Tag Archives: Alapaha River Water Trail

Dock work at Gibson Park Ramp 2023-05-25

Gibson Park Ramp will not be closed for upcoming work, except possibly briefly.

Inquiring minds wanted to know, so I called Chuck Burnett, Director, Hamilton County Parks & Recreation.

[Square Gibson Park Ramp 2022-02-05]
Gibson Park Ramp 2022-02-05

The work is actually about the dock, not the ramp. Continue reading →

Lowndes County wins Georgia award for litter program 2023-05-15

Update 2023-08-30: Lowndes County Litter Crew, JLH Beach, Folsom Bridge Landing, Little River @ GA 122 2023-08-23.

WWALS congratulates Lowndes County on winning a statewide award for their litter crew. We can attest that boat ramps and other public access points to rivers in Lowndes County are much cleaner since the county litter crew has been picking up there weekly, both on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail and the Alapaha River Water Trail.

We’d also like to thank Lowndes County Public Works for a longstanding agreement that they pick up bagged trash that WWALS leaves at river access points.

[Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp: Lowndes County Litter Control 2021-06-10 (Photo: Bobby McKenzie) and WWALS cleanup 2022-12-17 (Photo: Gretchen Quarterman)]
Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp: Lowndes County Litter Control 2021-06-10 (Photo: Bobby McKenzie) and WWALS cleanup 2022-12-17 (Photo: Gretchen Quarterman)

Malia Thomas, Valdosta Daily Times, May 15, 2023 Lowndes County honored with 2023 Georgia County Excellence Award for litter program,

VALDOSTA — Lowndes County has been recognized with a 2023 Georgia County Excellence Award for its litter program.

Continue reading →

WWALS Wins Rivers Alive Adopt-A-Stream cleanup award second year running 2023-04-27

Update 2023-05-19: Fixed boat ramp attribution: Nankin, not Sasser.

Thanks to Georgia Rivers Alive for giving WWALS the 2022 Adopt-A-Stream Award for cleanups. This is the second year running WWALS has won this award.

[Nankin Boat Ramp 2022-12-17, Statenville Boat Ramp 2023-01-07, Adopt-A-Stream Award 2023-04-27]
Adopt-A-Stream Award 2023-04-27
Photos: WWALS, at Nankin Boat Ramp 2022-12-17 and Statenville Boat Ramp 2023-01-07

While we appreciate the award, we’d much rather not have trash to clean up. There is some progress on that. The worst trash offender, Valdosta, has now Continue reading →

Lakeland Boat Ramp to close for eight weeks 2023-05-22 2023-05-30

Update 2023-06-24: Work in progress at Lakeland Boat Ramp 2023-06-20.

Update 2023-05-19: Closure date changed to May 30, so Lakeland Boat Ramp should reopen around July 26, 2023.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) is closing Lakeland Boat Ramp @ GA 122 to rebuild it, which will take about eight weeks. So it will be closed from May 22 30, 2023 through about July 20 26, 2023.

[Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Lakeland Boat Ramp]
Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Lakeland Boat Ramp

GA-DNR recommends going instead to Continue reading →

Even Georgia Power does not like it: burning scrap tires as biomass @ GA-PSC 2023-05-09

‘“Although Georgia Power will follow whatever the Commission ultimately orders, Georgia Power does not support adding tire-derived fuel to its 2022 Integrated Resource Plan,” Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft said in a statement….’

Yet the Georgia Public Service Commission (GA-PSC) approved that anywawy, at its April 4, 2023, Administrative Session.

[Tires overlaid on GA-PSC Administrative Session 2023-04-04]
Tires overlaid on GA-PSC Administrative Session 2023-04-04

We already have mercury in our Alapaha Rivers that came through the air from Georgia Power’s coal Plant Scherer north of Macon. Continue reading →

Comment deadline for Georgia draft regional water plans 2023-05-15

Update 2023-05-16: Rivers and mining: WWALS comments on Suwannee-Satilla Draft Regional Water Plan 2023-05-15.

The comment deadline is coming up in less than two weeks for the Georgia Regional Water Plans.

[Comment deadline 2023-05-15]
Comment deadline 2023-05-15

Here is the notice:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/GADNR/bulletins/35828a6

The draft plans are here:
https://waterplanning.georgia.gov/regional-water-plans

The Suwannee-Satilla draft plan is here:
https://waterplanning.georgia.gov/suwannee-satilla-regional-water-plan

Send comments to: water.planning@dnr.ga.gov

For more information, please contact Clete Barton at (470) 251-4769 or Clete.Barton@dnr.ga.gov

The Suwannee-Satilla Regional Planning Council (SSRWPC) is meeting a few days after the deadline, May 24th, in Tifton.

 -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/

WWALS Development Director Veronica Oakler on Scott James radio from Jasper, FL 2023-04-28

Live on the air now!

As soon as I mentioned we had hired a Development Director, Scott James invited Veronica Oakler on his radio show, 92.1 FM, this morning, 6-8:15 AM, live from Jasper, Florida.

Listen: talk921.com.

Veronica lives in Madison, so it was a short trip across the Withlacoochee River to Jasper.

[Veronica Oakler on Scott James Radio 2023-04-28]
Veronica Oakler on Scott James Radio 2023-04-28

Event: facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/events/754268986238088/

More about Veronica: Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Flower Moon Paddle, 2023-05-05

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle, probably with bats.

When: Gather 7:15 PM, launch 7:45 PM, moonrise 8:30 PM, sunset 8:14 PM, end 9:30 PM, Friday, May 5, 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

[Happy paddlers]
Happy paddlers, 2021-05-26.

Continue reading →

Infected fish caught on the Alapaha River, Berrien County, Georgia 2023-04-19

Where to report:
https://wwals.net/report/

Update 2023-04-27: Name of the fisherman and the original poster, with link.

These fish pictures are getting shared around, and keep getting sent to Suwannee Riverkeeper. Here’s what the fish disease might be. If you see a fish like this, please stick it on ice and get it biopsied so you can know. Call us, so we can know, and we can help you find a lab.

I have provided some eye bleach for after you look at this picture.

[Infected fish 2023-04-19]
Infected fish 2023-04-19

The fish was caught in the Alapaha River in Berrien County, Georgia.

I’ve heard at least five theories for what is the problem with this fish, from most likely to least: Continue reading →

Clean WIthlacoochee River 2023-04-20

Update 2023-04-29: Nankin filthy, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-27.

WWALS tests were clean for Thursday on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.

Rain is predicted, but not much.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday week before last downstream. They generally Continue reading →