Lowndes County Litter Crew, JLH Beach, Folsom Bridge Landing, Little River @ GA 122 2023-08-23

I caught the Lowndes County Litter Crew on site, at Folsom Bridge Landing, on the Little River west of Hahira on GA 122, on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

[Lowndes County Litter Crew and beach deadfalls, Folsom Bridge Landing, Little River @ GA 122]
Lowndes County Litter Crew and beach deadfalls, Folsom Bridge Landing, Little River @ GA 122

Earlier this year they won a Georgia statewide award. They pick up weekly at all the public river access points in Lowndes County, also on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT). I thanked the litter crew for doing that.

And I thank Lowndes County Public Works for their longstanding agreement with WWALS that they will pick up bagged trash we leave at boat ramps after cleanups.

The Litter Crew was using their RV down towards the river. Continue reading →

Georgia declares State of Emergency for Hurricane Idalia 2023-08-29

Update 2023-08-30: Hurricane Idalia landing in Florida, more Georgia counties on Hurricane Watch 2023-08-30.

The Georgia governor has declared a State of Emergency about Hurricane Idalia for the entire state.

[Georgia State of Emergency, Hurricane Watch Counties 2023-08-29 14:27]
Georgia State of Emergency, Hurricane Watch Counties 2023-08-29 14:27

Like the earlier Florida State of Emergency, this Georgia one mobilizes numerous state agencies and enables cooperation with relevant federal agencies.

The Executive Order does not name any counties, but the press release names almost all the Suwannee River Basin Counties on the GA-FL line (Brooks, Lowndes, Echols, Clinch, Ware, and Charlton), plus Lanier, but not Thomas. Continue reading →

8,400 gallons of sewage into Dukes Bay Canal, Valdosta, GA, due to unknown obstruction 2023-08-28

Update 2023-09-08: Filthy upstream Withlacoochee, clean downstream and Little and Alapaha Rivers 2023-09-07.

Update 2023-09-03: This spill finally showed up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report on 2023-09-01. I don’t know why it took Monday to Friday to appear. I will inquire.

Slightly less than a major spill, and for once not due to collapsed infrastructure: yes, another Valdosta sewage spill.

This one went into Dukes Bay Canal, then Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River.

[Valdosta 819 Bunche Dr. spill and Dukes Bay Canal East in WWALS ARWT map]
Valdosta 819 Bunche Dr. spill and Dukes Bay Canal East in the WWALS map of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT)

Points to Valdosta for getting a press release out the same day as a spill, which I don’t recall ever happening before. Also for a specific street address. And for keeping it below the 10,000 gallons of a major spill.

[Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman]
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman

Of course, as I told WTXL TV about a previous Valdosta sewage spill, “There have been a number of things they’ve done better lately, they don’t have as bad or as frequent spills as they used to. The ideal number however is none.”

And neither this spill nor the previous one have yet shown up in the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) Sewage Spills Report.

Meanwhile, add one to Valdosta’s previous nine sewage spills this year.

Received 4:14 PM yesterday. Continue reading →

Cancelled: Banks Lake Full Blue Moon Paddle 2023-08-30

Due to Hurricane Idalia heading straight for the Suwannee River Basin, Shirley Kokidko has cancelled tomorrow’s evening paddle on Banks Lake.

She wrote, “Even if the rain stops Wed. evening, gusty winds at the lake could be unsafe for paddlers, especially after dark. The full moon will not be visible with the cloud cover, bats aren’t active during rainy weather either.”

[Cancelled: Banks Lake Full Blue Moon Paddle 2023-08-30]
Cancelled: Banks Lake Full Blue Moon Paddle 2023-08-30

Join us next month for the Banks Lake Full Harvest Moon Paddle 2023-09-29.

More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

 -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

Hurricane Idalia heading for Suwannee River Basin 2023-08-29

Update 2023-08-29: Georgia declares State of Emergency for Hurricane Idalia 2023-08-29.

Hurricane Idalia is now Category 1 and is headed a bit farther west, taking it straight up the Suwannee River Basin.

[Hurricane Idalia probable path cone and collapsed road]
Hurricane Idalia probable path cone and collapsed road

Cat 1 means sustained winds of at least 74 mph, up to 95 mph. Inland it will probably rapidly degrade to a Tropical Storm. That still means 39-73 mph winds.

Before landfall, Hurricane Idalia may strengthen to cat 2 (96-110 mph with extensive damage) or cat 3 (111-129 mph with devastating damage).

I’m going out and securing anything that might turn into a projectile, even though I’m about a hundred miles from the Gulf Coast.

For those who are tired of being warned: this is a hurricane. It’s much better to be prepared than sorry.

