Cleaner downstream Withlacoochee River 2024-11-09

Update 2024-11-11: Roads closed after Valdosta flash flood 2024-11-10..

Apparently it’s washing downstream. WWALS tester Russ Tatum got much better E. coli results for Saturday for Holly Point on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

Still best to avoid the Withlacoochee River for a few more days at least. Also, the Withlacoochee and the Alapaha are in Action Stage, so too high anyway.

Better luck with the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers, or the Ichetucknee if any park entrances are open there.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

Or join us Saturday for the Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-11-16. Which may involve boating if the river level doesn’t go back down by then.

[Cleaner downstream Withlacoochee River 2024-11-09 After Valdosta flash flood]
Cleaner downstream Withlacoochee River 2024-11-09 After Valdosta flash flood

Unlike his result for Friday of 1,033, Russ Tatum’s result for Saturday at Holly Point was 4 + 4 + 2 = 10 / 3 = 3.3 * 100 = 333.3 cfu/100mL. Continue reading →

Pictures: Alapaha Station Celebration 2024-11-09

Back at the first festival WWALS ever attended, it was fun. Thanks Jo Ford, Rindy Kennedy, Heather Brasell, and Gretchen Quarterman for helping.

[Alapaha Station Celebration, Alapaha, GA 2024-11-09 Thanks, Rindy, Jo, Heather, and Gretchen]
Alapaha Station Celebration, Alapaha, GA 2024-11-09 Thanks, Rindy, Jo, Heather, and Gretchen

Rindy and Jo moved quite a few kayak raffle tickets, and one small boy insisted on getting one while Heather and I were packing up at the end of the day. That’s only $10 for one or $50 for six tickets. It’s a slightly used Skimmer 128 Hurricane kayak, which lists new for $1,399. The drawing is December 15, so get your tickets now. Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2024-11-08

Update 2024-11-09: Cleaner downstream Withlacoochee River 2024-11-09.

Two WWALS testers got very bad results for Friday on Sugar Creek in Valdosta and for Holly point on the Withlacoochee River down near the Suwannee.

Best to avoid the Withlacoochee River for a few more days at least, because of E. coli. Also, the Withlacoochee and the Alapaha are in Action Stage, so too high anyway.

Better luck with the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers, or the Ichetucknee if any park entrances are open there.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

[Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2024-11-08 Ongoing spills in Valdosta after flash flood]
Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2024-11-08 Ongoing spills in Valdosta after flash flood

The good news: very little more rain has fallen since the Wednesday flash flood.

The bad news: still no report of the remaining sewage spills stopping, and still no sewage spill warning signs in Valdosta. Continue reading →

Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07

Update 2024-11-10: Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2024-11-08.

Valdosta Utilities got bad results for the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 for Wednesday, and WWALS got much worse for Thursday. Plus the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp (also GA 133) tested about as bad for Thursday.

Valdosta reported seven sewage spills, two ongoing. All but one of those spill sites has spilled before. One of the ongoing is at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, so bad news. The other ongoing is at Wainwright Drive, site of numerous previous spills, now with two (2) manholes spewing sewage.

The good news for Valdosta is that with the Little River sky-high E. coli reading being about as high as the one for the Withlacoochee River, not all of the contamination can be coming from Valdosta, because the Little River is not downstream from Valdosta.

The foot of rain on Valdosta from the fringe of Hurricane Rafael that caused all this has also raised the Withlacoochee River into Action or Minor Flood Stages, and the Alapaha River at Statenville is heading for Action Stage.

So if you want to paddle, motor, fish, or swim this weekend, I’d avoid the Little, Withlacoochee, or Alapaha Rivers. Better luck with the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers, or the Ichetucknee if any park entrances are open there.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

[Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07 Also flooding after a foot of rain]
Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07 Also flooding after a foot of rain

Continue reading →

Manholes spewing sewage into One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive, Valdosta, GA 2024-11-08

Update 2024-11-08: Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07.

