Tag Archives: Little River

Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19

Update 2024-12-27: Sugar Creek still filthy, Alapaha River OK 2024-12-26.

With no rain since last week, Sugar Creek is better, but still has too much E. coli at the WaterGoat near the Withlacoochee River. River water dilutes it below there, and upstream also the Withlacoochee River is clean. The Little and Alapaha Rivers tested clean.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia, Ashburn had yet another small spill.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin. The Santa Fe River at Fort White is actually too low to paddle.

So if you like cold, this weekend seems good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek.

[Clean Alapaha, Little Rivers, OK Withlacoochee River 2024-12-19 Avoid Filthy Sugar Creek; Good paddling this weekend]
Clean Alapaha, Little Rivers, OK Withlacoochee River 2024-12-19 Avoid Filthy Sugar Creek; Good paddling this weekend

Alapaha River

Ashburn reported quickly for once that it had a 2,000-gallon sewage spill into Hat Creek from the usual location of Rockhouse Road and Sylvia Drive. This time the cause was “Equipment failure.” Get a grip, Ashburn! Continue reading →

Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21

Water withdrawals in the SSRWPC region are almost entirely agricultural, noted Mark Masters of the Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center, Albany State University.

[Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21, at Wiregrass Tech, Valdosta, Georgia]
Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21, at Wiregrass Tech, Valdosta, Georgia

This was at the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting at Valdosta Tech in Valdosta, Georgia, November 21, 2024. Continue reading →

EPA EnviroAtlas, Suwannee River Basin 2024-11-29

Here are maps of the Suwannee River Basin in the EPA EnviroAtlas, with shadings and boundaries for Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs). HUC-8 (eight digits) is big river basins; in this case Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Upper Suwannee, and Lower Suwannee. HUC-12 is more local.

[HUC 8 and 12 150%]
HUC 8 and 12 150%

What are the odd HUC-12s that are not shaded in? At least some of them, such as around Lake Octahatchee are endorheic basins. Continue reading →

WWALS Day of Giving 2024 #GAGIVES

You don’t have to be in Georgia, and you don’t have to wait until Tuesday, to donate to this fundraiser to support WWALS:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2024

[Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp]
Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp

WWALS Mission

WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Advocacy

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Withlacoochee River and Two Mile Branch better, Hightower and Sugar Creeks very bad 2024-11-14

Update 2024-11-20: Madison Health lifts Health Advisory for Withlacoochee River 2024-11-20.

It’s best to avoid the Withlacoochee River for a few more days at least, with it still in Action Stage around Valdosta, and not coming down fast, plus still questionable water quality results.

We have rescheduled to next week our Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-11-23.

Better luck with the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers, or the Ichetucknee if any park entrances are open there.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

[Filthy Hightower and Sugar Creeks Better Withlacoochee River 2024-11-14 OK Two Mile Branch Good Franks Creek]
Filthy Hightower and Sugar Creeks Better Withlacoochee River 2024-11-14 OK Two Mile Branch Good Franks Creek

Water quality has improved for the Withlacoochee River, although Fecal coliform was still high at GA 133 and US 84 as well as One Mile Branch (Valdosta Utilities), and State Line (Madison Health).

Meanwhile, Valdosta Utilities reported E. coli and Fecal coliform still too high on Sugar Creek at Gornto Road and increased to extremely high on Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road.

While no new sewage spills were reported in Georgia or Florida, it’s a little hard to believe there is no sewer spill on Hightower Creek with 42,500 cfu/100mL E. coli (42 times the 1,000 alert limit), Continue reading →

Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07

Update 2024-11-10: Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2024-11-08.

Valdosta Utilities got bad results for the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 for Wednesday, and WWALS got much worse for Thursday. Plus the Little River at Troupville Boat Ramp (also GA 133) tested about as bad for Thursday.

Valdosta reported seven sewage spills, two ongoing. All but one of those spill sites has spilled before. One of the ongoing is at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, so bad news. The other ongoing is at Wainwright Drive, site of numerous previous spills, now with two (2) manholes spewing sewage.

