Tag Archives: Alapaha River

Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-09-29

Update 2022-10-08: Clean rivers 2022-10-06.

Withlacoochee, Little, and Alapaha Rivers declared safe from Hurricane Ian. Maybe as clean as we’ve ever seen!

Happy boating, fishing, and swimming this weekend! Join us tomorrow on the Alapaha River plus hike to the Dead River Sink.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

This is despite yet another small Valdosta sewage spill, this time last Friday on Lake Sheri, which drains into the Withlacoochee River just upstream from I-75.

Friday, September 23, 2022, was also the day WWALS tester Scotti Jay discovered a fish kill in One Mile Branch starting on the VSU campus.

Valdosta has not reported any test results for that day; I don’t know why. Valdosta results for Monday, September 26th are normal. Those are the most recent results Valdosta has published. Continue reading →

Pictures: Berrien Beach Cleanup, Alapaha River 2022-09-24

We got quite a bit of trash on a fun morning at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp in Berrien County and across the Alapaha River at Berrien Beach in Lanier County, in the September 24, 2022, River Alive cleanup.

[Banners, trash, and people at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach, Alapaha River 2022-09-24]
Banners, trash, and people at Berrien Beach Boat Ramp and Berrien Beach, Alapaha River 2022-09-24

The most unusual item was cash. Most of the rest was water, beer bottles, and plastic bags. And the usual used diapers. Plus a bumper. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River water quality test results then One Mile Branch fish kill 2022-09-22

Update 2022-10-01: Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-09-29.

Update 2022-09-25: High E. coli near One Mile Branch fish kill, and maybe fuel spill 2022-09-23.

Thursday WWALS test results are very good. The most recent Valdosta test results from Valdosta are for Monday, and they are also good.

But Friday WWALS found a fish kill in One Mile Branch starting at Valdosta State University. That is upstream from Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River. Later today we should have some E. coli test results from One Mile Branch.

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

Ashburn had yet another sewage spill a week ago into Hat Creek upstream on the Alapaha River, and High Springs had a spill Thursday a week ago near the Santa Fe River. Both were so small they probably had no detectable effect on river water quality.

So I would swim, boat, and fish in the Withlacoochee River downstream from the Little River Confluence. But I would avoid the Withlacoochee River from there up to Sugar Creek. Continue reading →

Ashburn sewage problem and Moultrie 2022-09-16

Update 2022-09-23: One Mile Branch Fish Kill 2022-09-23.

Ashburn needs to get a grip on its sewage problem.

This summer, in five separate incidents, Ashburn spilled 1,229,000 gallons of raw sewage into Hat Creek, which runs into the Alapaha River.

Moultrie has a much tinier sewage problem, spilling 500 gallons into Okapilco Creek, which runs into the Withlacoochee River.

And no, we haven’t forgotten about Tifton’s spill or Valdosta’s five summer spills or the spills by Starke and High Springs, Florida. Those we have reported separately, and all of them together (plus the Moultrie spill) do not add up to Ashburn’s 400,000 gallon August 19th spill, much less Ashburn’s 800,000 gallon August 25th spill.

[Summer 2022 Ashburn and Moultrie sewage spills]
Summer 2022 Ashburn and Moultrie sewage spills

Ashburn’s excuses varied: Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2022-09-15

Update 2022-09-19: Ashburn sewage problem and Moultrie 2022-09-16.

Good news: all clean in all the WWALS water quality tests on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers for Thursday. Happy fishing, swimming, and boating!

Maybe see you tomorrow morning on the Roline to Hunter Creek Suwannee River paddle. The Suwannee River is usually clean upstream anyway.

[Chart, Rivers, Map]
Chart, Rivers, Map

Thanks to WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner for her usual three GA 122 sites, on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, all results good. Thanks to WWALS testers Michael and Jacob Bachrach for testing their usual three downstream Withlacoochee River sites at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps.

