Tag Archives: Angela Bray

WaterGoat cleanout 2022-07-03

Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for volunteering to clean out the WaterGoat trash boom on Sugar Creek that Valdosta bought. This is a temporary stopgap until Valdosta makes more complete plans to keep this trash from washing into the nearby Withlacoochee River, plus plans to stop trash from getting into the creeks.

Thanks again to Valdosta for buying the WaterGoat. I have said Thank You twice in City Council meetings, once in an op-ed in the Valdosta Daily Times, numerous times here, and in emails and telephone messages to city staff, Council, and Mayor.

Before, during, and after

However, apparently there is still confusion inside the city government as to cleaning out that WaterGoat. Once again: Continue reading →

Trash boom good; more needed –Suwannee Riverkeeper @ VCC 2022-06-23

Fixing Valdosta’s trash problem would cost far less than a single sewer line. Thanks for starting by putting in one trash boom; thanks especially to Council Andy Gibbs and Mayor Scott James, who have come and helped clean up on Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River.

Now what’s the plan to clean that one out? When will we see the other two or more trash booms? And where’s the plan to get businesses to stop trash upstream at the source?

Valdosta Mayor and Council, trash boom, Holly Street

At their meeting last Thursday, I thanked Valdosta Mayor and Council Continue reading →

Still there: Two acres of trash on Valdosta City land at VLPRA HQ, above One Mile Branch 2022-03-09

Update 2022-04-13: Floating trash in cypress swamp below VLPRA HQ in Valdosta 2022-04-13.

As previously mentioned, there are two acres of trash on land owned by the City of Valdosta, just south of VLPRA headquarters, at the corner of Barack Obama Blvd. and Ricardo Street, Behind the Pepsi Adopt-A-Spot sign, near the top of One Mile Branch.

In Valdosta’s own Seeclickfix map, you can see the site just across Barack Obama Blvd. from a drainage canal that runs into One Mile Branch just upstream from Vallotton Park.

Map: Seeclickfix VLPRA HQ, One Mile Branch, Vallotton Park https://seeclickfix.com/issues/12055148

This water quality and public health problem was first reported through Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app on March 9, 2022, it got some acknowledgement after another report on March 21st, but no cleanup seems to have happened.

Some of the city officials named in these comments are scheduled to be at a meeting with WWALS this afternoon. Maybe they’re waiting on that meeting to schedule a cleanup. We shall see.

Meanwhile, notice the variety of commenters who do not work for the city. First, all the comments from the March 21st report: Continue reading →

Valdosta Stormwater cleanup on Threemile Branch 2022-03-04

Thanks to Valdosta Stormwater for cleaning up that trash on Threemile Branch at Country Club Road. Thanks even more for modifying the Click ‘n’ Fix procedures for litter tickets.

Maybe more of this trash can get cleaned up and upstream problems fixed before the WWALS paddle Langdale Park, Sugar Creek, Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-05-07. If not, the Mayor and others will be paddling through trash rafts. Everyone please use Click ‘n’ Fix to report trash problems to help Valdosta clean them up.

Trash, Where, Cleanup

That trash got submitted to Valdosta as Click ‘n’ Fix as Issue ID 11870600 on February 13, 2022.

A long chain of responses followed. Continue reading →

Sugar Creek Valdosta Stormwater bug-bitten cleanup 2021-09-30

Bobby McKenzie noticed somebody had been there, so I wrote to Valdosta Stormwater Director Angela Bray, “Thanks for another Sugar Creek logjam cleanup; Are we guessing correctly that it was you and Valdosta Stormwater?”

She answered:

You guessed right!
I only took a picture of the trash we picked up. We forgot mosquito spray so we had to get in and out as quick as possible! 🙂
The creek is definitely dropping but makes it super slippery.

Bags of trash in boat

Thanks to Valdosta Stormwater for cleaning up the Sugar Creek trashjam twice in one month! It’s good to see they’re having the full experience, like we have for more than a year now, cleaning up this repeating logjam of trash. For much more about the problem, its upstream sources, and how it can be fixed, see the post about their previous cleanup.

You are all invited to come help clean up Sugar Creek on Saturday, October 9, 2021, at this same location behind the Salty Snapper on Gornto Road, just upstream from the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

Valdosta Stormwater cleanup at Sugar Creek 2021-09-17

Update 2021-10-05: They did it again at the end of September!

Great relief was felt by the WWALS Sugar Creek cleanup crew, because Valdosta Stormwater has taken a hand at the Sugar Creek trashjam!

Trashjam Quartet by Angela Bray

You are all invited to come help clean up Sugar Creek on Saturday, October 9, 2021, at this same location behind the Salty Snapper on Gornto Road.

