John S. Quarterman, Valdosta Daily Times, May 21, 2022, QUARTERMAN: Sewage situation better, trash needs work,
Thanks to Valdosta for no sewage disasters since December 2019. Some manholes still need fixing, such as at Wainwright Drive on One Mile Branch.
But Valdosta’s mayor, council and staff seem to be staying ahead of the sewage situation, for example by buying 37 emergency generators, one for each lift station.
Now Valdosta needs to get a grip on its trash problem.
Continue readingUpdate 2022-11-10: Florida Right to Clean Water: get petition signatures for court review 2022-11-10.
The Florida statewide petition for Right to Clean and Healthy Water (RTCW) is online now at https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org
![[www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-01--fl-rtcw-petition/floridarighttocleanwater.jpg)
www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/
Please go there to print and sign and return the petition.
For why, see the preceding press conference: Videos: Florida Right to Clean Water, Poe Springs Park 2022-04-21.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
The presentation was solid, and the discussion was enlightening. Please watch and send us feedback.
The slides are on the WWALS website.
Here is the zoom video of the WWALS webinar about Rights to Clean Water for Georgia, Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Katherine Ball, Valdosta Daily Times, April 15, 2022, BALL: Residents can help keep rivers clean
I get excited, every year, as Earth Day approaches. Not only is it a great day to spend time preserving and enjoying our planet, it is also my birthday.
As I spend this Birth and Earth Day, in Valdosta, I am reminded of the many childhood memories I made playing in Three Mile Branch creek, off Country Club Road. Looking back, my experiences in those waters, directly shaped who I became as an adult and an artist.
Being the only girl in the Magnolia Plantation cul-de-sac, I often found myself, Continue reading
Update 2022-05-01: Florida petition online now for Right to Clean and Healthy Waters 2022-05-01.
Five of us spoke about the new Florida Right to Clean and Healthy Waters (RTCW) statewide petition for a constitutional amendment. We said saying extraordinary problems demand extraordinary solutions, water supports everything, RTCW is needed like the First Amendment, flow and nitrates in the Santa Fe River and springs need RTCW, and drinking water needs RTCW.
That press conference at Poe Springs Park on the Santa Fe River was covered by CBS4 News out of Gainesville. Here is the TV news story, WWALS video of the speakers, and the full text of the petition amendment.
Julianne Amaya, CBS4, Gainesville, Florida, Thursday, April 21, 2022, Petition calls for ‘rights to clean and healthy waters’ in Florida, Continue reading
Update 2022-04-24: Videos: Constitutional Right to Clean Water for Georgia, WWALS Webinar 2022-04-19
Hahira, Georgia, April 5, 2022 — Trying to protect clean water with current laws and regulations is like trying to defend free speech without the First Amendment. Montana, Pennsylvania, and just last year New York have enshrined Rights to Clean Water, Air, Land, and a Healthy Environment (RTCW) in their constitutions alongside free speech and other basic rights. Florida has a statewide petition signing right now for the 2024 ballot. How can Georgia get RTCW into its constitution? Why should it? And what would such an amendment consist of? This webinar explores those questions. We invite your participation and feedback.
The zoom meeting will be Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM Eastern Time.
Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcldeGqqDkvHdc3RUptCbwuKzxkpmzfb4-U
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Continue reading
You can help stop the undead Northern Turnpike Extension toll road from plowing over to US 19 and then up it across the Suwannee River.
Floridians, please go to the Florida Department of Transportation’s Northern
Turnpike Extension web page and tell FDOT we don’t need any more toll roads.
Here’s where you can say No Build:
https://floridasturnpike.com/turnpike-projects/featured-projects/northern-turnpike-extension/
Doesn’t matter that No Build isn’t listed as an option. Tell them anyway.
![[Suwannee River, Toll toad routes]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-04--nrtr/many.jpg)
Suwannee River, Toll toad routes
Attend your city council or county commission or Economic Development or Chamber meetings and ask them to pass a resolution against these toll roads.
Today, Continue reading
Floridians, please ask the governor to veto HB 741, which would gut rooftop solar power.
Here’s how to reach him:
(850) 717-9337
GovernorRon.Desantis@eog.myflorida.com
Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
Here’s why. Continue reading
Please use this handy form: https://www.protectgeorgia.org/farm.html#/334.
![[Hog CAFO manure lagoons. Photo: Kemp Burdette]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-04--hb-1150/16442235689_d2fce5a8e5_o-1024x683.jpg)
Hog CAFO manure lagoons. Photo: Kemp Burdette.
Jeff Amy, U.S. News & World Report via AP, April 1, 2022,
The Senate voted 31-23 for House Bill 1150, sending it back to the House for final approval of changes.
Today is Sine Die, the last day before the legislature adjourns until next year. So there’s no time for a conference committee to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of HB 1150. The House can only vote to approve the Senate version, or not. Continue reading
This morning the Lowndes County Commission considered and Tuesday evening will vote on letting a subdivision developer replace a detention pond with a built-on lot and some other detention area somewhere unspecified.
![[Map: Little Viking Road to Grand Bay, ARWT]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-21--loco-drainage-grand-bay/map-arwt-little-viking-road-grand-bay.jpg)
Map: Little Viking Road to Grand Bay,
in the WWALS
map of the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).
The detention pond is marked by the red ellipse. The most likely drainage from there is where I drew the cyan line. It appears to go into Grand Bay. See below a closeup of the lot and a larger map of how Grand Bay drains into Grand Bay Creek, the Alapahoochee River, the Alapaha River, and then the Suwannee River on the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Continue reading
![[John S. Quarterman]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-21--jsq-vdt/big/6287ad0f43a72.image.jpg)
![[Speakers, RTCW]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-19--wwals-rtcw-webinar/videos.jpg)
![[Katherine Ball]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-15--katherine-ball-vdt/6258175251115.jpg)
![[RTCW, Poe Springs]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-21--poe-springs-fl-rtcw-pictures/many.jpg)
![[RTCW, Speakers]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-19--wwals-rtcw-webinar/many.jpg)
![[GismoPower solar carport roof]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-04--fl-hb-741/gismopower_ulxksu.jpg)