Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman

Pictures: Yes Another Knights Ferry to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05

Most of it was legacy trash from Valdosta, but there was less trash downstream on the Withlacoochee River than last time.

The trash jams we previously cleaned up had not accumulated as much, and we did not find as many new ones, from Knights Ferry to Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramps.

Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for leading this cleanup, and to all the others who helped.

[Trash canoes, trash pickers, creek, etc. KF to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05]
Trash canoes, trash pickers, creek, etc. KF to Nankin Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2023-08-05

Here’s a WWALS video playlist of some high points:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QyVkD0g7psED1GhTRUZ63no&si=OGTmLnmlNCgWw4yW Continue reading →

Videos: Testing three sites in Florida and Georgia, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14

Update 2023-12-22: Bad water quality, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2023-12-21.

On the way back from a day in High Springs, Florida, and at springs on the Ichetucknee River, I collected water quality samples from three Withlacoochee River sites.

[Three test sites, samples, and results, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14]
Three test sites, samples, and results, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14

The sites are: Sullivan Launch at CR 150 in Madison County, Florida, State Line Boat Ramp at GA 31 in Lowndes County, Georgia, and Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp on the road of the same name, also in Lowndes County.

I had intended to test Knights Ferry Boat Ramp as well, but my bucket broke at Nankin, so that was it for that night.

Here is a video:
https://youtu.be/IR4PK7dR1JE

Continue reading →

Three Clean Rivers 2023-12-14

Update 2023-12-22: Bad water quality, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2023-12-21.

Update 2023-12-15: Videos: Testing three sites in Florida and Georgia, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14.

Update 2023-12-15: Yet another Valdosta E. Park Ave. sewage spill near Knights Creek 2023-12-11.

We got clean results for a dozen sites on three rivers in two states for Thursday: Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee.

Valdosta saw far too much E. coli in the Withlacoochee River for Mondayafter 2-4 inches of rain, but cleaner for Wednesday.

The rest of this week had little or no rain. The next rain is predicted for tomorrow (Saturday).

So if you want to avoid E. coli, best to go early Saturday and be off the river before noon, yet still expect to get wet.

You’ll probably find cleaner water on the Suwannee or Santa Fe than the Withlacoochee River.

Of course, if the rain is small, as in less than half an inch, there may be few ill effects. But if we get another 1- or 2-inch rain, beware.

[Chart, Clean Rivers, Map 2023-12-14]
Chart, Clean Rivers, Map 2023-12-14

In the last week, no pollution spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida.

In Valdosta, Georgia, a major spill of 450,000 gallons happened at one of the usual locations, near 1800 E. Park Ave. and Knights Creek, which flows into Mud Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. The press release says Valdosta Utilities discovered the spill Monday, December 11. It doesn’t say the spill did not end until yesterday, December 14, the day before the press release of today. I will file an open records request with GA-EPD for the report Valdosta Utilities sent them, to get the rest of the details.

Kimberly Godden Tanner got good Thursday results for the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach. She says, “Both locations looked great. They are doing a great job at trash collection these days.”

Cindy Vedas tested the Withlacoochee River at her usual sites of Franklinville, Crawford Branch at Skipper Bridge Road, Staten Road, and Langdale Park, and got good results at all of them.

John S. Quarterman tested the Withlacoochee River at Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp, State Line Boat Ramp, and Sullivan Launch, and got good results.

Russ Tatum tested the Withlacoochee River at Holly Point, between Allen Ramp and the Suwannee River, and got excellent results.

Reina Lingle got good results for the Suwannee River at Royal Springs and Ivey Memorial Park in Branford, Florida.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall reviewed all the results and some were recalibrated in the ensuing discussion.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman delivered testing supplies to several testers and trained several.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

As previously noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Pictures: WWALS at Brooks County Skillet Fest 2023-10-21

It was a good time at the WWALS booth at the Brooks County Skillet Festival.

[Collage @ Brooks County Skillet Festival 2023-10-21]
Collage @ Brooks County Skillet Festival 2023-10-21

Thanks to Jan Powell, Kimberly Tanner, and her Brazilian exchange student for assisting WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman at the WWALS booth.

Quitman is on Okapilco Creek, which runs into the Withlacoochee River. The Withlacoochee, and, upstream, the Little River form the east border of Brooks County with Lowndes County.

There are more pictures below.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see Continue reading →

Clean Rivers and some dirty creeks 2023-10-26

Update 2023-11-03: Clean rivers, dirty Sugar Creek 2023-11-02.

This was another week with no rain, and the rivers were mostly clean: the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers. Not clean were Franks Creek that runs into the Little River and Sugar Creek that runs into the Withlacoochee River. Crawford Creek of the Withlacoochee was just below the E. coli one-time test limit. That’s 11 WWALS test sites on three rivers and three creeks in two states.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-26]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-26

Joanne Tremblay got clean results at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 and at US 27, both on the Santa Fe River.

Reina Lingle got very clean results at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford and at Royal Springs, both on the Suwannee River.

New WWALS tester Debbie Smith got too-high results for Franks Creek at GA 122 just west of Hahira. Which is interesting, because that is upstream of Hahira’s Land Application Site.

Cindy Vedas got good results at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (well, OK results there), Staten Road, and Langdale Park, on the Withlacoochee River. She photographed the trash still at Langdale Park Boat Ramp from at the WWALS Langdale Park Withlacoochee River Cleanup of last Saturday. I will nudge Lowndes County Public Works to pick it up.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, and got too-high results. She also double-checked everybody else’s results. And the other testers cross-checked each others’ results.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

And, as previosly noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Mostly Clean Rivers 2023-10-19

Update 2023-10-27: Clean Rivers and some dirty creeks 2023-10-26.

