Tag Archives: Elizabeth Brunner

Clean eleven sites: Withlacoochee, Little, and Alapaha Rivers 2021-06-17

Update 2021-06-23: Health Advisory, Withlacoochee River, bad at GA-FL line after rains 2021-06-22.

All clear up and down the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, for Thursday, June 17, 2021. Happy swimming, boating, and fishing!

Rains are predicted for this weekend, so of course conditions could change rapidly, but that’s what we know now.

[Chart, Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers, Swim Guide

Thanks to WWALS testers, we have results from eleven locations on three rivers.

  • Valerie Folsom (Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135 in Atkinson County, GA),
  • Elizabeth Brunner (GA 122: Little River @ Folsom Bridge Landing, Withlacoochee River @ Hagan Bridge Landing, Alapaha River @ Lakeland Boat Ramp
  • Bobby McKenzie (Little River @ Troupville Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River @ US 41 and GA 133)
  • Michael and Jacob Bachrach (Withlacoochee River @ Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps)
  • Gus Cleary (Withlacoochee River @ Cleary Bluff, below Allen Ramp, almost to the Suwannee River)

And of course thanks to WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall for organizing and to WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman for training and supplying the testers. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2021-06-03

Update 2021-06-11: Clean Rivers Again 2021-06-10.

Thanks to WWALS testers Elizabeth Brunner (3 sites), Bobby McKenzie (6 sites), and Gus Cleary (1 site), we know the Withlacoochee River clean Thursday at last in spots from GA 122 almost to the Suwannee River, the Little River down to its Confluence, and the Alapaha River at Lakeland. No rain, no manure runoff! And there were no reported sewage spills this week.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

So happy boating, swimming, and fishing!

Valdosta was once again asleep at the wheel. The most recent results we have from them are for last Friday upstream and the Friday before that downstream. Madison Health did not test this week. So it’s fortunate WWALS testers were diligent! Continue reading →

All clear, Withlacoochee River 2021-05-20

Update 2021-05-28: No rain, clean Withlacoochee River 2021-05-27 .

Good news: all clear on the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers for this weekend! That’s as far as E. coli in numerous water quality samples. And the Alapaha River, too, from the one datapoint we have.

[All clear, many samples, three rivers, Swim Guide]
All clear, many samples, three rivers, Swim Guide

Thanks to WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner for the GA 122 sites Tuesday: Folsom Bridge on the Little River, Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, and Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River. For Thursday, thanks to Bobby McKenzie for testing Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River and the pictures of the too-low Withlacoochee River at Langdale Park and GA 133. Thanks to Michael Bachrach and Jacob Bachrach in the bug suit for Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps Thursday. Thanks to Gus Cleary for Cleary Bluff Monday and Thursday. Thanks to WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall for wrangling review of results.

Thanks to Madison Health for State Line, Sullivan Launch, and FL 6 Thursday.

Valdosta was again asleep at the wheel.

Here’s the chart: Continue reading →

Clean upstream and downstream, Withlacoochee River 2021-05-06

Update 2021-05-14: Good upstream, bad down, Withlacoochee River 2021-05-13.

We have mixed results for this week. Madison Health got a too-high single sample at the GA-FL line for Tuesday, May 4, but the other results by Valdosta and WWALS testers are all good. So we don’t have enough recent data to say very confidently, but especially given almost no rain since Tuesday, most likely the Withlacoochee River is good for boating, swimming, and fishing.

[GA 122, Cleary Bluff, Chart, Swim Guide]
GA 122, Cleary Bluff, Chart, Swim Guide

This Thursday, Elizabeth Brunner got zero (0) at Folsom Bridge on the Little River, 166 at Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, and 100 cfu/100 mL E. coli at Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, all on GA 122. Continue reading →

Clean Little River and Withlacoochee River clean again 2021-04-22

Update 2021-04-27: Very bad water quality: Withlacoochee River 2021-04-26.

Clean as a whistle: the start of tomorrow morning’s BIG Little River Paddle Race, Red Roberts Landing at Rountree Bridge, upstream on the Little River from Reed Bingham State Park Lake, according to a Thursday sample by WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner.

Postponed due to weather to 2PM, Sunday, April 25, 2021: BIG Little River Paddle Race.

And clean Thursday from Knights Ferry to FL-6 on the Withlacoochee River, according to WWALS testers Michael and Jacob Bachrach and Madison Health.

So as far as we can tell, happy paddling, swimming, and fishing!

[Clean week, agate, Withlacoochee River, Little River @ Red Roberts to Suwannee River Clean]
Clean week, agate, Withlacoochee River, Little River @ Red Roberts to Suwannee River Clean

We have nothing from Valdosta for any day since Monday, but that showed clean at US 41, GA 133, and US 84 on the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2021-03-25

Update 2021-03-29: Still clean last week, filthy Friday before, Withlacoochee River 2021-03-26.

Clean everywhere, according to five WWALS testers who sampled spots on 80 Withlacoochee River miles Thursday, plus two on the Little River and one on the Alapaha River.

The latest we have from Madison Health is for Tuesday, and from Valdosta is for Friday a week ago, but those were clean, too. There’s been little to no recent rain, so probably nothing bad has washed into the rivers.

Good news for this morning’s paddle from Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge that Scott James calls the Mayor’s Paddle.

Laissez les bon bateaux rouler! Continue reading →