Scotti Jay wrote today, “Day 2 of the sewage fountain on Wainright Dr. One Mile Branch that flows to Sugar Creek>Withlacoochee River>Suwannee River>Gulf of Mexico. Approaching 72 hours since the heavy rains and no warning signs installed by the city. No public notice. Nothing…”

[Manholes spewing sewage into One Mile Branch, Wainwright Drive Valdosta, GA, second day, 2024-11-08]
Manholes spewing sewage into One Mile Branch, Wainwright Drive Valdosta, GA, second day, 2024-11-08

He’s referring to the foot of rain that fell on Valdosta Wednesday and Thursday, 6-7 November 2024, causing flooding and bridge and school closures.

Valdosta City Schools posted on Thursday morning a list of streets closed, as did the City of Valdosta, Lowndes County Schools, and the Georgia Department of Transportation.

WWALS posted yesterday about yet another ongoing sewage spill at Knob Hill Road: pictures and video.

Only today do we finally get a report by the City about seven sewage spills, two still ongoing, including at Wainwright Drive. Why couldn’t the City let everyone know about sewage spills as soon as they knew? Warning people not to drive into flood waters is important, but why is telling people about contaminated waterways not as urgent?

As Scotti asks, why no sewer spill warning signs?

Why has that manhole at Wainwright Drive not been fixed yet? We were complaining about it back in 2021 and before. The same location (and many of the others of this time) spilled Hurricane Debby.

The builder put in another, higher, manhole. But they did not remove the old one. And in these videos you can see both manholes still spewing sewage.

These are not criticisms of Valdosta Utilities or its Director. They are questions for the City Manager, Mayor, and Council, about their priorities.

Here’s a playlist of the videos Sara Squires Jones took today:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-Qz6Ljyu3iNBI2tsx_3kqHD3&si=x91G0JX49wonCNeb Continue reading →

Valdosta reports seven sewage spills, two ongoing 2024-11-08

Update 2024-11-12: Valdosta sewage spills contained after flash flood 2024-11-11.

Update 2024-11-08: Manholes spewing sewage into One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive, Valdosta, GA 2024-11-08.

Received via email at 11:11 AM this morning: “Although most of the discharge is primarily stormwater, residents are urged to avoid contact with rivers, creeks, streams, or tributaries until further notice.”

[Seven sewage spills, two ongoing, Valdosta, GA, including the Withlacoochee WWTP 2024-11-08]
Seven sewage spills, two ongoing, Valdosta, GA, including the Withlacoochee WWTP 2024-11-08

WWALS has some evidence that there is substantial E. coli in the water. Stay tuned for that.

Meanwhile, it looks like adding another catch basin at Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) would have been a good idea after all.

And I’d like to know, why did the City of Valdosta only inform the public about these spills more than a day after they started?

This is not a criticism of the Valdosta Utilities Department or its Director, who I continue to maintain is doing much more than his predecessors.

This is a question for the City Manager, Mayor, and Council.

Valdosta City Schools informed the public quickly about road closures. (Nevermind why Schools and not Public Works or the City’s Public Information Officer.)

Why did the City not inform the public as quickly about sewage getting into the waterways?

Everybody knows there are spills. WWALS already posted pictures and video of the Knob Hill Road spill. But we didn’t know about all of them.

So, tell us, top of the Valdosta City government, why didn’t you inform everyone?

If it’s appropriate today to warn people to stay away from the waterways, why wasn’t that appropriate yesterday?

Will you inform the public next time?

There will be a next time. Sure, this flash flood as a side effect of Hurricane Rafael is unusual. But so was Cat 2 Hurricane Helene. And Hurricane Debby before that. And Hurricane Idalia before that.

None of us can pretend any of that won’t happen again, or worse. The City of Valdosta can keep us all better informed.

City of Valdosta Experiences Significant Rain Event and Flooding, Resulting in Overwhelmed Sanitary Sewer and Stormwater Systems

Continue reading →

More Knob Hill Road sewage spills, Three Mile Branch, Valdosta 2024-11-07

Update 2024-11-08: Valdosta reports seven sewage spills, two ongoing 2024-11-08.

After many previously at the same location, this morning at 8:15 AM Richard A. Stalvey reported about 215 and 300 Knob Hill Road: “Heavy sewage spills at above addresses in Worthington Woods. I let the city know a few minutes ago.”