I drove up from Gainesville yesterday, and there were already rain gusts strong enough to buffet my car and to cause everyone on I-75 to slow to 45 MPH. When the wind gets up to 50 MPH, you don’t want to be driving, even if you don’t run into flooding or bridges out. At 74 MPH, you want to be inside something solid. Continue reading →

WWALS AAS water quality testing training @ SRSP 2023-08-25

“It was a good group, and it went well,” said WWALS Executive Director and Water Quality Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman.

[WWALS Water Quality Training at Suwannee River State Park 2023-08-25]
WWALS Water Quality Training at Suwannee River State Park 2023-08-25

This training was in Florida at Suwannee River State Park on the Suwannee River.

WWALS trains by Georgia Adopt-A-Stream methods. These are not as pricey as the Florida standard of sending every sample to a lab to test.

We are aware that to be legally actionable in Florida, the Florida method must be used. However, with the AAS methods, WWALS can test more places and more frequently, to detect more problems, and to follow contamination as it flows downstream. Plus we can follow up by sending samples to a lab.

Thanks to all the trainees. And thanks to Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) for taking an interest.

Looking forward to all of you starting testing. Continue reading →

Pictures: Withlacoochee Springs, Shoals, Slough, Sullivan Launch 2023-07-15

Update 2024-05-04: Videos: Chitty Bend East Distributary, Withlacoochee River, 2023-07-15

Seven shoals, one with a boat, Coffee Spring, second magnitude Hardee Spring, and several islands, and Chitty Bend East Distributary, where some of the Withlacoochee River runs into the woods into some swallets: we saw all of those on our Withlacoochee River paddle from Sullivan Launch to Florida Campsites on a fine July day.

The entire paddle was in north Florida, between Madison County on the right (east) bank and Hamilton County on the left (west) bank, starting in Madison County, ending in Hamilton County.

[Rapids, Spring, Distributary, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-15]
Rapids, Spring, Distributary, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-15

Thanks to Gee Edwards for leading this paddle.

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman, Karen Lehnart, and Shirley Kokidko for additional pictures.

Pictures are below. Click on any small picture for a bigger one. Latlong links go to the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

The pictures are also on facebook.

See also the facebook video, Seven shoals on the WWALS WIthlacoochee River paddle from Sullivan Shoals to Florida Campsites Ramp, 2023-07-15.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-08-24

Update 2023-08-29: 8,400 gallons of sewage into Dukes Bay Canal, Valdosta, GA, due to unknown obstruction 2023-08-28.

No rain for a week means clean Withlacoochee River, and that’s what WWALS testers found for Thursday.

Crawford Creek was too high in E. coli, but Staten Road and US 41 downstream on the Withlacoochee River were clean, with Franklinville Road pretty clean upstream.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-08-24]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-08-24

We are still short-handed for WWALS volunteer water quality testers. Maybe you’d like to become one.
https://wwals.net/2018/11/16/sign-up-for-water-quality-testing-training/

Only one new sewage spill has been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida: Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Harvest Moon Paddle 2023-09-29

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle. There may be bats.

When: Gather 6:20 PM, launch 6:50 PM, moonrise 7:43 PM, sunset 7:21 PM, end 8:45 PM, Friday, September 29, 2023

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

[Banks Lake Boat Ramp, sunset, moonrise 2022-09-10]
Banks Lake Boat Ramp, sunset, moonrise 2022-09-10

Continue reading →

All 2023 sewage spills into the Suwannee River Basin

Update 2023-08-29: 8,400 gallons of sewage into Dukes Bay Canal, Valdosta, GA, due to unknown obstruction 2023-08-28.

Inquiring minds (Suzy’s) wanted to know how many times Valdosta spilled sewage this year.

Answer: nine reported, five into Knights Creek, which goes to the Alapahoochee and Alapaha Rivers, two into Hightower Creek, which goes into Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River, one into One Mile Branch, also Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River, and one into Cherry Creek, directly into the Withlacoochee River.

Valdosta spilled 1,182,221 gallons of raw sewage, accounting for 61.93% of the total 1,908,971 gallons spilled in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida so far in 2023.

I would like to thank Valdosta Utilities Assistant Director Jason Barnes for calling the day after that most recent spill, to note that Utilties found the spill, he had personally been out there and got it stopped that same evening, and they tracked the amount with SCADA. Plus it was reported to the public and to GA-EPD the day after it happened. All that is improvement.

Of course, the only good number of spills is none, as I told WTXL after a previous spill.

[Sewage spills and WWALS water trails]
Sewage spills and WWALS water trails

Runner-up was tiny Ashburn, with 673,400 gallons, or 35.28% of the total, mostly spilled into Hat Creek, which goes into the Alapaha River, with some into Ashburn Branch, which goes into the Little River. Ashburn has had a chronic sewage spill problem for many years, and needs to get a grip. Ashburn did get some ARPA money to work on that, so maybe there will be improvement.

Also-rans included Continue reading →