There’s no update from Valdosta after its dire Monday results for GA 133 and US 84. But first Continue reading →

Add Santa Fe River to Suwannee Riverkeeper territory 2019-07-17

Back in 2019, after one final calibration with Our Santa Fe River, WWALS asked WATERKEEPR® Alliance to add the Santa Fe River Basin to the territory of Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®. They approved that request on September 26, 2019. Since then, Suwannee Riverkeeper territory has included the entire Suwannee River Basin and Estuary.

[Request letter and expanded territory approved 2019-09-26]
Request letter and expanded territory approved 2019-09-26

Apparently we never published this addition, and lately we’ve needed to refer to it. So here is the request that WKA approved. Plus a current map of the entire Basin and Estuary. Continue reading →

Clean river water quality tests, but heavy rains 2022-09-08

Update 2022-09-13: Bad GA 133 and US 84, Withlacoochee River 2022-09-12.

By all the recent water quality test results we have, all is clear for boating, swimming, and fishing on the Withlacoochee and other rivers this weekend.

The Tifton 2,000 gallon spill Sunday is very unlikely to affect anywhere anyone is testing on the rivers.

But by all our experience with heavy rains such as fell far upstream Thursday and are falling today, contamination is likely to wash into the Withlacoochee River: most likely cattle or hog manure.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-09-08]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-09-08

The WWALS upstream Thursday samples by Elizabeth Brunner on GA 122 were all clean at Folsom Bridge on the Little River, Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, and Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River.

The WWALS downstream Thursday samples on the Withlacoochee River by Jacob and Michael Bachrach at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps were also clean.

And the Valdosta upstream results for Wednesday were also pretty clean, at US 41, GA 133, and US 84 on the Withlacoochee River. The most recent downstream results Valdosta has publlshed are for Monday a week ago. WWALS already tested downstream twice since then. Continue reading →

Good river water quality 2022-09-01

Update 2022-09-09: Tifton sewage spill, Little River 2022-09-04.

All WWALS water quality results for Thursday came in below the one-time test limit of 410 cfu/100 mL. There has been rain, but not as much as it usually takes to wash significant contamination into the rivers. More rain is predicted for the next week, but no more than what we’ve seen this week.

Ashburn got around to reporting two sewage spills this week, but those are both old and on Hat Creek, far upstream from the top of the Alapaha River Water Trail, so probably they did not have much effect on that river.

Starke reported a sewage spill from two manholes, but it was small and not near a waterbody, so it probably had no effect on the Santa Fe River.

So by what we know today, happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend. Conditions could change rapidly, of course.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

Thanks to Continue reading →

Good river water quality 2022-08-25

Update 2022-09-02: Good river water quality 2022-09-01.

WWALS got good water quality results downstream on the Withlacoochee River for Thursday, and good upstream results for the Withlacoochee, Little, and Alapaha Rivers. Valdosta’s Wednesday and Monday results concur. So happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-08-25]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-08-25

No new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. We did get an update on the Quitman spill of week before last; see below.

Of course, there was some heavy rainfall upstream in spots, and that could wash something into the river. But by the test results we have now, have a good time on the water. Continue reading →

WWALS thanks Georgia Power for financial grant for water quality testing

Hahira, GA, August 25, 2022 — WWALS and Georgia Power gathered at the Little River to discuss “a great partnership that works for everybody here” with Georgia Power again providing a grant for WWALS water quality testing.

[WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman, Georgia Power SW Director Joe Brownlee, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, Georgia Power SREAM Don Hutchinson]
WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman, Georgia Power SW Director Joe Brownlee, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, Georgia Power SREAM Don Hutchinson

“We want to say a giant thank-you to Georgia Power for funding our program,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman. ”Our water quality program helps us to have clean water, so that when people come to use the river they know when it’s safe to swim or fish or go in their boats.”

“I want to thank y’all for what you do to keep our rivers clean, and make people aware of our wonderful natural resources,” said Joe Brownlee, Southwest Director, Georgia Power. “And help take care of those natural resources. It’s a great partnership that works for everybody here. We’re proud to be a part of it.”

“It’s really just Continue reading →