[More Knob Hill Road sewage spills 2024-11-07, Three Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA]
More Knob Hill Road sewage spills 2024-11-07, Three Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA

This afternoon he sent this video of sewage spewing out of a manhole and running into a ditch which goes to Three Mile Branch in Langdale Park and on to the Withlacoochee River.

If you see or smell a spill, or a flooded road or other concern, please send it to us and report it on Valdosta Click-n-Fix.
https://wwals.net/report/
https://www.valdostacity.com/report-a-concern

Probably there are other spills due to the foot of rain on Valdosta last night.

Notice Continue reading →

Twelve inches of rain on Valdosta causes flooding and bridge and school closures 2024-11-07

Update 2024-11-11: Roads closed after Valdosta flash flood 2024-11-10.

Update 2024-11-07: More Knob Hill Road sewage spills, Three Mile Branch, Valdosta 2024-11-07.

Flooding after hurricane: that’s what Valdosta got with 12 inches of rain overnight, November 6-7, 2024. This was apparently a long-distance of Hurricane Rafael in the Gulf. Only Valdosta got this foot-deep rain; nowhere else in the Suwannee River Basin.

Valdosta City Schools and Scintilla Charter Academy are closed today, and Lowndes County Schools are open.

South Health District Lowndes County will open late at noon. Lowndes County State Court arraignments are cancelled for today.

Lanier County got more than 6 inches of rain, but we have not heard of any roads closed or other closures in Lakeland or Lanier County.

We have not (yet) gotten any confirmed reports of sewage spills.

If you do see or smell a spill, or a flooded road or other concern, please send it to us and report it on Valdosta Click-n-Fix.
https://wwals.net/report/
https://www.valdostacity.com/report-a-concern

[Twelve inches of rain, Valdosta flooding 2024-11-07, Houses flooded, roads closed, Valdosta Schools closed; Lowndes open]
Twelve inches of rain, Valdosta flooding 2024-11-07, Houses flooded, roads closed, Valdosta Schools closed; Lowndes open

There is severe flooding in several areas, including the Chadwyck Subdivision, which is on Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30

Update 2025-04-03: BMAP Webinars: Lower and Middle Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, Silver and Rainbow Springs 2025-04-10.

I got to the Suwannee Basin BMAP meeting late, because I had been at SRWMD HQ talking about water trails. Still, this seemed sparsely attended.

[Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30 Much like Santa Fe BMAP and no closer to solutions]
Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30 Much like Santa Fe BMAP and no closer to solutions

Other than a few IFAS people, almost everybody there seemed to be the same usual suspects from the Santa Fe BMAP meeting two days before in Lake Butler. So that was an opportunity to talk to many of them without much interruption.

I promised them some comments, which I will send to Chandler B. Keenan <Chandler.B.Keenan@FloridaDEP.gov>

For example, asking why SRWMD made no mention of the Manatee Springs BMAP when issuing an ERP for a road in the area of the big PUD rezoning that Chiefland City Commission approved mostly in flood zones next to Long Pond, in the springshed of Manatee Springs. Continue reading →

Road Signs, Mayday Landing, Echols County, Alapaha River Water Trail 2024-10-31

Update 2025-03-12: Mayday Landing ARWT Signs 2025-02-26.

For Halloween, I went to the Tifton GDOT sign shop and picked up the road signs for Mayday Landing.

[Mayday Landing, Echols County, ARWT 2024-10-31, Alapaha River Water Trail, Road signs from GDOT with GA-DNR grant]
Mayday Landing, Echols County, ARWT 2024-10-31, Alapaha River Water Trail, Road signs from GDOT with GA-DNR grant

Thanks to Kayla R. Hancock, Sign Supply Supervisor, GDOT Tifton (pictured on the right), for organizing this.

[Alapaha River Water Trail, Mayday Landing, Echols County]
Alapaha River Water Trail, Mayday Landing, Echols County

This is one set. The other set is the same, except the arrow points in the other direction. Each came with a 12-foot steel post, a 48-inch foundation stub, and nuts and bolts.

Thanks to Ouicia Jolly, Recreational Trails Program Coordinator, Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR), for organizing the grant program that is reimbursing 80% of the cost of these signs and for the rack cards and the at-water signs, with 10-foot 4×4-inch posts, scews, and Quikrete.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/