Tag Archives: conservation

Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-10-17

Update 2025-10-23: Sewer System Repairs and Water Quality Testing by Valdosta Utilities 2025-10-21.

A WWALS water quality sample Friday at the WaterGoat on Sugar Creek tested at the alert limit for E. coli, and higher than the previous week.

This result is consistent with the higher result Valdosta Utilities got for Thursday at GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River, which was also higher than the previous week.

And it is consistent with the results Valdosta Utilities got two weeks ago at Gornto Road on Sugar Creek and at GA 133. That day, October 2, 2025, Valdosta Utilities got even higher results at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek.

Yet after October 2 Valdosta Utilities ceased testing Sugar Creek, One Mile Branch, and Hightower Creek, as well as North Valdosta Road on the Withlacoochee River, after the four weeks of testing required by GA-EPD after major spills had expired.

There has been no significant rain for weeks. It is very difficult to explain these high Sugar Creek results as residue of previous sewage spills washing downstream, when there has been no rain to wash it down.

Maybe Valdosta Utilities should look for a sewage leak on Hightower Creek upstream from St. Augustine Road.

And if Valdosta won’t voluntarily continue testing when results are too high, maybe it’s time to ask the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) to require the city to do so.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

Filthy Sugar Creek Friday, WWALS 2025-10-17, Consistent with GA 133, Valdosta Utilities 2025-10-16

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

McIntyre Spring with boats, Withlacoochee River –Google Earth Pro 2025-05-27

One of only six second magnitude springs in the state of Georgia, McIntyre Spring is about half a mile upstream from where the Withlacoochee River crosses into Florida for the first time. Here it is seen with kayaks, in Google Earth Pro, for May 17, 2025, looking south and downstream.

McIntyre Spring with boats, Withlacoochee River –Google Earth Pro, May 27, 2017

Previously I speculated that the kayaks in this Google Earth Pro map were from the WWALS paddle of October 14, 2017. Since then, Google Earth Pro has supplied a more specific date of May 27, 2017 for this map, so the dates do not seem to match.

Brooks County claims the entire river to its left (usually east) bank, so McIntyre Spring is in that county. It is also on private land, inaccessible by road without permission.

To see McIntyre Spring in the river, the water level must be low. Preferably no higher than about 1.75 feet (85.26 NAVD) on the US 84 Quitman gage, and about 6.57 (53.08 NAVD) on the the Pinetta gage.

Those were the readings on July 9, 2016. Continue reading →

Too much E. coli at the Watergoat, Sugar Creek 2025-10-10, Problematical Withlacoochee River 2025-10-16

Update 2025-10-19: Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-10-17.

The last water quality test for Sugar Creek that we have is by WWALS for last Friday, and that was a too-high 633 cfu/100 mL E. coli.

For this Thursday, Valdosta Utilities got 480 at GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River, downstream of Sugar Creek, higher than the one-time test limit of 410, and higher than 400 last week. Yet Valdosta Utilities got a pretty clean 120 farther downstream at US 84, lower than 180 last week.

It is likely that Sugar Creek was still too high Thursday. We don’t know, because Valdosta Utilities last week ceased testing Sugar Creek, One Mile Branch, and Hightower Creek, as well as North Valdosta Road on the Withlacoochee River. This was apparently because the four weeks of testing required by GA-EPD after major spills had expired. Never mind that Valdosta Utilities’ last result on Sugar Creek was too high.

WWALS testers got a very clean zero result on the Santa Fe River for Wednesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s a chance of storms Sunday afternoon, otherwise it’s supposed to be mostly sunny for the next ten days.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, Other than that, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

Too much E. coli at Sugar Creek WaterGoat, Problematical Withlacoochee River, 2025-10-16

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Packet: North Central Florida Regional Planning Council 2025-10-23

The North Central Florida Regional Planning Council (NCFRPC) meets next Thursday, in person and online.

Copies of the meeting notice, directions, agenda, and board packet is on the WWALS website, with images below, plus an illustrative picture of a previous NCFRPC meeting at the same location.

North Central Florida Regional Planning Council, Agenda and Packet, Thursday, October 23, 2025

There’s not a lot about water, except the very last item, Regional Joint Mitigation Resiliency Project, on page 71 of the packet. It includes:

The scope of work includes the following activities.

Future Extreme Rainfall Modeling;
Mitigation Needs Assessment, Template and Mitigation Priority Areas and Project List;
Small Area Mitigation Plans;
Regional Resilience Exposure Tool;
Interactive Best Practice Application; and
Stakeholder Engagement.

Continue reading →

Video: Sweet William Ennis, Palatka, FL, a Folk song, Suwannee Cracker Cowboys 2025-09-06

Thanks to Sweet William Ennis of Palatka, Florida, for writing and performing his Folk song, “Suwannee Cracker Cowboys,” at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025. Billy also handled sound.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

About Billy Ennis:

“Sweet William” Ennis is a singer-songwriter who has lived in Palatka Florida for over three decades. His personally original songs written over the span of fifty years covers multi genres and subjects including the environment, love & war with a heavy dose of Blues. 2019 quarter finalist in the Memphis International Blues Challenge, 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 1st place winner and 2018 Santa Fe River Song Contest 3rd place winner, Sweet William is very active in the Florida music community and recognized for organizing volunteer music events supporting soup kitchens, assisted living facilities and worthy fund raisers.

