Clean rivers 2024-03-20

Update 2024-03-29: Rain and river contamination 2024-03-28.

We got good results for Wednesday for the Withlacoochee River and Alapaha Rivers. and for Thursday for the Alapaha River.

Valdosta’s recent upstream Withlacoochee River results for Wednesday are good, all two sites.

[Chart, Clean Rivers, Map 2024-03-20]
Chart, Clean Rivers, Map 2024-03-20

There are no Valdosta Monday results, because, as we learned last week from Acting Utilities Director Jason Barnes, “we are collecting once a week.”

As previously noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Since for two weeks now Valdosta has reported “No Sample” for North Valdosta Road, we guess they’re not collecting there any more, either.

Perhaps it is not coincidental that it is now three years (minus one month) since the March, 2020, GA-EPD Consent Order on Valdosta that required downstream testing as a way to reduce the amount of the fine.

It rained today, and more is predicted for tomorrow. That may wash some contamination into the rivers. I’d recommend the Suwannee, Alapaha, or Santa Fe Rivers for this weekend.

For example, join Shirley Kokidko and others Sunday, Suwannee River Wilderness Paddle, Griffis Fish Camp to Fargo 2024-03-24.

The rivers are at pretty good paddling levels, and it’s not cold. So watch the weather, bring rain gear, and happy paddling, fishing, and maybe swimming this weekend. Continue reading →

Send in your song for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Update 2024-03-30: Excerpt from the Rules.

Hahira, Georgia, March 29, 2024 — On April First, really, no fooling, submissions are open for the 2024 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “Musicians, don’t wait until the deadline to send in your song. Also, we could use more volunteers to help at the show and committee members to help plan it.”

The Seventh Annual Finals will be held at the WWALS River Revue, an indoor fundraising dinner to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, and entertainment. That’s 5-8 PM, Saturday, September 7, 2024, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.”

[Song Submissions Open, No Fooling, April 1, 2024, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Finals: Turner Arts Center, Valdosta, GA]
Song Submissions Open, No Fooling, April 1, 2024, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Finals: Turner Arts Center, Valdosta, GA

There will be plaques for each best song per genre, prizes of Continue reading →

Last days to oppose GA HB 1146, the rich private water system bill 2024-03-27

You can still oppose HB 1146, the rich man’s private water system bill.

You’ll be on the same side as the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA), and the Georgia Association of Water Professionals (GAWP), all of whom oppose HB 1146.

You can use this Protect Georgia alert to oppose HB 1146:
https://protectgeorgia.org/

Or use this information to contact your Georgia state senator:
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-senate/

[Last days to oppose GA HB 1146, the rich private water system bill. ACCG, GMA, and GAWP all oppose HB 1146.]
Last days to oppose GA HB 1146, the rich private water system bill. ACCG, GMA, and GAWP all oppose HB 1146.

Here’s an excerpt of what GAWP wrote: Continue reading →

Help oppose bad Georgia bills HB 1146 rich man’s water system, HB 1172 river trespass, and SB 132 fake Okefenokee moratorium 2024-03-25

Update 2024-03-27: Last days to oppose GA HB 1146, the rich private water system bill 2024-03-27.

Help stop the Georgia legislature from passing bad bills in a rush before it ends Wednesday.

[Help oppose bad Georgia bills HB 1146 rich man's water system, HB 1172 river trespass, and SB 132 fake Okefenokee moratorium]
Help oppose bad Georgia bills HB 1146 rich man’s water system, HB 1172 river trespass, and SB 132 fake Okefenokee moratorium

The former fake dragline mining moratorium that failed got pasted onto another bill, SB 132. Although you cannot even see the current text on the Georgia legislature web page, this slapped-in bill still has too many restrictions on appeals and would do nothing to stop the currently proposed mine or any other mine using different mining methods.

Here’s how to contact your Georgia Senate member:
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-senate/

Here’s how to contact your Georgia House member:
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do this.

HB 1172 says people can boat or fish on “navigable” rivers, but doesn’t say they can step ashore, even if they capsize. The previous poorly-fashioned bill to define navigable did not pass, so HB 1172 would also leave the possibility of streams long used for boating and fishing getting closed off by private property owners according to Georgia’s antiquated 1863 definition of navigable. Also, removing any mention of the public trust doctrine is not a good idea. Continue reading →

Video: Okefenokee Swamp over proposed strip mine –Emily Floore, WWALS Webinar 2024-03-21

Here is the video of Emily Floore, St. Marys Riverkeeper, giving the third WWALS Webinar, about the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers: why we protect it and the proposed strip mine that threatens it, as well as a recent Conservation Fund study.

