Come help us clean up more trash jams we found last time.
Most of it is legacy trash from Valdosta.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, August 5, 2023
Put In: Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, 6499 Knights Ferry Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County.
GPS: 30.71205, -83.45554
![[Floating trash jam 2023-04-08 and on-land trash 2022-12-17]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-08-03--kf-nankin-withlacoochee-cleanup/many.jpg)
Floating trash jam 2023-04-08 and
on-land trash 2022-12-17
The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.
River water levels are well within boatable range.
There was rain today, and more is expected tomorrow, so contamination could wash into the rivers.
No sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.
So fish, swim, and boat at your own risk this weekend.
Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow, Withlacoochee Springs and Slough, Sullivan Launch 2023-07-15.
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-13]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-13--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-13
Valdosta’s major spill of 2023-07-06 still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.
The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager two weeks ago promised to look into that.
Ashburn had three spills two weeks ago, one of them major, all finally reported this Wednesday. We’ll post a writeup on those later. Continue reading
Update 2023-07-11: Yet another Valdosta sewage spill, five days ago, at 1800 E. Park Ave., Knights Creek 2023-07-06.
The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.
There’s been hardly any rain this week to wash any contamination into the river.
No rain is predicted until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.
No sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.
River water levels are well within boatable range.
So happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend!
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-06--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-06
The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Wednesday upstream and Monday downstream. They are all good.
Valdosta did see an odd too-high spike in E. coli at GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River for Monday, but by Wednesday it was back down.
The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager a week ago promised to look into that. Continue reading
Suzy Hall found this smelly trash yesterday, July 5, 2023, at Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp.
![[Ravine, freezer, Withlacoochee River under Clyattville-Nankin Road Bridge --Suzy Hall 2023-07-05]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-05--trash-nankin/many.jpg)
Ravine, freezer, Withlacoochee River under Clyattville-Nankin Road Bridge –Suzy Hall 2023-07-05
She says it’s in the “infamous ravine”, which I’m assuming to be the one south (left) of the boat ramp, about here: 30.674710, -83.394021. Continue reading
Update 2023-07-07: Quitman raw sewage spill, 1401 N. Washington St. 2023-06-27.
The Alapaha, Little, and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.
There’s been no rain this week to wash any contamination into the river.
There was one small sewage spill from Quitman Tuesday, but if it had any effect on the Withlacoochee River it was gone by Thursday.
No rain is predicted until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.
River water levels are back down to boatable range.
So happy fishing, swimming, and boating this Fourth of July weekend!
Maybe you’d like to join us on Monday evening on Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, Georgia, to paddle out to see the sun set and the moon rise, with bats!
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-29]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-29--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-29
The Quitman spill was 3,000 gallons, from a lift station on Moultrie Highway, with no more specific location. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) had Quitman in the wrong county and watershed, but since I pointed that out to them they say they’ve fixed it in their database and the changes will show up in their next report. Which I would guess would be Wednesday, after the holiday.
The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager today promised to look into that.
No other sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. Continue reading
Update 2023-06-24: Valdosta sewage into One Mile Branch 2023-06-21.
The Withlacoochee River good for Thursday at three locations upstream and down, also the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp.
This is despite quite a bit of rain in the past few days. Most likely the first flush is over. That’s where the various animal and human uses of the woods as a latrine get flushed into waterways when hard rain first starts. Now what we’re mostly seeing is simply rainwater runoff.
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-22]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-22--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-22
Of course there could still be sewage spills. However, no new sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. We would most likely be seeing E. coli from them if they had happened.
So I would be good with swimming, fishing, and boating on the Withlacoochee River this weekend.
Except of course that Continue reading
Update 2023-06-23: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-06-22.
The Withlacoochee River tested very bad upstream for Thursday, from Franklinville Road to US 41. Surprisingly, downstream at Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp it tested good, and also on the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp.
I can only guess either the contamination has not yet washed down that far, or maybe enough rain has come down to dilute the contamination.
Even more rain is expected.
I wouldn’t swim, fish, or boat in the Withlacoochee River this weekend.
What is that contamination? Well, it’s not coming from the City of Valdosta, since Franklinville is upstream of Valdosta, and US 41 is upstream of most of that city.
We need to buy some more DNA test kits to find out, but likely scenarios include upstream cattle and hog farms (there are some), chicken manure used as fertilizer, and first flush, as in when rains come after a long dry spell the results of animals using the woods as a latrine wash into waterways.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-15]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-15--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-15
No new sewage spills have been reported Continue reading
Update 2023-06-16: Very bad upstream Withlacoochee River 2023-06-15.
The Withlacoochee River and Little Rivers tested good for Thursday, and the Alapaha River for Tuesday. Unless it rains, happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.
Or join us tomorrow on the Suwannee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2023-06-10.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map, 2023-06-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-08--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map, 2023-06-08
No new sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.
The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and for Friday a week ago downstream. Continue reading
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)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-05-15--loco-trash/many.jpg)
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
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]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-27--wwals-rivers-alive-adopt-a-stream-award/many.jpg)
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