially on rivers.
https://wwals.net/?p=65987
The Santa Fe River is in flood or Action Stage along much of its length, and the Suwannee River is in Action Stage from Branfrod most of the way to the Gulf.
The Withlacoochee River is still in Action Stage at Lee, but below that upstream. The Alapaha River is still in Moderate Flood at Statenville and Jennings, but below Action Stage upstream.
Power is back on most places, but there are still some road obstructions and many put-ins are closed or flooded.
If you paddle, motor, fish, or swim this weekend, be careful.
Afterwards, there will be plenty of more opportunities for pleasant paddles and chainsaw cleanups.
We have a Banks Lake Full Hunters Moon paddle scheduled for this Thursday, but Banks Lake is closed indefinitely due to unstable trees, so we shall see.
Continue readingThe wide-ranging discussion included crackers as whip-cracking cow-herding illegal immigrants, ferries, bridges, and Old Coffee Road, when well-known local historian and naturalist Chris Adams gave a WWALS Webinar about how people used waterways in the Suwannee River Basin, Native Americans and Early Settlers, by zoom, Thursday, September 12, 2024.
He runs the facebook pages
Turtleman Chris Adams
https://www.facebook.com/1GATurtleman/
and Wiregrass Ecological and Cultural Project.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079482833584
Here is the video:
https://youtu.be/db0H8D0tsmc Continue reading
David Rodock, from Adel, Georgia, played his song, “Monlight Echoes,” and won Best Pop Country Folk Song, and Best Song from Inside the Suwannee River Basin, in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2024.
He got awards for both plaques, and a $100 check for Inside.
Here are videos of his song and his awards:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QzKf-RMAMhF8j3OPnpJ62uu&si=7Vs-eNyl88mbwESh
He got written up in his hometown newspaper: Continue reading
Register today, Monday, October 7, 2024, if you’re not already, so you can vote for clean water.
![[Last day to register to vote: today 2024-10-07. In Florida and Georgia. Vote for clean water.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-07--register-to-vote/many.jpg)
Last day to register to vote: today 2024-10-07. In Florida and Georgia. Vote for clean water.
In Georgia, register here: Continue reading
Update 2024-10-12: Apparently clean Withlacoochee River 2024-10-10.
WWALS tester Russ Tatum got very good water quality for Friday at Holly Point, on the Withlacoochee River downstream of Allen Ramp, near the Suwannee River.
That matches what Valdosta got for Wednesday at GA 133 and US 84.
https://wwals.net/?p=65999
Even though rainwater from Hurricane Helene has apparently diluted or washed downstream any contamination that washed in, this is not a good weekend or week for boating.
Flooding is still rising downstream on the Alapaha, Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers; see below.
The weather report has changed. Upstream, it’s spotty rain today (Sunday) and Wednesday. Downstream, it’s rain all week, due to incoming Hurricane Milton, expected to make landfall near Tampa Wednesday or Thursday.
Many national, state, and local parks are
still closed after Hurricane Helene, especially on rivers.
https://wwals.net/?p=65987
Afterward the new Hurricane Milton, there will be plenty of more opportunities for pleasant paddles and chainsaw cleanups.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) updates its Sewage Spills Report on weekdays, and the same for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)’s Public Notice of Pollution (PNP), so if there have been any new sewage spills since Friday, we don’t know about them. Continue reading
Update 2024-10-06: Clean Withlacoochee River, but some stretches flooding, and more rains coming 2024-10-04.
Valdosta’s Wednesday water quality samples show the Withlacoochee River clean after Hurricane Helene. Valdosta’s Wednesday a week ago samples corroborate clean before Helene, matching WWALS testing.
There are no new WWALS test results, because none of us have had electricity, which is needed to incubate the samples at 95 F for 24 hours. Two WWALS testers have power back, so maybe some new results soon.
The weather report is sunny for the next week, although you never know what might blow in off the Gulf or the Atlantic.
Many national, state, and local parks are closed, especially on rivers.
https://wwals.net/?p=65987
Upstream rainfall now running downstream is causing widespread river flooding.
See separate report on the Alapaha River.
https://wwals.net/?p=65990
If you can, please stay home until the power and road situations are better.
Afterwards, there will be plenty of more opportunities for pleasant paddles and chainsaw cleanups. Continue reading
Update 2024-10-06: Corrected location of Valdosta Ponderosa Lift Station (1001 Ponderosa Drive).
Update 2024-10-04: Clean Withlacoochee River after Hurricane Helene, but much flooding and storm damage 2024-10-02.
Tifton spilled 1.375 million gallons of raw sewage during Hurricane Helene, 950,000 into a creek that goes to the Little River, and the rest into creeks that go to the New River above the Withlacoochee River.
Sycamore spilled 350 gallons above Hat Creek, above the Alapaha River.
According to Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes, Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons due to a tree falling on a lift station, above Knights Creek, which goes to Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. He said he has reported it to GA-EPD. Perhaps it will appear Monday in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.
I would avoid the directly-affected creeks. But these are all so far upstream of their rivers that the rivers were probably not much affected.
But you might check with Reed-Bingham State Park for their latest lake contamina tion report before swimming there. Continue reading
Update 2024-10-04: Clean Withlacoochee River after Hurricane Helene, but much flooding and storm damage 2024-10-02.
The Alapaha River already flooded at Irwinville, Georgia and is back down. It is still in Minor Flood at Alapaha and Lakeland. If you are near the Alapaha River between US 82 and US 84, you may want to consider heading for higher ground. However, at Lakeland the river has crested and is dropping.
The river soon will be in flood at Statenville, Georgia, and Jennings, Florida. However, all of the bridges are still open.
You can see all the Alapaha River gauges at a glance on the WWALS web page Alapaha River water levels. Continue reading
![[Rachel Grubb, Lake City, FL, 2024-09-07, Best Americana Indie-Folk Song, First Prize: Cruising Down the Suwannee, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--grubb-first-prize/fbmany.jpg)
![[Apparently clean Withlacoochee River 2024-10-10 Flooded Santa Fe River and lower Suwannee, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-10--wq/many.jpg)
![[Video: How Native Americans and, and Early Settlers used Waterways, Featuring Crackers and Old Coffee Road --Chris Adams, WWALS Webinar 2024-09-12]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-12--chris-adams-settlers-waterways-wwals-webinar-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[David Rodock, Adel, GA, Best Pop Country Folk Song 2024-09-07, Best Song from Inside the Basin, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-07--rodock-pop-inside/fbmany.jpg)
![[Clean Withlacoochee River, but downstream Alapaha, Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers rivers flooding from Hurricane Helene, and more rains coming from Hurricane Milton.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-04--wq/many.jpg)
![[Tifton spilled 1.375,000 gallons, Sycamore 350, during Hurricane Helene. Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons, tree on lift station.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-27--spills/many.jpg)
![[Alapaha River Flooding, Alapaha and Lakeland 2024-10-03, Soon at Naylor and Statenville, Then Jennings]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-03--alapaha-river-flooding/fbmany.jpg)