Tag Archives: Alapahoochee River

Valdosta Sewage Spill Reports: Jackson Drive, not Street, and Sugar Creek 2025-02-17

Update 2025-02-22: Ashburn Spill 2025-02-14, Chemours Mine Spill 2025-02-16, Bad Little River 2025-02-17, Bad Withlacoochee River 2025-02-19 2025-02-19.

Valdosta reported the January 14, 2025, sewage spill in the wrong place. It was actually on Jackson Drive, near the Lowndes County Jail, not on Jackson Street, in downtown Valdosta.

Jackson Drive, not Street, Dukes Bay Canal, Valdosta, GA Sewage Spills, and Sugar Creek

Thanks to a tip, I asked Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes, who told me they reported the correct GPS coordinates. But GA-EPD does not publish GPS coordinates.

So WWALS sent an open records request asking for, “All sewage spill reports sent from the City of Valdosta to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) from December 4, 2024, through February 17, 2025, as well as any and all related correspondence between the City and GA-EPD.”

As usual, we got no correspondence, but we did get the report, which erroneously says Jackson Street, but it does have the GPS coordinates: 30.81102673, -83.27182962. Continue reading →

Final Report: Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams 2024-12-01

They decided not to change the 1863 law, and did not chart any clear legislative course forward.

This is better than some courses they could have taken, the Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters.

However, they seem to left the problem for everyone else to navigate in ad hoc partnerships, which could leave paddlers having to negotiate passage among many parties.

Final Report for little change, maybe privatization of passage 2024-12-01, Georgia House Study Committee on Navigable Streams and Related Matters

Here are the recommendations of the committee from their final report:

Maintain the definition of navigability set forth in O.C.G.A. §44-8-5(a) and the right of passage for navigable streams as found in O.C.G.A. §52-1-31;
Refrain from a statutory delineation of navigable and non-navigable streams;
Incentivize and strengthen tools to foster collaboration and partnerships between landowners, nonprofits, and local/state government that increase opportunities for public access and conservation of Georgia’s waterways;
Preserve the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program;
Urge the Department of Natural Resources to further publicize and fund new technologies that assist in tracking and resolving disputes on waterways; and
Protect Georgia’s fishing, hunting, trapping, and outdoor recreation traditions, as well as those reliant on waterways such as logging and farming, by carefully analyzing the impact of any potential legislation on these sectors.

They paid commendable attention to what the public had to say, including fishers, paddlers, riparian landowners, loggers, farmers, and trappers (who said current law does not permit them to trap on public waters).

Noting pulls in various directions, the committee continued to support the 1863 law that requires a navigable stream to be “capable of transporting boats loaded with freight in the regular course of trade either for the whole or a part of the year,” while the committee also depended on GA-DNR’s opinion: Continue reading →

Rivers, creeks, and Alapaha River Water Trail in Echols County Comprehensive Plan Update 2024-01-25

The state-required five-year update process for the Echols County Comprehensive Plan has started, with a kick-off meeting December 5, 2024.

The first Workshop appears likely to be January 25, 2025, most likely in Statenville.

Stay tuned for updates from the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC).
https://www.sgrc.us

Or ask SGRC Planner II Alexandra Arzayus, aarzayus@sgrc.us, 229-333-5277.

Rivers, creeks, and Alapaha River Water Trail in Echols County Comprehensive Plan Update

Meanwhile, WWALS has been doing its part since the last update, adopted July 9, 2020.
https://dca.georgia.gov/document/plans/plan-update-2020-3/download

We thank the Echols County Commission for their Okefenokee Resolution to help protect the Suwannee River from strip mining near the Okefenokee Swamp.

We have paddled on the Suwannee River, including Fargo to campsite, Suwannee River 2022-03-05 and State Line to Turner Bridge, Suwannee River 2022-03-06.

We have formalized a Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT).

We have suggested to Echols County a boat ramp on the Suwannee River. As far as we know, the county is pursuing that opportunity with the landowner and the GA-DNR.

WWALS convinced GA-EPD to redesignate all of the Alapaha River in Echols County from Fishing to Recreational, meanwhile stricter levels of permitted contamination.

WWALS has designed, printed, and planted at-water signs and road signs for the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT). Continue reading →

Video: Water, Wildlife, and Wilderness: the 4 National Wildlife Refuges of the Suwannee –Larry Woodward, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-21

From alligators and wood storks in the Okefenokee National Wildlife (NWR) to mussels, Gulf sturgeon, and alligator snapping turtles in the Lower Suwannee NWR, plus Banks Lake NWR and Cedar Key NWR, Larry Woodward, Deputy Refuge Manager, ONWR, gave a WWALS Webinar on Water, Wildlife, and Wilderness, and the importance of the 4 National Wildlife Refuges of the Suwannee.

Water, Wildlife, & Wilderness: 4 NWRs of the Suwannee –Larry Woodward, Okefenokee, Banks Lake, Lower Suwannee, Cedar Key, WWALS Webinar 2024-11-21

After a brief introduction by Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, Larry Woodward spoke for about 45 minutes, followed by questions and answers, all by zoom, from noon to 1PM, Thursday, November 11, 2024.

Here is the video:
https://youtu.be/ya5b8V6woOE

Fictional inhabitants of the Okefenokee Swamp include not only Pogo the Possum but also Kermit the Frog.