Meanwhile, thanks to Valdosta Stormwater for not just cleaning up, but starting some repeated steps to find out when this trashjam forms and where it’s coming from.

This is the same trashjam that was pictured in Valdosta’s 2010 Stormwater Master Plan, as discussed with Mayor Scott James on his radio show, August 12, 2021.

Finally, on Friday, September 16, 2021, Valdosta Stormwater Division got hands-on and cleaned up themselves! Continue reading →

Trash Traps

Update 2022-05-22 A trash trap is a device to put across a creek or river to catch trash before it goes downstream. In addition to the ones mentioned below, others include WaterGoat, GEIWorks, and Osprey now has a Litter Boom.

We recommend more trash traps to catch this stuff before it gets into ponds or rivers.

Bottles and cans, two types of trash traps

Valdosta already has one trash trap, off of Baytree Road west of Springhill Drive. Thanks to Valdosta Stormwater Manager Angela Bray for pointing that out. Continue reading →

Earth Day Rivers Alive Cleanup: Joree Millpond, Withlacoochee River 2021-04-17

Pick from a pair of floating Georgia Rivers Alive cleanups for Earth Day, and bring your boat!

Gretchen Quarterman will lead a floating cleanup on Joree Millpond in Valdosta, Georgia, starting at 913 Millpond Road (PDF flyer for Joree Millpond). You can return whenever you want to, but we expect this boating cleanup to last about two hours. If you have a jon boat and are willing to take a volunteer onto the pond to remove litter, please contact either Gretchen Quarterman (229-834-1945) or Austin Fiveash (229-563-6262). You can also participate in your kayak or canoe. Volunteers will remove litter from along the edge of the pond and from near the spillway. The City of Valdosta is providing a large trash receptacle at the site, thanks to Valdosta Stormwater Manager Angela Bray.

Bobby McKenzie will lead a paddle cleanup from Sugar Creek behind the Salty Snapper off of Gornto Road, down the Withlacoochee River, and a short hop up the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp. That’s less than 4 river miles, and even with stops for trash collection should take less than three hours. We will leave the bagged trash at that destination, where Lowndes County Public Works will pick it up Monday.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 12:30 PM, Saturday, April 17, 2021

Millpond put in: 913 Millpond Road, Valdosta, GA, Take Country Club Drive to Mill Pond Road. Turn right and 913 is last house on left before right-only exit onto Jerry Jones Road.
Drop your boat at the water, then park near the street.
Millpond GPS: 30.867375, -83.309558

River paddle put in: The Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Road, Valdosta, GA.
Go to the back of the parking lot to drop off your boat at Sugar Creek.
Sugar Creek GPS: 30.861785, -83.318793

River Paddle Take Out: Troupville Boat Ramp, 9664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602. Go west on St. Augustine Road across I-75 (exit 18) and cross the Withlacoochee River. At the light for Val Tech Road, turn left, which takes you down to the boat ramp.
Troupville Boat Ramp GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536.

Safety: All volunteers must sign a WWALS liability release, which makes WWALS insurance cover them, and must wear a life jacket at all times while in boats.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, snaks, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags, and good boots.

Free: This outing is free to everyone, because it is a cleanup.

We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join

Event: facebook, meetup

Joree Millpond, trash, Withlacoochee River
Photos: Russell Allen McBride.

Continue reading →

Trash Trap, Sheri Run at Baytree Road near Twin Street, Valdosta, GA 2020-12-08

Update 2022-02-21: For updates on the Valdosta trash situation, see https://wwals.net/issues/trash/.

Turns out the City of Valdosta already has a trash trap on one creek. It’s next to Baytree Road, upstream from Lake Sheri, on what I’m calling Sheri Run. The creek ends up in the Withlacoochee River, just upstream from the I-75 bridge. But, because of the trash trap, most of the trash does not reach Lake Sheri or the river, because it gets caught after it comes down from Valdosta Mall and all the restaurants and stores on St. Augustine Road.

Outfall of trash trap, 10:16:37, 30.8471573, -83.3288788

Continue reading →

Valdosta rainbarrels to reduce runoff

Gretchen got a rainbarrel from the City of Valdosta, I got some concrete blocks, we set the barrel on the blocks and connected it to a PVC pipe from a raingutter. In about 20 minutes of rain, the 50-gallon rainbarrel was full. We don’t even live in Valdosta, but rainbarrels are also about preventing sewage spills; read on.

Photograph: John S. Quarterman at Okra Paradise Farms, Lowndes County, Georgia.

Within an hour we had a hose hooked up and we used some of the water in transplanting trees.

Video, more pictures, and more links to materials from the city of Valdosta and the state of Georgia on a separate LAKE blog post.

Part of Valdosta’s incentive for this Stormwater Education Outreach can be inferred from Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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