Tag Archives: Jacob Bachrach

Pictures: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park 2024-06-22

Thanks to everyone who boated and had fun, and to everyone who helped, at Reed Bingham State Park Lake.

[Boating at Juneteenth, Reed Bingham SP 2024-06-22, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation]
Boating at Juneteenth, Reed Bingham SP 2024-06-22, WWALS & Macedonia Community Foundation

People who had never been in a boat before now have, some more than once.

Thanks to Fannie Gibbs of Macedonia Community Foundation for having the idea and bringing the food to this Juneteenth celebration.

Here are some video highlights:
https://youtu.be/bzEroP3rOrQ?si=Flvz68IPmRB6aWVw Continue reading →

Clean Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, but warning 2023-07-20

Update 2023-07-29: Clean Withlacoochee River, filthy Crawford and Sugar Creeks 2023-07-28.

Update 2023-07-22: Valdosta sewage spills bad for people, wildlife, economy –Suwannee Riverkeeper on WTXL.TV 2023-07-21.

The Alapaha, Little, and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday in WWALS sampling. But there are ongoing effects from a couple of Valdosta sewage spills, plus a new one from Quitman.

Valdosta Utilities tells us of some disturbing results on Sugar Creek, downstream of the Valdosta spill of July 17th and upstream of the Withlacoochee River. (I would publish those test results, but I do not have them in writing.)

Because of those results, we have converted tomorrow’s cleanup paddle to an on-land cleanup.

If you do paddle this weekend, I recommend the Little or Alapaha Rivers, or the Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, or Suwannee.

Also, Quitman had a 12,500 gallon sewage spill on July 11th that was just reported today. That goes into Okapilco Creek into the Withlacoochee River.

No other sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-20]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-20

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday a week ago downstream. For Monday Valdosta got way-too-high results for US 41, GA 133, and US 84 on the Withlacoochee River. WWALS got a much better result for Thursday at US 41. We did not test at GA 133 or US 84, expecting to get Valdosta’s Wednesday results. No such luck.

FYI, GA 133 is on the route the Valdosta Mayor and City Council member were supposed to paddle with us tomorrow. You’d think Valdosta would have tested and reported in a timely manner before that. But they did not.

Meanwhile, Valdosta’s followup testing after its July 6, 2023, 194,251-gallon raw sewage spill into Knights Creek keeps showing way too-high Fecal coliform and E. coli downstream on Knights Creek, which is upstream of the Alapahoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. I have to wonder whether Valdosta has had more spills that it has not reported, possibly because it does not know about them. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-07-13

The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.

River water levels are well within boatable range.

There was rain today, and more is expected tomorrow, so contamination could wash into the rivers.

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

So fish, swim, and boat at your own risk this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow, Withlacoochee Springs and Slough, Sullivan Launch 2023-07-15.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-13]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-13

Valdosta’s major spill of 2023-07-06 still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager two weeks ago promised to look into that.

Ashburn had three spills two weeks ago, one of them major, all finally reported this Wednesday. We’ll post a writeup on those later. Continue reading →

Clean Little and Withlacoochee River 2023-07-06

Update 2023-07-11: Yet another Valdosta sewage spill, five days ago, at 1800 E. Park Ave., Knights Creek 2023-07-06.

The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.

There’s been hardly any rain this week to wash any contamination into the river.

No rain is predicted until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.

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

River water levels are well within boatable range.

So happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-06]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-06

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Wednesday upstream and Monday downstream. They are all good.

Valdosta did see an odd too-high spike in E. coli at GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River for Monday, but by Wednesday it was back down.

The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager a week ago promised to look into that. Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha, Withlacoochee, Little Rivers 2023-06-29

Update 2023-07-07: Quitman raw sewage spill, 1401 N. Washington St. 2023-06-27.

The Alapaha, Little, and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday.

There’s been no rain this week to wash any contamination into the river.

There was one small sewage spill from Quitman Tuesday, but if it had any effect on the Withlacoochee River it was gone by Thursday.

No rain is predicted until Saturday afternoon at the earliest.

River water levels are back down to boatable range.