With no rain this week, the rivers were mostly clean: the Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, plus Sugar Creek in Valdosta and Alligator Lake in Lake City. Except not clean were Langdale Park Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River, and Crawford Creek upstream.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-19]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-19

Please welcome new WWALS testers Joanne Tremblay and Reina Lingle.

Joanne got very clean results at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 on the Santa Fe River.

Reina got very clean results at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford on the Suwannee River.

Kimberly Tanner got very clean results at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach on the Alapaha River.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, just upstream from the Withlacoochee River, and got suprisingly clean results.

Cindy Vedas was out sick, but she reviewed most everybody else’s results. I tested her sites at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (bad), and Langdale Park (worse), plus Hagan Bridge and GA 133, all on the Withlacoochee River, and Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman tested at Clyattville-Nankin and State Line Boat Ramps, plus Sullivan Launch, all on the Withlacoochee River, and at Alligator Lake Boat Ramp in Lake City, where she taught some students and delivered a test kit to Joanne.

About Nankin, she notes, “The pile of trash just off to the side of the turn around drive is still there.” Continue reading →

Clean Rivers, filthy Sugar Creek 2023-10-05

The Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers all tested good for Thursday, October 5, 2023.

But Sugar Creek was way too high in E. coli. Is Valdosta still leaking sewage from that River Street spill?

Yet downstream at GA 133 the Withlacoochee River was good.

There has been no rain this week.

So happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Except Langdale Park, which is still walk-in only.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-05]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-05

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream (good) and the Friday five weeks ago, September 1st, downstream (not bad).

Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw after last week’s rain.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Thanks to Kimberly Tanner for testing the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach: both showed very little E. coli.

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman for testing State Line and Nankin Boat Ramps and Folsom Bridge Landing @ GA 122 on the Little River.

Thanks to Heather Brasell for testing upstream on the Alapaha River last Saturday. Continue reading →

Mostly Clean Rivers 2023-09-28

Update 2023-09-30: Clean Alapaha River 2023-09-28.

The only place on the Withlacoochee River that tested bad for Thursday was the most stagnant location: Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

There was significant E. coli in the other locations, as well as in the Alapaha Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp, but none of the others were above the 410 cfu/100 mL one-time test limit.

There was rain Tuesday, but effects of that seem to have been mostly gone by Thursday.

So I’d avoid Langdale Park, which you can’t drive into anyway.

Other than that, happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-09-28]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-09-28

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream (good) and the Friday four weeks ago, September 1st, downstream (not bad).

No new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida in the past two weeks.

Thanks to Kimberly Tanner for testing the Alapaha River last week at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach: both showed zero E. coli. Can’t get better than that. Continue reading →

Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023-09-22

Hahira, GA, September 25, 2023 — Hahira, Georgia, September 25, 2023 — Ten musicians wrote songs and seven sang them, about the delights of the waters of the Suwannee River Basin and the need to preserve them against numerous threats. Jane Fallon came all the way from Dunedin, Florida, to the Turner Arts Center in Valdosta, Georgia, to sing a story about legendary Sun Daughters reflecting on a proposed mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee River. The three judges marked her high on storytelling and presenting the value of the waters, on originality of lyrics and music, and on performance, with extra credit for naming waterways. She took home First Prize in the Sixth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

[Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper; Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Best Folk; Jane Fallon, First Prize; Bacon James, Best from Outside; Kyle Bird Chamberlain and David Rodock, tie for Best from Inside; Chamberlain, Best Blues; Rodock, Best AmeriKinda; Keven Stephenson, Best Country --Chuck Roberts]
Suwannee Riverkeeper with the Winners: Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Best Folk; Jane Fallon, First Prize; Bacon James, Best from Outside; Kyle Bird Chamberlain and David Rodock, tie for Best from Inside; Chamberlain, Best Blues; Rodock, Best AmeriKinda; Kevin Stephenson, Best Country; and Robert Thatcher (not pictured). Photo: Chuck Roberts

Jane Fallon said, “Thank you for the honor in recognizing my song ‘Chant For The Okefenokee’ in your contest. It is always a special feeling to sing a song for an audience that truly understands its meaning. Thank you also for the work you do in trying to preserve the waterways. It is so important.”

Here is the first half of her lyrics: Continue reading →

Last call for tickets for WWALS River Revue, on Talk 92.1 FM 2023-09-18

2023-09-25: Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2023-09-22.

At 8AM, Monday morning, September 18, 2023, I’ll be on talk921.com to say that Monday is the last day to get tickets for the WWALS River Revue:
https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2023/

[Michael Smith, Talk921.com, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, WWALS River Revue]
Michael Smith, Talk921.com, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, WWALS River Revue

The WWALS River Revue will be 6-10 PM, Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts, 527 N Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA 31601.

There will be a catered meal, with cash bar, plus a silent auction, a 50-50 raffle, and a kayak raffle.

M.C. Chuck Roberts will present three speakers, as well as WWALS board members and others about what WWALS does.

Chuck will also present three judges who will listen to ten finalists in the Sixth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and pick winners.

On the radio Monday morning we’ll also talk about what WWALS does that the WWALS River Revue supports: water trails, cleanups including chainsaw cleanups, and water quality testing.

The main purpose of WWALS is advocacy, including trying to reduce trash, sewage, PFAS, and other contamination in the Suwannee River Basin, and opposing LNG, pipelines, mines, and other threats to our waterways.

Plus we try to change the legal and regulatory playing field, by supporting the Florida petition to get a Right to Clean and Water (RTCW) on the ballot for a state constitutional amendment, and preparing for RTCW in Georgia.

https://wwals.net/issues/right-to-clean-water/

Facebook event for the radio show: https://www.facebook.com/events/3454871811400514/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/