Continue reading →

WWALS Day of Giving 2024 #GAGIVES

You don’t have to be in Georgia, and you don’t have to wait until Tuesday, to donate to this fundraiser to support WWALS:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2024

Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp

WWALS Mission

WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Advocacy

Continue reading →

Valdosta City update on closed city streets after flash flood 2024-11-12

Update 2024-11-16: Withlacoochee River and Two Mile Branch better, Hightower and Sugar Creeks very bad 2024-11-14.

Update 2024-11-14: DOH-Madison Issues Health Advisory Near Withlacoochee River 2024-11-13.

Update 2024-11-14: Plus this from a Valdosta facebook post: “Due to recent severe weather that has caused hazardous conditions, Hightower Street is closed to all traffic between Melissa Drive and West Gordon Street until further notice.”

Valdosta put out a press release yesterday, November 12, 2024, about street closures due to storm damage. Here it is, followed by an update of the WWALS table of roads closed.

Valdosta streets closed 2024-11-12 after flash flood 2024-11-06 Lowndes County, Georgia

City of Valdosta Issues Road Closure Advisory for Numerous City Streets Due to Recent Storm Damage

The City of Valdosta advises all residents and commuters to exercise caution as emergency crews respond to storm damage across the area. Due to hazardous conditions resulting from recent severe weather, Country Club Drive is closed to all traffic between Williamsburg Drive and Ramblewood Circle until further notice. River Street near Saunders Park and Cypress Street near the intersection of Price Street are also closed.
Continue reading →

Roads closed after Valdosta flash flood 2024-11-10

Update 2024-11-13: Valdosta City update on closed city streets after flash flood 2024-11-12.

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

Here’s a list of the roads and streets we have heard were closed after the flash flood of Wednesday, November 6, 2024, with twelve inches of rain and neighborhoods flooded.

Roads still closed 2024-11-10 after flash flood 2024-11-06 Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia

The list is embedded below, or see it in its native googlesheets form:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1umwILXv2v6WVOqy_O3v3GyAmy48miHiWrFZIOsWMipE/edit?usp=sharing

So far as we know, only the locations highlighted in yellow are still closed. Continue reading →

Audio: GA House Navigable Streams Committee postponed –Suwannee Riverkeeper on WKUB radio 2024-10-10

An old Civil War law in the way of paddling, motoring, fishing, and swimming, on WKUB radio from Blackshear, Pierce County, Georgia, starting at 1:10 in the audio:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-10–wkub-navigable/2000-thurs-am-news.mp3

A meeting of the Georgia House Navigable Streams Committee scheduled for Friday in Nahunta has been postponed due to the anticipated effects from Hurricane Milton.
It was set to take place at Strickland’s Lodge on the Satilla River in Nahunta.

Georgia House Navigable Streams Committee Postponed 2024-10-10 — Suwannee Riverkeeper on WKUB radio

That committee is currently taking public comment on the legislative efforts to name sections of some of the state’s 64 streams and rivers as navigable and open to the public for boating, fishing, and hunting.

Right now an old Civil War law prohibits a lot of that from happening.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John Quarterman, who was eager to see changes in the present laws, says that postponing the meeting was the right thing to do.

jsq: …which is all sensible, I think. I had thought of asking them, could you, at least, delay this? Because I’ve been asking county commission members and city council members, and naturally they’ve been telling me they’re kind of busy with still doing cleanup, and so this is a good thing, I think.
Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River after Hurricane Helene, but much flooding and storm damage 2024-10-02

Update 2024-10-06: Clean Withlacoochee River, but some stretches flooding, and more rains coming 2024-10-04.

Valdosta’s Wednesday water quality samples show the Withlacoochee River clean after Hurricane Helene. Valdosta’s Wednesday a week ago samples corroborate clean before Helene, matching WWALS testing.

There are no new WWALS test results, because none of us have had electricity, which is needed to incubate the samples at 95 F for 24 hours. Two WWALS testers have power back, so maybe some new results soon.

The weather report is sunny for the next week, although you never know what might blow in off the Gulf or the Atlantic.

Many national, state, and local parks are closed, especially on rivers.
https://wwals.net/?p=65987

Upstream rainfall now running downstream is causing widespread river flooding. See separate report on the Alapaha River.
https://wwals.net/?p=65990

If you can, please stay home until the power and road situations are better.

Afterwards, there will be plenty of more opportunities for pleasant paddles and chainsaw cleanups. Continue reading →

Hurricane Helene Sewage Spills 2024-09-27

Update 2024-10-06: Corrected location of Valdosta Ponderosa Lift Station (1001 Ponderosa Drive).

Update 2024-10-04: Clean Withlacoochee River after Hurricane Helene, but much flooding and storm damage 2024-10-02.

Tifton spilled 1.375 million gallons of raw sewage during Hurricane Helene, 950,000 into a creek that goes to the Little River, and the rest into creeks that go to the New River above the Withlacoochee River.

Sycamore spilled 350 gallons above Hat Creek, above the Alapaha River.

According to Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes, Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons due to a tree falling on a lift station, above Knights Creek, which goes to Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. He said he has reported it to GA-EPD. Perhaps it will appear Monday in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

Tifton spilled 1.375,000 gallons, Sycamore 350, during Hurricane Helene. Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons, tree on lift station.

I would avoid the directly-affected creeks. But these are all so far upstream of their rivers that the rivers were probably not much affected.

But you might check with Reed-Bingham State Park for their latest lake contamina tion report before swimming there. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.