While the numbers were way down at US 84 on May 7, bacterial counts were up upstream on the Withlacoochee River, and on Mud Swamp Creek; up more in Fecal coliform than E. coli. These readings seem to indicate nonpoint sources.
![[Fecal coliform Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-05-07--vld-gora/withgraphfecal.jpg)
Fecal coliform Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin
The high readings are all from stations upstream of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the low reading at US 84 is downstream of the WWTP. Continue reading
WWALS paddled from Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge (thanks to The Langdale Company for access to take out there) on February 3, 2019. That’s the path planned for Paddle Georgia Day 1, coming up two weeks from now.
![[Catching up, 11:08:10, 30.85035, -83.34855]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-03--troupville-spook-outing/20190203_110810.jpg)
Catching up, 11:08:10, 30.8503500, -83.3485500
![[Every outing is a cleanup, 10:50:14, 30.8516814, -83.3469376]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-03--troupville-spook-outing/20190203_105014-0.jpg)
Every outing is a cleanup, 10:50:14, 30.8516814, -83.3469376
We passed the famous Mayor John Gayle Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Outfall: Continue reading
Thanks and invitations from WWALS to the Lowndes County Commission, delivered in a letter via email and on paper Monday morning and in Citizens Wishing To Be Heard Tuesday evening.
I invited the Commissioners to pass Water Trail resolutions (see below).
And I invited them to Paddle Georgia and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Valdosta, Georgia, April 26, 2019 — We’ll get a nice cool spring morning start Saturday, as paddlers from Georgia and Florida race (or saunter) down the tea-colored Little River through Reed Bingham State Park, in a friends and family fun event.
“Thanks to Georgia Beer Company for being a sponsor of this seventh annual BIG Little River Paddle Race!” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of BLRPR 2018.
Dianne Walters, president of Friends of Reed Bingham State Park (FORB), said, “This is a great community event, with volunteers from all around helping paddlers from everywhere.”
BLRPR mastermind, Tifton eye doctor Bret Wagenhorst, said, “Some come to try for the $100 cash prize for first boat to cross the finish in around 35-40 minutes. Others come to do a leisurely 1-2 hr paddle with friends or family and take in the incredible subtropical scenery. Some do it to support the Friends of Reed Bingham group and the WWALS Watershed Coalition.”
Many others win in categories: Continue reading
All of Valdosta’s water quality sampling stations were below the Georgia state limit for E. coli for the first week of April. Valdosta no longer samples weekly, only once a month. It also no longer samples at the state line.
We got this monthly Valdosta WQ data via open records request, as usual. As I said at the April 10, 2019 meeting between Valdosta and the dozen Florida counties, I also filed the next day open records requests for Valdosta’s permit-required spill-followup test data, and for the engineering study they said they had related to how big the new catch basin needs to be. Yesterday I got the latest monthly data a day late, but only a “working on it” about the other two requests. I will now Continue reading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tifton, Georgia, April 16, 2019 — Bret Wagenhorst calls this limpkin, “One of the many local spectators along the upcoming BIG Little River PADDLE RACE on Saturday, April 27 at Reed Bingham State Park. Come experience the beauty of a south GA blackwater river. Come have fun with family and friends. Come see if you can paddle fast enough to win the $100 to the first boat across the finish line. Come help support our region’s state park and the WWALS Watershed Coalition.”
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst
The event is entirely within Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia, on the Little River in Cook and Colquitt Counties.
Dianne Walters, president of Friends of Reed Bingham State Park (FORB), said, Continue reading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PDF)
One month before BIG Little River Paddle Race
Hahira, Georgia, March 27, 2019 — It’s one month until the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race (BLRPR) in Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia. You can just paddle along this scenic stretch of tea-colored river on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail among cypress, turtles, birds, and yes, alligators. (Don’t pet them and they won’t bother you.) This three-mile race also has fierce competitors, with last year’s winner finishing in barely more than half an hour. Plus lunch, a silent auction, and a kayak raffle, at this family fun sporting event in support of two local nonprofits.
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of paddlers in BLRPR 2018
BLRPR mastermind Bret Wagenhorst, an eye doctor in Tifton, GA, and a charter board member of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), said, “You can win in any of a dozen categories: one- or two-person canoe or kayak, male or female or mixed, as well as oldest, youngest, and from farthest away.”
Continue readingIn eight minutes she talked about the BIG Little River Paddle Race, the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, on the air with Charlie Walker, KIX 99.5 Country Radio, plus Paddle Georgia, and all the other events and outings.
“That’s our signature event,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, about the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race.
It’s our seventh year. It’s at Reed Bingham [State Park]. We paddle from Continue reading
Valdosta’s monthly water quality testing data shows E. coli down at three out of their six remaining stations, and up at the other three, highest at US 41 on the Withlacoochee River, upstream of most of Valdosta and its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. This data is for Tuesday, March 5, 2019, and was obtained as usual by an open records request from WWALS.
Even that 265 cfu/100 ml E. coli is barely above the Georgia limit of 200, and far below the alert line of 1,000.
At the next station downstream from US 41, at GA 133, the Withlacoochee River still showed Continue reading
Update 2021-02-09: Redesignating waterways as Recreational –GA-EPD Triennial Review Meeting 2021-02-02.
We asked the state of Georgia to upgrade our main Suwannee River Basin rivers (and some lakes and swamps) from their current lowest water quality classification as Fishing to what they really are: Recreational Use. You can help!
![[Georgia landings in Suwannee River Basin]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-03--wwals-suw-basin-landings-ga/all-ga-landings-suw-river-basin.jpg)
Every three years, federal law requires each state to review its water quality standards. 2019 is such a year for Georgia, so the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) is conducting a Triennial Review. The request WWALS sent to GA-EPD, background, and their response are all on the WWALS website. Our request was rather long, with 23 pages asking for reclassification of the Suwannee River, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Alapaha River, Lake Irma, Banks Lake, Grand Bay, the Withlacoochee River, the Little River, and Reed Bingham State Park Lake, all from Fishing to Recreational Use. The WWALS cover letter is included at the end of this blog post. For the rest, see the WWALS website.
The response thus far from GA-EPD has some good news: Continue reading