So happy fishing, swimming, and boating this Fourth of July weekend!

Maybe you’d like to join us on Monday evening on Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, Georgia, to paddle out to see the sun set and the moon rise, with bats!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-29]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-29

The Quitman spill was 3,000 gallons, from a lift station on Moultrie Highway, with no more specific location. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) had Quitman in the wrong county and watershed, but since I pointed that out to them they say they’ve fixed it in their database and the changes will show up in their next report. Which I would guess would be Wednesday, after the holiday.

The Valdosta Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill of June 21st still has not shown up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. The Valdosta City Manager today promised to look into that.

No other sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-06-22

Update 2023-06-24: Valdosta sewage into One Mile Branch 2023-06-21.

The Withlacoochee River good for Thursday at three locations upstream and down, also the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp.

This is despite quite a bit of rain in the past few days. Most likely the first flush is over. That’s where the various animal and human uses of the woods as a latrine get flushed into waterways when hard rain first starts. Now what we’re mostly seeing is simply rainwater runoff.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-22]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-22

Of course there could still be sewage spills. However, no new sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. We would most likely be seeing E. coli from them if they had happened.

So I would be good with swimming, fishing, and boating on the Withlacoochee River this weekend.

Except of course that Continue reading →

Very bad upstream Withlacoochee River 2023-06-15

Update 2023-06-23: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-06-22.

The Withlacoochee River tested very bad upstream for Thursday, from Franklinville Road to US 41. Surprisingly, downstream at Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp it tested good, and also on the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp.

I can only guess either the contamination has not yet washed down that far, or maybe enough rain has come down to dilute the contamination.

Even more rain is expected.

I wouldn’t swim, fish, or boat in the Withlacoochee River this weekend.

What is that contamination? Well, it’s not coming from the City of Valdosta, since Franklinville is upstream of Valdosta, and US 41 is upstream of most of that city.

We need to buy some more DNA test kits to find out, but likely scenarios include upstream cattle and hog farms (there are some), chicken manure used as fertilizer, and first flush, as in when rains come after a long dry spell the results of animals using the woods as a latrine wash into waterways.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-15]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-15

No new sewage spills have been reported Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River, bad Sheboggy on Alapaha River 2023-06-01

Update 2023-06-09: Clean Rivers 2023-06-08.

The Withlacoochee River tested good for Thursday, and the Little River good enough. Rain is predicted, but if you can get in before that, happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.

Or join us tomorrow evening at the Banks Lake Full Strawberry Moon Paddle.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-01]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-01

However, the Alapaha River at Sheboggy Boat Ramp tested bad for Monday. With worse a mile or so upstream below the City of Alapaha sewage settling ponds.

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

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and for last Friday downstream. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-05-25

Update 2023-06-02: Clean Withlacoochee River, bad Sheboggy on Alapaha River 2023-06-01.

All clear for the Withlacoochee River for the weekend.

Happy swimming, boating, and fishing!

[Chart, River, Swim Guide 2023-05-25]
Chart, River, Swim Guide 2023-05-25

No rain is predicted for the weekend.

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

Or join us at the Florida Folk Festival, at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, Florida, on the banks of the Suwannee River.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Continue reading →

Bad Franklinville, Withlacoochee River, and Troupville, Little River 2023-05-18

Update 2023-06-24: Work in progress at Lakeland Boat Ramp 2023-06-20.

Update 2023-05-26: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-05-25.

Update 2023-05-20: Alapaha River tested clean, thanks to WWALS tester Kimberly Tanner.

Two unusual places tested bad for Thursday, after big rains upstream from them: Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River, and Franklinville Landing on the Withlacoochee River. And there was more rain Friday upstream of Troupville.

Oddly, downstream tests on the Withlacoochee were clean.

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

So I’d avoid the Little River this weekend, and go downstream on the Withlacoochee River.

Or join us tomorrow on the Suwannee River to portage Big Shoals.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-05-18]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-05-18

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday week before last downstream. The Valdosta Monday upstream results were good, after bad Friday results for US 41 and GA 133, as we expected due to the rain back then. Continue reading →