Tag Archives: Blueway

Four miles an hour, Nankin to Sullivan, Withlacoochee River 2021-08-07

Update 2021-08-16: Two Withlacoochee River 360-degree transits by WWALS on Earthviews 2021-08-16.

Rain poured during the shuttle from Nankin Boat Ramp to Sullivan Launch, but the weather relented as we started to paddle, just as expedition leader and weatherman Bobby McKenzie predicted.

22 people paddled in 21 boats, entering Florida three times, past McIntyre Spring, Arnold Springs, the Valdosta Railway Trestle, and Horn Bridge. Only a few took out at State Line Boat Ramp, because they were musicians and they had a gig that same evening.

Almost all continued past PCA and Jumping Gully Creek to Sullivan Launch for a total of 14.22 miles in barely four hours. Subtract half an hour for the lunch stop at State Line Boat Ramp, and that’s 3.5 hours, for 4 miles per hour.

[Valdosta Railway Trestle in the middle]
Valdosta Railway Trestle in the middle

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman left her boat in the truck until the last minute, because she did not want to paddle in the rain. WWALS President Tom H. Johnson Jr. and Mary Carolyn Pindar drove four hours for this outing, so they were going to paddle anyway, as was I. Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Sturgeon Moon Paddle, 2021-08-22

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle, on our watery living room at Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.

When: Gather 7 PM, launch 7:35 PM, moonrise 8:42 PM, sunset 8:06 PM, end 9:30 PM, Sunday, August 22, 2021

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

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat, paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Lights: You must have a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow sticks work well, or head lamp, flashlight, etc.) so other boaters can see you in the dark. It will be totally dark after sunset. You must wear a PFD. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark. Mosquitoes can be bad at dusk so come prepared.

Boats: Kayaks are available to borrow but please let us know at least 2 days prior to the event. Bring your own if you have it. Thanks to Banks Lake Outdoors for free boat rental for these WWALS Full Moon Paddles.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. You can pay the $10 at the outing, or online:
https://wwals.net//donations/#outings

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

Event: facebook, meetup

[Moon boats]
Moon boats, by John S. Quarterman, July 23, 2021

Continue reading →

Pictures: Banks Lake Full Buck Moon paddle 2021-07-23

The weather threatened earlier in the day, but relented. Banks Lake was glassy smooth, and the Full Buck Moon broke through the overcast. There were bats. Everybody was happy.

[Banners, boats, moon]
Banners, boats, moon

Holding the Suwannee Riverkeeper Banner is Chris “Turtleman” Adams, the only paddler actually qualified to pet an alligator.

[Bobby McKenzie, safety lecture]
Bobby McKenzie, safety lecture: don’t pet the alligators.

Thanks to Bob and Sue Raffaele for the Old Town Canoe. WWALS President Tom H. Johnson Jr. paddled, and I photographed, as we acted as sweep, to be sure nobody got left behind. Continue reading →

WWALS to Valdosta: please deny deannexation of Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank 2021-08-05

Update 2021-08-31: Denied: Deannexation of Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank @ VCC 2021-08-05.

August 5, 2021 (see also PDF)

To: Matt Martin, Valdosta City Planner, mlmartin@valdostacity.com

Re: Please deny VA-2021-16 Deannexation Request by Uvalde Land Company

Dear Planner Martin,

WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. asks the Valdosta Mayor and Council to deny deannexation of half of the Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank (CCMB) in VA-2021-16 at its meeting this Thursday, August 5, 2021. As you know, the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) already voted 6-3 to recommend against deannexation.

[Location, Sinkholes]
Location, Sinkholes

Given the lack of any good reasons by the applicant for deannexation of that 310 acres of Withlacoochee River floodplain around Cherry Creek, let me remind everyone of some reasons not to deannex.

The CCMB is directly across the Withlacoochee River from Shadrick Sink. Valdosta already had to sink its water wells on Guest Road twice as deep because of river water going into Shadrick Sink, then through ground water several miles east to those wells. The choice was to pay for much more expensive methods to deal with tannic acid and biological components of the river water, or dig the wells deeper. This is literally a textbook case: Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River floodplain deannexation at Valdosta City Council 2021-08-05

Update 2021-08-05: WWALS to Valdosta: please deny deannexation of Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank 2021-08-05.

Thursday evening the Valdosta City Council decides whether to deannex 310 acres of Withlacoochee River floodplain around Cherry Creek, uphill from the Withlacoochee River.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission voted 6-3 to recommend denial, apparently deciding no good reason for deannexation was given by the applicant. There are substantial reasons to be concerned about potential uses of that land if deannexed.

Instead, Valdosta and Lowndes County should purchase the entire 530.24 acre property down to the Withlacoochee River to add to a trails system up along the Withlacoochee River, connecting with the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail all the way down to the future Troupville River Camp.

[Location, Agenda]
Location, Agenda

It’s a Public Hearing, so you can speak. Or go ahead and send a letter to Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin: mlmartin@valdostacity.com

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

[Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank, Withlacoochee River to future Troupville River Camp]
Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank, Withlacoochee River to future Troupville River Camp in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

Valdosta Mayor supports Recreational redesignation of rivers 2021-06-30

Maybe this letter will help GA-EPD to upgrade our waterways from Fishing to Recreational for tighter standards on contaminants.

