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
Update 2022-02-02: Sprawl in an aquifer recharge zone back on the Lowndes County Commission agenda 2022-02-08.
Update 2022-01-09: Cancelled: Lowndes County Commission Meetings 2022-01-10, so expect expect the contentious Miller Bridge Road subdivision that was withdrawn last time to be back with larger lot sizes at the January 24 and 25 Commission meetings.
The subdivision WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman spoke against at the November Planning Commission meeting was withdrawn before the December Lowndes County Commission meeting.
![[Lowndes County Commission, Rezoning withdrawn temporarily, Aquifer recharge zone]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-12-14--miller-bridge-road-withdrawn/many.jpg)
Lowndes County Commission, Rezoning withdrawn temporarily, Aquifer recharge zone
But the withdrawal letter said they would be back with a new plan by January 5th. The subject property near the Little River is still in an aquifer recharge zone, and far outside any appropriate Character Area in the Comprehensive Plan. Continue reading
Update 2023-01-26: Pictures: Many deadfalls, shark teeth, and rapids: Alapachoochee Adventure 2022-07-09.
Bird Chamberlain and others had been suggesting it for years, and we finally did it: the Alapahoochee River from GA 135 to Sasser Landing on the Alapaha River. We paddled over many deadfalls, across the GA-FL line, past the creek of shark teeth, under old abandoned steel Beatty Bridge, through Devil Shoal, right by Turket Creek Waterfall.
![[Banners, Alapahoochee River, Deadfall, Beatty Bridge, Devil Shoal, Turket Creek Waterfall]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-06-05--alapahoochee-pictures/2021-06-05--many.jpg)
Banners, Alapahoochee River, Deadfall, Beatty Bridge, Devil Shoal, Turket Creek Waterfall
Many thanks to Bobby McKenzie for organizing this expedition, to the WWALS Outings Committee for planning it, and to all who paddled, including Suzanne Welander, author of Canoeing and Kayaking Georgia, who came down from Atlanta for this outing. Continue reading
WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman mixed up all the raffle tickets since June, Outings, from Juneteenth, from the WWALS Boomerang paddle race and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, from the Hahira Honeybee festival, gotten from WWALS Board members, or online.
Yesterday she transcribed all the online tickets onto paper so they would be the same as all the others.
Then she shook them all up.
And drew a winner.
The winner of the Vibe 120 Yellowfin Sit-On-Top Kayak with Paddle, $950 value, is…
Kristin Kuntz, of Lancaster, New York.
Gretchen called her up, and the winner was thrilled!
They agreed to figure out delivery later.
So, who wants to donate another another kayak for another raffle?
Here’s the video: Continue reading
Update 2022-01-02: Withdrawn but will return: subdivision in aquifer recharge zone near Little River, Lowndes County, GA @ LCC 2021-12-14
When the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) held a Public Hearing Monday for a rezoning for a subdivision in an aquifer recharge zone, WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman spoke against it. Three hundred other people opposed the rezoning. The Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend denying it.
But GLPC does not decide: the Lowndes County Commission will do that on December 14, 2021. And the County Commissioners can, if they choose, change the lot size or approve the rezoning as proposed.
This is what to watch for on that upcoming agenda: REZ-2021-28 Windy Hill S/D, 7532 Miller Bridge Rd., 0010 022, 34 ac., Community well & septic, EA to R1.
![[Gretchen, speakers, aquifer recharge zone]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-11-29--wwals-against-subdivision-in-recharge-zone/many.jpg)
Gretchen, speakers, aquifer recharge zone
Here is the LAKE video of Gretchen speaking, at 19:56. Continue reading
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-17--wq/many.jpg)
![[Delivery]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-12-11--kayak-raffle-drawing-video/delivery.jpg)