The good news for Valdosta is that with the Little River sky-high E. coli reading being about as high as the one for the Withlacoochee River, not all of the contamination can be coming from Valdosta, because the Little River is not downstream from Valdosta.

The foot of rain on Valdosta from the fringe of Hurricane Rafael that caused all this has also raised the Withlacoochee River into Action or Minor Flood Stages, and the Alapaha River at Statenville is heading for Action Stage.

So if you want to paddle, motor, fish, or swim this weekend, I’d avoid the Little, Withlacoochee, or Alapaha Rivers. Better luck with the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers, or the Ichetucknee if any park entrances are open there.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

[Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07 Also flooding after a foot of rain]
Filthy Withlacoochee and Little Rivers 2024-11-07 Also flooding after a foot of rain

Continue reading →

Pictures: Red Roberts Little River Upstream Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-09-21

That was a very productive chainsaw cleanup, even though we didn’t even get three miles up the Little River from Red Roberts Landing.

[Many deadfalls, Little River Chainsaw Cleanup, Red Roberts Landing 2024-09-21 Darlene Ray, Paris & Tommy Stoeffler, Tish Hall, Lon Kemeness, John S. Quarterman]
Many deadfalls, Little River Chainsaw Cleanup, Red Roberts Landing 2024-09-21 Darlene Ray, Paris & Tommy Stoeffler, Tish Hall, Lon Kemeness, John S. Quarterman

Here are some video snippets:
https://youtu.be/kw0agoUEObA

It was a nice day down on Rountree Road. Continue reading →

Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21

Update 2024-12-06: Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21.

Near Franks Creek and the Little River, not far from the Withlacoochee River.

SUWANNEE-SATILLA

REGIONAL WATER PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING

Announcement Date: October 22, 2024

[Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21 at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Georgia]
Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21 at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Georgia

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND PARTIES:

The Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council

will hold a council meeting at the following date, time and location:

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Registration: 10:30 A.M. – 11:00 A.M.
Meeting: 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.

Note: This Meeting may be attended In-Person or Virtually via the MS Teams Link with Call-In Information Provided Below

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College (Berrien Hall Classroom 229)

4089 Val Tech Road Valdosta, GA 31602

If you are planning to attend the meeting Continue reading →

Pictures: Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26

The water level was not too low on the Little River, but it was too low on the Withlacoochee River for the WWALS jon boat with outboard. So, there was no chainsawing.

We’ve been waiting for the Withlacoochee River to get down to a level where we can do a walking chainsaw cleanup. With no rain in sight, it will be plenty low next Saturday, so that will be the time.

[Water too low for jon boat outboard, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26]
Water too low for jon boat outboard, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26

Thanks to TJ Johnson for driving an hour from Live Oak to get there with chainsaws to lead this expedition, and for helping haul the jon boat back upstream on muscle and trolling motor batteries after the outboard did not restart after Trashy Shoals. Continue reading →

New Troupville town historic marker on GA 133 just west of the Withlacoochee River 2024-10-23

It’s back: the Georgia Historical Society marker for the town of Troupville.

It’s on the north side of GA-133 (St. Augustine Road), west of I-75 exit 18, just east of the Withlacoochee River.

[Troupville Town Site Historical Marker 2024, Georgia Historical Society, Plus UDC marker]
Troupville Town Site Historical Marker 2024, Georgia Historical Society, Plus UDC marker

TROUPVILLE

The settlement of Troupville once existed near here, about four miles northwest of present-day Valdosta. The town was named Troupville in honor of George M. Troup, governor of Georgia from 1823 to 1827. In 1833, the county seat of Lowndes County moved from Franklinville to Troupville, which was incorporated in 1837 and continued as county seat until 1860. When the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, running from Savannah toward Pensacola, surveyed for right-of-way in the area, the proposed route bypassed Troupville. Lowndes County established the new town of Valdosta on the new railroad line. Shortly after train operations began in 1860 the county seat transferred to Valdosta. Early residents of the town include the Ayer, Briggs, Ellis, Griffin, Hall, Howell, Jones, Morgan, Smith, and Treadwell families, many of whom are buried at the nearby Troupville Cemetery.

092-2

Re-erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2024

1961

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