It was a ten!
It was a fine spring day for thirteen miles on the Alapaha River from Mayday to Statenville. Cypress, oaks, pines, tea-colored water, and a sandy lunch spot.
See it in these pictures by Gretchen Quarterman.
The water level was about 9 feet or 85.1′ NAVD88 on the Statenville Gauge. That’s higher than our old recommended maximum, so we’re raising the max to 10 feet (86.1′ NAVD88). Continue reading
Adel, GA, May 3, 2022 — Nineteen canoeists and kayakers set out on a beautiful blue-sky morning on Saturday, April 30, 2022, and one from far away won the BIG Little River Paddle Race.
![[Carl Fuller, First Prize Winner]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2022-04-30--blrpr-pictures/many.jpg)
Carl Fuller, First Prize Winner
They paddled three miles from Red Roberts Landing to the Colquitt County boat ramp on Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
![[Five boats]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2022-04-30--blrpr-pictures/P4300037.jpg)
Carl Fuller already in the lead.
The overall winner was Continue reading
Come to the Gaskins Forest Education Center near Alapaha, Georgia, for an education opportunity about the piney woods and WWALS and the Alapaha River Water Trail.
When: Setup 12 PM, festival starts 1 PM, ends 5 PM, Saturday, April 23, 2022
Put In: Gaskins Forest Education Center, 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd., Alapaha, Georgia 31622.
Free: This event is free.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join
Event: facebook
![[Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman from 2018 festival]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-23--day-in-the-woods/many.jpg)
Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman from 2018 festival
Update 2022-04-15: Clean Rivers 2022-04-15.
Best to avoid the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers this weekend. In very unusual results, all three were too high in E. coli at GA 122, and the Withlacoochee was way too high at Nankin Boat Ramp.
The Ichetucknee tested clean for Tuesday at TREPO’s Hodor Park.
You might try lakes that are not downstream from likely rivers, such as Banks Lake and Grassy Pond, and maybe Reed Bingham State Park, but we have no data on those lakes.
In good news, no sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida. Of course, certain cities (Quitman, Ashburn) almost always report a week or more late, so stay tuned on that.
The most recent data we have from Valdosta is for Monday upstream, which was before the Wednesday and Thursday rains. So WWALS data is what we have to go on, and the WWALS results are pretty bad. Continue reading
This was a nice, short, one-mile paddle on the Alapaha River from Hotchkiss Road Landing beyond US 84, past the then-future site of Naylor Boat Ramp. All on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT). Thanks to Chris Graham for leading this paddle.
![[Hotchkiss Road Landing, Shoals, Naylor Beach, US 84 bridge, Alapaha River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2014-08-24--alapaha/many.jpg)
Hotchkiss Road Landing, Shoals, Naylor Beach, US 84 bridge, Alapaha River
Update 2022-05-12: Pictures: Pafford’s Landing cleanup 2022-04-16.
Join us for a cleanup at the white sand beach of Pafford’s Landing on the Alapaha River east of Lakeland, Georgia. This is one of the WWALS events celebrating Earth Day 2022.
When: Gather 9 AM, end 12 PM, Saturday, April 16, 2022
Put In: Pafford’s Landing, east of Lakeland, GA, on the south side of GA 122 and GA 37, into the woods, on the right bank (west side) of the Alapaha River, in Lanier County, on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail.
Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. No boat is required, but if you want to bring one, you can use it.
Free: This outing is free to everyone!
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join
![[Pafford's Landing ARWT signs, beach with view of bridge]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-16--cleanup-paffords-landing/many.jpg)
Pafford’s Landing ARWT signs, beach with view of bridge.
Update 2022-03-26: Bad downstream Withlacoochee River 2022-03-24.
Surprisingly, after the recent rains, the rivers show mostly clear again. Apparently the efforts of the cattle owners in Brooks County, Georgia, to be part of the solution are working.
I would not hesitate to boat, swim, or fish in the Withlacoochee River today. After checking water levels: they may still be high. And the Alapaha and Little Rivers showed even better results. All could change with more rain, but for now it’s a go, so far as we know.
Meanwhile, could people stop stealing our water trail signs? Looks like somebody even stole the signposts at Nankin.
