Tag Archives: Florida Department of Health

Florida clean? Withlacoochee River 2020-07-30

Update 2020-08-07: GA 133 Friday bad again? But good everywhere else, Withlacoochee River 2020-08-06.

Where is that E. coli going once it crosses the state line on the Withlacoochee River?

We don’t know, but at 4:39 PM Friday FDEP updated its online spreadsheet to contain very good results for Thursday at GA 31 (State Line), CR 150 (Sullivan Launch), and FL 6 (just above Madison Blue Spring).

[Swim Guide green for Florida]
Swim Guide green for Florida

Accordingly, we have set all the Florida “beaches” green on Swim Guide.

Knights Ferry and Nankin Boat Ramps remain red.

[How green in Florida?]
How green in Florida?
For the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida results, and further context, see https://wwals.net/issues/testing/.

Thanks to Madison Health for continuing to test downstream in Florida.

What’s happening farther downstream on the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers? We don’t know: nobody is testing down there.

Floridians: maybe you’d like to ask your statehouse elected officials to fund FDEP to implement regular river testing all the way from the state line to the Gulf. If Valdosta can do it, the great state of Florida can do it. For that matter, FDEP told us last November that they already had money for that and were allocating it regionally. Maybe you’d like to ask FDEP to allocate some of it to the Suwannee River Basin.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Excellent water quality, Withlacoochee River, but raining now 2020-07-22

Update 2020-07-27: Alert bacteria level at GA 133, Withlacoochee River, Friday 2020-07-24.

Valdosta already reported downstream Withlacoochee River results for Wednesday! They are excellent: 30 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Okapilco Creek @ US 84, same for Knights Ferry and Nankin Boat Ramps, and 40 for State Line: all well below the 126 longterm average limit. Valdosta results for Friday and Monday were similar, so the longterm average is in fact excellent. Plus we have Thursday and Tuesday Florida results, none higher than 10 for any of GA 31 (State Line), CR 150 (Sullivan Launch), or FL 6 (Madison Blue Spring). All that backs up the zero WWALS tester Suzy Hall got at State Line Boat Ramp Saturday.

Upstream, the most recent results from Valdosta are 30 for US 41, 140 for GA 133, and 0 (zero) for US 84, which is as good as it gets.

However, the UGA station for Dixie, GA, on the west side of Brooks County, already reported more than an inch of rain. Not so much rain anywhere else, so we don’t know what that rain will wash to the waterways. WWALS will be testing this weekend.

[Accuweather Radar]
Accuweather Radar Map.

Here’s the data: Continue reading →

Lifted: Florida Withlacoochee River Bacterial Advisory 2020-07-15

Update 2020-07-20: All green to go, Withlacoochee River 2020-07-18.

Going by the good downstream Florida results FDEP posted yesterday for Monday, July 13, shortly before Tom Mirti announced those results in the SRWMD Board meeting yesterday, as he predicted, Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida, Health Departments today lifted the bacterial advisory they posted last Thursday. Not much rain has fallen lately, so results will probably stay good downstream until the next big rain.

[Florida Withlacoochee River Advisory lifted]
Florida Withlacoochee River Advisory lifted
PDF

So I’ve marked State Line Boat Ramp and the Florida “beaches” green on Swim Guide.

[Green State Line and Florida in Swim Guide]
Green State Line and Florida in Swim Guide

We have good Valdosta Monday results for US 84 and upstream, but nothing downstream yet, so Knights Ferry and Nankin Boat Ramps remain red. Since there’s been no significant rain lately, and results are good upstream and downstream, chances are Knights Ferry and Nankin are also good, but we can’t change Swim Guide for them until we get new test results. Continue reading →

Bad Friday and Saturday water quality results, Withlacoochee River 2020-07-11

Update 2020-07-14: Bad Friday and Saturday water quality results, Withlacoochee River 2020-07-11.

Not looking good downstream on the Withlacoochee River. Madison Health unusually tested on a Friday, and found too-high E. coli results at Florida 6, just above Madison Blue Spring: 414 cfu/100 mL. Saturday, WWALS results at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp were horrible: 5,233. Nankin Boat Ramp results were merely too high: 600. State Line Boat Ramp was within acceptable limits Saturday, but that contamination probably washed down that far by Sunday and well into Florida by this morning.

[Withlacoochee River, Swim Guide]
Withlacoochee River, Swim Guide

Thanks to WWALS testers Michael and Jacob Bachrach for collecting those downstream Withlacoochee River samples, and to Suzy Hall for providing the results. See also What do these numbers mean?

[Dirty Knights Ferry, Nankin, FL 6]
Dirty Knights Ferry, Nankin, FL 6
For the complete WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida results and other context, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.

Friday Conn got 2,100 on Crooked Creek at Devane Road. Remember, Crooked Creek runs into Okapilco Creek downstream of US 84. That 2,100 is actually lower than many results we’ve seen at that location, and Crooked Creek has much less flow than Okapilco Creek. So that number is not enough to account for the 5,233 downstream of Okapilco Creek on the Withlacoochee River at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp the next day. Did it come from somewhere else, such as upstream on Okapilco Creek?

This map may help with understanding where all these places are.

[Landings, Suwannee River Basin, WWALS Map]
Landings in Suwannee River Basin, WWALS Map

However many places the E. coli came from, there is reason to believe that the most likely sources are cattle.