Sweet William Ennis, Palatka, FL, with a Folk song, 2025-09-06, Suwannee Cracker Cowboys, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

About Billy’s song:

The Suwannee Cowboys, a tour through Suwannee Basin’s Cracker History.

Here’s Sweet William Ennis singing his song:
https://youtu.be/HqpYrufXq4E?si=PQtLUgZGmSiO2kff Continue reading →

Full Beaver Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-11-05

Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddla on our mini-Okefenokee just west of Lakeland, Georgia. Watch the sun set, the moon rise, and there may be bats.

Chris Adams, aka Turtleman, will be leading this paddle. He is a very experienced naturalist and former guide at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. He has often paddled with us at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge. You’ll enjoy his insights.

This Outing is honoring Veterans, who get free entry.

When: Gather 4:45 PM, launch 5:15 PM, moonrise 5:39 PM, sunset 5:41 PM, end 6:45 PM, Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

Full Beaver Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-11-05, Sunset, Moonrise, and maybe bats

Continue reading →

Video: Bats of Georgia, Samuel Holst, GA-DNR, a WWALS Webinar 2025-08-21

A Wildlife Biologist with GA-DNR, Samuel Holst, talked about the bats of Georgia, including in Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp. Plus some of our rare small mammals that are found around the Okefenokee.

WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction, with questions and answers at the end. Including where to put your bat house. He sent some papers about that, and how to make a bat house, how to attract bats, how to identify bats, their importance in agriculture, and how to keep them out of your house:
https://wwals.net/pictures/bat-papers

Video: Bats of Georgia, Samuel Holst, GA-DNR, a WWALS Webinar, August 21, 2025

Here is the link to the website about the Acoustic Survey Volunteer Project:
https://georgiawildlife.com/AnabatProject

Here is the video of Samuel Holst talking about bats of Georgia and other small mammals:
https://youtu.be/k8LQa0fVhHk Continue reading →

Joe First, Dowling Park, FL, an Americana song, Beautiful Florida Day 2025-09-06

The two judges awarded Joe First the First Prize! In addition to a plaque, organizing committee chair Sara Squires Jones handed him a $300 check.

Thanks to Joe First of Dowling Park, Florida, for writing the song, and to Joe on accordion, Martin Sensiper on guitar, and John White on percussion for playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025. Joe was the last Finalist to arrive, yet won First Prize.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

About Joe First:

I earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The University of Florida.and then taught K-5 Elementary Music for 10 years in Alachua County, FL and 20 years in Pinellas County, FL I retired in 2007 and moved to Nashville, TN for 18 years. I returned to north Florida in 2023 and reside in the Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park, FL. I play a lot with the Song Farmers of the Suwannee and The Suwannee Bluegrass Association and play my singer-songwriter material in Tallahassee, Nashville, and Switzerland.

Joe First, Dowling Park, FL, with an Americana song 2025-09-06, Beautiful Florida Day: First Prize, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

About Joe’s song:

I was visiting friends who had a house right on the Santa Fe River and did a lot of kayaking there. At one point, looking at a map, I envisioned a trip through the river connections all the way to the Gulf and, instead of taking the trip, I made up a song about my sort of dream.

Here’s Joe First and band singing his song:
https://youtu.be/Xs68D_tD8Zk Continue reading →

Arnold Springs, Mozell Spells, Withlacoochee River 2017-10-14

Update 2025-10-13: better picture format, and links to the previous parts.

A fine fall day on the Withlacoochee River with WWALS Watershed Coalition and Suwannee Riverkeeper, diving and landowners at Arnold Springs, Old Clyattville Road Bridge, exotic invasive Japanese Climbing Fern, Horn Bridge. and Mozell Spells (State Line Ramp). Thanks to all who came to paddle from as far as two hours from Gainesville, Florida and four hours from Pine Mountain, Georgia.

Clear spring water, 2017-10-14, 15:13:01, –jsq for WWALS 30.6410851, -83.3367726
Blue-green Arnold Springs water meets tea-colored Withlacoochee River water.

The Quitman Gauge (US 84) read 2.17 feet (85.67 NAVD88), which was slightly above our recommended low level, and just fine for Arnold Springs. Here are some pictures and a Google Map. A few videos will follow.

This part of the outing was all in Georgia, but we paddled downstream from Florida to get there; see Continue reading →

Shoals into out of Florida, Withlacoochee River 2017-10-14

The Withlacoochee River goes into and out of Florida twice before it makes up its mind. We saw karst, shoals, and rapids, into Florida and back to Georgia all downstream, Valdosta Railway Trestle, Madison County Four Freedoms Trail, and exotic invasive Japanese Climbing Fern, on a fall day on the Withlacoochee River with WWALS.

White water, 2017-10-14, 13:58:34, –jsq for WWALS 30.6345700, -83.3417800

This is Part 2, after Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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