[Water Trails, Mayor's Paddle, cleanups, $100 million sewer improvements, Troupville River Camp]
Water Trails, Mayor’s Paddle, cleanups, $100 million sewer improvements, Troupville River Camp
PDF

Letter, Valdosta Mayor to GA-EPD

Continue reading →

Pictures: Banks Lake Full Strawberry Moon paddle 2021-06-24

Good turnout for a Thursday paddle! 26 paddlers enjoyed great weather, bats, and the Full Strawberry Moon through clouds at Banks Lake NWR.

Each full moon, it’s only $10 per paddler with free boat rental thanks to the Lakeland-Lanier Chamber of Commerce and Banks Lake Outdoors. Or the whole thing is free with WWALS membership, which starts at $25 individual or $40 family.

[26 paddlers, cypress, bat tree, moon]
26 paddlers, cypress, bat tree, moon

This time we were joined by Bird Chamberlain and almost all of Dirty Bird and the Flu, one of our headliners at the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 7-11 PM, Saturday, August 21, 2021, at the Turner Center Art Park, Valdosta, GA. Continue reading →

Why Withlacoochee River floodplain deannexation from Valdosta? @ GLPC 2021-07-26 2021-07-26

Update 2021-08-02: Withlacoochee River floodplain deannexation at Valdosta City Council 2021-08-05.

Valdosta should not deannex 310 acres of Withlacoochee River floodplain around Cherry Creek. No good reason for deannexation has been given by the applicant, and there are substantial reasons to be concerned about potential uses of that land if deannexed. Instead, Valdosta and Lowndes County should purchase the entire 530.24 acre property down to the Withlacoochee River to add to a trails system up and down the Withlacoochee River. The advisory Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) at its meeting this Monday should recommend against annexation, and then the Valdosta Mayor and Council should deny.

I am sending a letter to that effect today to Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin, and I recommend you do, as well: mlmartin@valdostacity.com

[Public land and Uvalde Land Trust Deannexation request, Withlacoochee River]
Public land and Uvalde Land Trust Deannexation request, Withlacoochee River

That deannexation is on the GLPC agenda for this Monday, July 26, 2021. The only land access to the property is through the City of Valdosta, and since that whole area of the river has extensive flood plain and little road access, Lowndes County cannot provide public utilities, fire/police protection, or emergency medical response across the river to the subject property, as the City Planner points out in the agenda sheet. The landowner’s stated purpose would be better served by the property remaining inside the city limits: “to use for wildlife management, and rec. use as it is in a mitgation bank & has no development use.” The City Planner even recommends annexing the rest of the subject property into the city, down to the river. Continue reading →

Pictures: Juneteenth @ Reed Bingham State Park Lake with Macedonia Community Foundation 2021-06-19

Fannie Gibbs of Macedonia Community Foundation invited WWALS to their Juneteenth celebration at Reed Bingham State Park Lake. So we took boats and volunteers and got people in boats on the lake.

Including Fannie, in a boat, with a paddle, in the rain!

[Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Lake with Macedonia Community Foundation and Suwannee Riverkeeper]
Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Lake with Macedonia Community Foundation and Suwannee Riverkeeper

Thanks especially to Fannie Gibbs for inviting WWALS. We will keep writing joint grant proposals until we get some funded for boating and swimming lessons, historical research, and paddle outings designed around African-American waterway history. Meanwhile, we will keep doing things like this anyway. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition thanks Atkinson Commission for support –WFXL TV 2021-07-09

Alapaha River Water Trail and GA-EPD Recreational redesignation of the Alapaha River at Atkinson County Commission last Thursday made the news.

Typhani Gray, Fox 31 WFXL, 9 July 2021, WWALS Watershed Coalition thanks Atkinson Commission for support,

[Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135, Alapaha River Water Trail, Suwannee Riverkeeper at Atkinson County Commission, Reporter Typhani Gray and Tester Valerie Folsom, ARWT road sign]
Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135, Alapaha River Water Trail, Suwannee Riverkeeper at Atkinson County Commission, Reporter Typhani Gray and Tester Valerie Folsom, ARWT road sign

WWALS Watershed Coalition was started after organizers were concerned about sewage spills, and roads being closed because of trees being down in the river.

Most of that was in the Withlacoochee River around 2009, but the Alapaha River did have water quality issues back then.

The organization came to the Atkinson County Board of Commissioners to thank them for the Alapaha River Water Trail contribution.

In 2018 commissions passed a resolution supporting the water trail.

Here is that Atkinson County Commission resolution of 18 January 2018 supporting the Alapaha River Water Trail.

This trail runs for more than 100 miles on the Alapaha River all the way down to Florida.

Atkinson County has one landing on Georgia 135 that’s called Willacoochee [Landing].

According to John Quarterman, the Watershed Coalition has expanded its organization and is now tests waters to make it safer for people to swim and fish.

Valerie Folsom, who tests in Atkinson County at Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135, also spoke to the Atkinson County Commission about the latest test results. Continue reading →