[Little River, Swim Guide]
Little River, Swim Guide

Meanwhile on Saturday, upstream WWALS testers Conn Cole and John S. Quarterman found good results on the Little River at GA 76 (Cook County Boat Ramp) and GA 122 (Folsom Bridge Landing), as well as at GA 122 on the Withlacoochee River (Hagan Bridge Landing). Friday Conn Cole aso got good results on Okapilco Creek at US 84.

Plus, Valdosta’s Friday results for US 41, GA 133, and US 84 are all good. Valdosta did get a high Fecal coliform result for US 41, but we go by E. coli. Thanks to Valdosta PIO Ashlyn Johnson for getting these Valdosta Friday results published this morning.

Back downstream, you don’t even have to count the blue-with-bubbles colonies to see Continue reading →

Good water quality, Withlacoochee and Alapaha, but recent rains may change that 2020-06-22

The most recent water quality data we have looks good, for both the Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers, in Georgia and Florida.

But it’s from Monday, June 22, 2020, and there was significant rain on Okapilco Creek Tuesday and Wednesday in Brooks County, and more upstream at Skipper Bridge in Lowndes County, Georgia, on the Withlacoochee River. So conditions may change.

[Looks good, but...]
Looks good, but…
For context and links to the WWALS composite spreadsheet and all its sources, see https://wwals.net/issues/testing/.

Here are the recent rain records. Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River good despite dirty creek 2020-05-01

Update 2020-05-04: Clean Withlacoochee River, less bad Crooked Creek 2020-05-02.

Update 2020-05-03: WWALS tester Suzy Hall says she got zero (no) E. coli at the GA 31 bridge (State Line Boat Ramp) for yesterday, Saturday, May 2, 2020.

Good news, boaters, fishers, swimmers: apparently the Withlacoochee River is clean this weekend. This is because of much river and Okapilco Creek water coming downstream; flow matters.

WWALS continues sampling, and you can help us afford testing supplies.

[WWALS Water Trail signs]
Photo: John S. Quarterman, WWALS Water Trail signs at Nankin Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2020-05-01

You may have some difficulty getting a boat into the water, but if you do, it appears that the small rain in Brooks County, Georgia, Thursday, April 30, was not big enough Continue reading →

Cleaner Withlacoochee, horrid Crooked Creek 2020-04-16

Update 2020-04-20: Better Saturday at Knights Ferry, Nankin, Withlacoochee River, but rain 2020-04-18.

I put back up a WWALS Caution sign at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp yesterday because of recent bacterial results on the Withlacoochee River; our signs are still up at Nankin and State Line. Thanks to WWALS testers and Madison Health, we have a pretty good picture of creeks and Withlacoochee River health yesterday, to add to what Valdosta got Wednesday. More WWALS testing this weekend. You can help.

And you can watch the livestream Saturday morning (probably today when you read this), April 18, 2020, starting at 8AM, as we demonstrate cleaning up and posting water trail signs at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp. Look for the livestream on the facebook event.

[Caution sign]
Caution sign

You can’t see E. coli, but you can see trash, such as this at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Thursday, April 16, 2020. That location had much less E. coli, 233 cfu/100 mL, than only two days before, as did State Line Boat Ramp and CR 150 (Sullivan Launch), but Nankin Boat Ramp had 800 and Florida 6 had 538, just above Madison Blue Spring. Okapilco Creek was OK at US 84, with 166, but Crooked Creek at Devane Road was horrid with TNTC, Too Numerous to Count. See also What do these numbers mean? Continue reading →

Bad quality north Lowndes to state line, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-15

If it was this bad at the state line yesterday, this contamination must be in Florida by now. So watch out Lowndes and Brooks Counties, Georgia, and Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida.

I am going now to collect some samples, as are some other WWALS testers. You can help.

[Bad from US 41 to state line]
Bad from US 41 to state line
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida data, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.

So after contamination after last week’s rain, the Withlacoochee River was cleaner Sunday and even more so during the week. But that changed much for the worse with the rain yesterday. Continue reading →

Clean in last results, but watch out after recent rains, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-08

Update 2020-04-13: Bad water quality at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-11.

Good news: the Withlacoochee River has been very clean recently.

But watch out: Wednesday’s rain may have washed contamination into the river.

[This Week]
This Week
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida data, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.

There was about half an inch of rain upstream Wednesday, plus a tornado just across Continue reading →

Rain and dirty Withlacoochee River again 2020-04-02

2020-04-10: Clean in last results, but watch out after recent rains, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-08.

I was afraid this would happen: an inch of rain, and suddenly the Withlacoochee River was dirty again. Unfortunately, the most recent results we have are for last Thursday, April 2, 2020.

[An inch of rain and bad water quality]
An inch of rain and bad water quality
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida data, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.

Those Valdosta results at US 41, GA 133, and US 84 for Wednesday, April 1, 2020, cannot be Quitman nor the usual agricultural suspects in Brooks County, although Okapilco Creek was also plenty bad.

No, nobody reported any sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia, and also not in Florida. So most likely this contamination is mostly from livestock. Yes, there are horses, cows, and hogs upstream from Valdosta.

The contamination apparently had not really reached Knights Ferry or Nankin yet that day, and not State Line at all.

But the next day Madison Health saw a red 431 cfu/100 mL E. coli at CR 145 (aka GA 31, Madison Highway, State Line Boat Ramp, and Mozell Spells). See also what do these numbers mean?

So it’s not hard to guess that contamination probably reached Florida by Continue reading →