[Video: Okefenokee Swamp, over proposed strip mine, Emily Floore, St. Marys Riverkeeper, WWALS Webinar 2024-03-21]
Video: Okefenokee Swamp, over proposed strip mine, Emily Floore, St. Marys Riverkeeper, WWALS Webinar 2024-03-21

Here is the video:
https://youtu.be/9EjO_kNue1g?si=GvyTL3xUc2HDtwpc

This webinar was held by zoom, noon-1 PM, Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Some things mentioned in the video: Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River Earth Day Cleanup, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-04-13

Update 2024-04-11: Cancelled: Withlacoochee River Earth Day Cleanup, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2024-04-13.

Come help clean up trashjams, while encouraging Valdosta to stop trash from getting into the river.

The Global Earth Day theme for 2024 is Our Planet Versus Plastics. The City of Valdosta seems unaware of the environmental harm plastics cause while they are breaking down into micro-plastics. Styrofoam and other plastics are not just an eyesore. These plastics from Valdosta entering the watershed are breaking down and getting into all aspects of the environment. Animals eat them, and cannot digest them.

We thank Valdosta Stormwater for picking the trash up recently at the Baytree Road train trestle on Sugar Creek. But what is the city’s plan to keep trash from getting into Sugar Creek, for example from the detention pond at Baytree Road? There needs to be a plan.

We do thank Valdosta City Marshalls for sending notices to parking lot owners, and citations if they still do not follow Valdosta’s trash ordinances that require parking lot owners or managers to keep trash from escaping, no matter where it came from, and to strategically place trash cans according to the number of parking spaces.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, April 13, 2024

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Withlacoochee River, Earth Day Cleanup 2024-04-13, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, to Troupville Boat Ramp]
Withlacoochee River, Earth Day Cleanup 2024-04-13, Langdale Park Boat Ramp, to Troupville Boat Ramp

Continue reading →

Ashburn and Rochelle sewage spills 2024-03-09

Update 2024-03-29: Rain and river contamination 2024-03-28.

Yes, there was a lot of rain on March 9, 2024, but 315,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled by Ashburn into two river watersheds seems a bit much.

And we finally got a report of the Rochelle Sook Road spill of that same day, of 10,000 gallons into a ditch that went into Reynolds Creek and from there into the Alapaha River.

[Rochelle and Ashburn spills and maps]
Rochelle and Ashburn spills and maps

On March 9 I reported that Continue reading →

Okefenokee webinar, resolutions, bills, Suwannee River paddle

This Thursday, join us online at noon by zoom for Okefenokee Swamp over proposed strip mine —Emily Floore, WWALS Webinar 2024-03-21.
https://wwals.net/?p=64219

This Saturday at 9AM, join us to see what we’re protecting, immediately downstream of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), Suwannee River Wilderness Paddle, Griffis Fish Camp to Fargo 2024-03-23.
https://wwals.net/?p=64423

[Okefenokee webinar, resolutions, bills, Suwannee River paddle]
Okefenokee webinar, resolutions, bills, Suwannee River paddle

Meanwhile, things are heating up against the proposal by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (TPM) to strip mine for titanium dioxide (TiO2) within three miles of the ONWR.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) issued Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Worm Moon Paddle 2024-03-25

Join us for a leisurely paddle on our watery living room, to see the sun set and the moon rise. The bats may be out, at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.

When: Gather 6:45 PM, launch 7:15 PM, Sunset 7:48 PM, Moonrise 8:21 PM, End 9:00 PM, Monday, March 25, 2024

Put In:: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, just west of Lakeland.

GPS: 31.0350593, -83.0964848

[Banks Lake Paddle, 2024-03-25, Full Worm Moon, Banks Lake NWR, Lakeland, GA]
Banks Lake Paddle, 2024-03-25, Full Worm Moon, Banks Lake NWR, Lakeland, GA

Continue reading →

WWALS water quality testing assurance and quality control 2023-01-06

Update 2024-04-05: Now with smartphone method for googledrive.

The document: 2024-04-05–WWALS-Water-Quality-Testing-Assurance.pdf.

See also the WWALS Water Quality Testing Committee and the Water Quality Testing web page:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/

 -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/

[Why Quality Assurance is Important]
Why Quality Assurance is Important
PDF

Continue reading →