Update 2022-04-07: Two Mile Branch Rivers Alive Trash Clean Up, Valdosta 2022-04-16 2022-04-16.
Update 2022-04-05: Constitutional Right to Clean Water: RTCW for Georgia, WWALS Webinar 2022-04-19.
Earth day itself is April 22, 2022. WWALS will have several events surrounding that day: two cleanups, a full moon paddle, a paddle race, and a river paddle and cleanup.
Update 2022-04-02: Surprisingly Clean Withlacoochee River 2022-04-01.
Swimming, fishing, boating, not recommended on the Withlacoochee River this weekend, due to E. coli tested by WWALS at Nankin and State Line Boat Ramps for Thursday. It may all wash away soon, or it may not.
Also note that after the previous weekend’s heavy rains, Valdosta tested high Fecal coliform upstream at US 41 and GA 133. Probably that will also show up in Valdosta Friday results when we get them. In between, Valdosta upstream results were OK, but then it rained hard Wednesday and Thursday. Continue reading
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: OK water quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-03-17.
Not a good weekend for boating, fishing, or swimming in the Withlacoochee River. Better stick to the Alapaha River, or the Suwannee upstream from the Withlacoochee River Confluence.
WWALS found very high E. coli at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp for Thursday, and high background Fecal coliform there and downstream at Nankin and State Line Boat Ramps.
Knights Ferry is where E. coli from cattle manure usually is first detected in the Withlacoochee River after washing down Okapilco Creek out of Brooks County, Georgia. Notice almost an inch of rain on the east side of Brooks County at US 84 on the Withlacoochee River, and 1.4 inches on the west side at Dixie, GA. When there’s more than half an inch of rain on Brooks County, we usually see this problem. Continue reading
Update 2022-03-11: Bad Knights Ferry heading downstream 2022-03-10.
All WWALS water quality tests are good for Thursday, including zero E. coli at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps, on the Withlacoochee River thanks to Michael and Jacob Bachrach. Elizabeth Brunner for her three GA 122 sites got 133 cfu/100 mL at Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, still well within acceptable bounds, and zero at Folsom Bridge on the Little River and zero at Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River.
Valdosta tests for Friday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at US 41, GA 133, and US 84 were also well within bounds; thanks to Scott Fowler for publishing those today.
So all the tests we have say all clear for boating, fishing, and swimming this weekend. With no rain, no E. coli to speak of has washed into the rivers. With no rain predicted for many days, nothing should. Continue reading
As WWALS volunteers keep up with it, cleaning out the WWALS Sugar Creek trash boom is like the top row: not bad. Of course, no rain for weeks helps: less washes down the creek.
It would be even less if fast food outlets upstream in Valdosta such as Cook Out and Zacadoo’s (pictured) would clean up their act. And if the owners of their parking lots would put in the trash cans required by Valdosta city ordinances. Sure, there will still be people tossing trash out of their cars, but most of this mess is coming from fast food outlet parking lots.
Before the boom, those trashjams in the bottom row got down Sugar Creek, and there is more on the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers. Such trash, also coming out of Threemile Branch, is not good for the planned Troupville River Camp and Nature Park, featured as their number one BIG thing by One Valdosta-Lowndes and a priority of the updated Parks and Rec. Master Plan. It’s also not good for the WWALS May 7th paddle from Langdale Park to Sugar Creek and Troupville Boat Ramp or even for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).
And that turtle should not have to live with that trash.
For more background, see https://wwals.net/issues/trash/.
Notice the pool noodles tied on top of the boom for extra flotation. Local ingenuity! Continue reading
Mayor Scott James Matheson said he and Council had been discussing solutions to the trash problem, before last Thursday’s Valdosta City Council meeting. Afterwards he came outside and discussed that a bit more. Stay tuned.
There’s also a new Neighborhood Development and Community Protections Manager, Anetra Riley. Community Protections Manager is what they call Code Enforcement, so that is relevant to the trash problem. Continue reading
Update 2022-03-04: All Rivers Clean 2022-03-03.
Another clean week on the Little, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers, according to the water quality test results we have from WWALS and Valdosta. No rain is predicted, and no sewage spills have been reported.
So happy boating, fishing, and swimming this weekend!
With no rain, no E. coli washes out of Okapilco Creek (or Sugar Creek) into the Withlacoochee River.
Thanks to WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner for the results at the three GA 122 locations for Thursday. Continue reading
We even saw the Valdosta trash problem on the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. One paddler fell in picking up trash, and two more collected a huge bag of trash in a canoe. I think those two live in a different county.
Maybe you’d like to come say a few words tonight to the Valdosta City Council. 5:30 PM, City Hall, 216 E. Central Ave., Valdosta, GA 31601.
The WWALS trash boom at Sugar Creek is showing some promise, but there need to be more of those and people dedicated to cleaning them out, plus something done about fast food parking lots upstream, including on Threemile Branch.
![[Valdosta Trash on Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Little River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-02-22--trash-creeks-river-valdosta/many.jpg)
Valdosta Trash on Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Little River
For all about the Valdosta trash situation, see: https://wwals.net/issues/trash/
![[Cleanups and paddles]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-22--earth-day-events/many.jpg)
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-24--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-17--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-10--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-03--wq/many.jpg)
![[Boom, Trash, Cleaned]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-02-26--trash-boom-sugar-creek/many.jpg)
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-02-24--wq/many.jpg)