The most recent results we have from Valdosta are from Monday, both upstream and downstream. Their Friday and Monday downstream results for Okapilco Creek @ US 84 confirm what our WWALS results for last Thursday at Knights Ferry on the Withlacoochee indicated: contamination coming down Okapilco Creek from Brooks County. However, that contamination apparently was diluted by high Withlacoochee River levels, and E. coli on the river did not exceed limits for Friday or Monday.
Valdosta did get higher Fecal coliform than E. coli for Friday Continue reading
Restarting a Hahira tradition. There will be live music from 12 – 10 p.m., food trucks, and vendors!
Hahira is between the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, and the Hahira City Council in 2018 passed a resolution in support of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).
When: 12 PM, Sunset 7:43:00 PM, end 10 PM, Saturday, March 19, 2022
Put In: Train Depot, 220 W Main St, Hahira, GA 31632
Fee: The City of Hahira is charging a
$20 entrance fee,
or $10 for children ages 6-13.
Or WWALS members can volunteer at the WWALS booth.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/#join
![[WWALS booth, Hahira Pick In]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-19--hahira-pick-in/many.jpg)
WWALS booth, Hahira Pick In
(WWALS booth pictures by Gretchen Quarterman from Hahira Honeybee Festival 2021-10-02)
Update 2022-03-18: Unanimously voted down: Miller Bridge Road subdivision @ LCC 2022-02-08.
The same proposed rezoning in Lowndes County that WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman spoke against in November will be back on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for a decision at 5:30 PM February 8, 2022.
That’s 5:30 PM, Tuesday, February 8, 2022, on the second floor at 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, GA 31601.
Remember, this is upstream on the Little River from Florida and Brooks County Georgia, as well as Lowndes County. Because it’s a rezoning, anybody from anywhere can speak during the public hearing at that meeting. However, they will only allow a few people to speak for a few minutes.
So even better would be to send a written objection before the meeting to commissioner@lowndescounty.com. You can also try emailing the Commissioners individually, https://lowndescounty.com/directory.aspx?did=19 Beware that some of the Commissioners do not read their county email addresses, so best to also copy the County Clerk, belinda@lowndescounty.com.
Gretchen spoke against the new version of this rezoning (bigger lots) again Monday at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission, this time pointing out that when community wells fail, their owners hand them over to the county, which puts the taxpayers on the hook for fixing them, so we don’t need any more community wells. A room full of opponents raised their hands at that meeting, and more than 300 signed a petition against the rezoning.
![[Gretchen Quarterman at Planning Commission, aquifer recharge zone, sinkholes]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-02-08--loco-sprawl/many.jpg)
Gretchen Quarterman at Planning Commission, aquifer recharge zone, sinkholes
The subject property is also near some notorious sinkholes, the Myers Bluff Sinkhole on the Little River, and the Shiloh Road Sinkhole that fortunately did not take down that road or a nearby house. The Snake Nation Road Sinkhole, a bit farther south, forced the county to reroute that road to the tune of about half a million dollars. Continue reading
Chemical and Bacterial training by Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) methods. Yes, you can also use these methods in Florida to report via AAS.
If you’d like to get trained and do testing for WWALS, please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7
If you’ve already been trained, remember you have to get retrained every year.
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream has worked out methods, mostly online, that work in this pandemic situation. With last year’s second generous grant from Georgia Power WWALS has purchased enough testing kits so that trainees can have one to use during the training.
![[Table of testers]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2021-02-13--wwals-aas-wq-training/IMG_5741.jpg)
Table of testers
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman
2021-02-13.
In the form, remember to say where you can test. We need testers pretty much everywhere:
For the testing story so far, and more context, see
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/.
We look forward to you getting trained and joining our testing team!
When: 9 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, February 12, 2022
Where: Zoom then physically distanced practical training in very small groups, for example at Onemile Branch in Drexel Park in Valdosta.
Free: to everyone.
But if you want to test for WWALS, you need to become a WWALS member:
https://wwals.net/donations/#join
![[Collage]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2019-03-23--wwals-alapaha-mayday/many.jpg)
![[Chart, rivers, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-07--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-17--wq/many.jpg)