Bobby McKenzie was right to be worried about the Crowe Deadfall,
a big oak seen for years across the Withlacoochee River between I-75 and GA 133.
Yesterday evening we cleared that and two other deadfalls.
By cleared, I mean at the Crowe Deadfall stay way left:
there’s a narrow passage for the
Fifth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle.
See you at Langdale Park Boat Ramp this morning.
Thanks to Georgia Power for the grant that makes tickets to this paddle free.
Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers for the jon boat.
Thanks to Wild Green Future (WGF) for the grant that bought the 9.9hp outboard,
the 86lb-thrust trolling motor, the batteries, and some other gear.
Remember Valdosta’s
two small 100-gallon sewage spills on February 20,
at Three Mile Branch from Knob Hill Road,
and into One Mile Branch from Boone Drive @ Baytree Road,
which drains into Sugar Creek, then to the Withlacoochee River?
Well, Valdosta had another spill at 215 Knob Hill Road,
1,500 gallons each from there and from two overflow sites nearby.
Yes, that drains into Three Mile Branch which goes into the Withlacoochee River
along the route of the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle.
But 4,500 gallons should be small enough to be diluted and washed away by now.
Hahira, GA, June 7, 2024 — “WWALS will provide stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
WWALS will also provide boats for new paddlers at this gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, and Tift Counties, Georgia, and beyond in celebration of Juneteenth.
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation.
When: 11 AM – 3 PM, Saturday, June 22, 2024
Put In:Reed Bingham State Park Beach,
542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 Exit 39, turn west on GA 37, right on Evergreen Church Road (CR 99), left on Reed Bingham SP Road (CR 221), in through the gate and across the dam, and the beach is on your right, in Colquitt County.
It’s a good thing we sent to see:
yesterday we found a huge new deadfall completely across the Withlacoochee River,
on the route of the
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle,
coming up Saturday, March 2, 2024.
Update 2024-02-25:
Need to add Sugar Creek, as well as Cat Creek and Franks Creek.
Following up on the December 2023 report of the Fishing Rights Study Committee,
that Committee’s Chair,
Rep. Burchett of Waycross, who is also the House Majority Whip,
this Thursday introduced
HB 1397,
which defines navigable streams in Georgia.
Similarly, the bill could add add Cat Creek below GA 37 and Franks Creek below GA 122. That would help with finding and fixing E. coli problems seen at bridges on those creeks. WWALS has already started investigating those creek problems and has applied for a testing grant. https://wwals.net/?p=58982
These are the bill’s items in the Suwannee River Basin.
If I’ve missed any, somebody let me know. Continue reading →
We got good results for Wednesday for the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, and Suwannee Rivers,
and Franks Creek.
Valdosta’s recent upstream Withlacoochee River results through Monday are good.
Although I recently remarked that Valdosta was better lately about posting its results in a timely manner,
Valdosta’s Wednesday results are still not posted.
The rain predicted for yesterday turned out to be a drizzle.
No more rain is predicted for a week.
So if you like high, fast, and cold water, this weekend is good for paddling. Maybe fishing. Swimming with a wetsuit.
However, the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers are up
from previous upstream rains.
The Santa Fe River is coming back down.
The Suwannee was never especially high.
I’d recommend the Ichetucknee, Suwannee, or Santa Fe Rivers for this weekend,
or Banks Lake this evening. Continue reading →
WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst will guide a tour of the Little River from Red Roberts Landing to Reed Bingham State Park Lake. All reservations online in advance, limited to 20 paddlers.
When: Gather 8 AM, launch 9 AM, end 12 PM, Saturday, April 27, 2024
Put In:Red Roberts Landing,
4727 Rountree Bridge Rd., Adel, GA 31620. River left at Rountree Bridge south of Rountree Bridge Road (CR 251) west of Adel; exit 41 off I-75.
Last year we saw bald cypress, pond cypress, pines, willow, tupelow, river birch, water oak, primrose, fetterbush, sparkleberry, holly, titi, wild grapevines, native wisteria, lichen, resurrection fern, goldenclub, mistletoe, and blooming Spanish moss.
We also saw many turtles, some alligators, and a great blue heron.
Continue reading →
Successful boat trials at Action Stage on the Little River!
Videos by John S. Quarterman and Russell Allen McBride for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS).
Thanks to Laura D’Alisera for transfering the new WWALS 9.9hp Mercury fourstroke 20-inch shaft electric start outboard motor ten miles from West Marine in Jacksonville Beach to a shipping location, where Phil Hubbard received it Saturday.
Thanks to Wild Green Future (WGF) for the generous grant that bought it.
Sunday evening, Russell Allen McBride, Shawn O’Connor, Bobby McKenzie, and I
unboxed it, connected it to its fuel supply, and tried it out.
Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper for the jon boat.
With that outboard, the jon boat will indeed go upriver easily under these conditions.
It took only ten minutes to haul Russell in his kayak up the third of a mile from the Little River Confluence to Troupville Boat Ramp.
Also due to WGF, we received an 85lb-thrust Goplus 8 Speed, 36 inch shaft, trolling motor, two
Power Queen LiFePO4 12.8V 100Ah, lithium-iron-phosphate batteries,
and a Power Queen 14.6V 10A LiFePO4 Battery Charger.
Those we put on the WWALS bass fisher chainsawing boat,
plus the old WWALS 40lb-thrust mounted on the front.
Shawn and I demonstrated that the new motor alone will push that boat upstream
in these conditions, and both motors will troll it upstream at a walking pace.
Which is all we need to get back to the ramp from the Confluence during chainsaw cleanups.
We are awaiting a couple more items via the WGF grant. Stay tuned.
This is more preparation for the
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Saturday, March 2, 2024,
starting at Langdale Park.
One hopes that the water level will be well below Sunday’s 148′ NAVD 1988 level, or we may have to reschedule for later.
And also preparation for more chainsaw cleanups on other stretches of this and other rivers.
Next: 9AM Sunday, February 25, 2024, we will take the jon boat from Troupville Boat Ramp
down around the Confluence and up the Withlacoochee River to Langdale Park,
chainsawing any remaining paddle obstacles along the way.
That one will be a bit hard to participate in by paddling.
We also talked about the future Troupville River Camp and Nature Park,
in addition to defending the Okefenokee Swamp from a proposed stripmine,
chainsaw cleanups, and the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, which will go around the river frontage of the pending Troupville Park.
This was Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman on the Scott James radio talk show on talk921.com,
Friday, February 3, 2024.
I referred to him as Mayor, because Scott James Matheson is also the Mayor of Valdosta, Georgia.
We also prominently mentioned Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter.
And Helen Tapp, from whom the county in December 2022 bought the
71 acres from Helen Tapp down to the Little River Confluence to add to the
44 acres already owned by Parks and Rec to combine for the proposed park.
![[Three deadfalls cleared between Troupville and I-75 2024-03-01]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-03-01--crowe-deadfall-chainsaw-cleanup/igmany.jpg)
![[Chart, Clean Rivers and Franks Creek, Map 2024-02-28]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-28--wq/many.jpg)
![[Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-06-22--juneteenth/fbmany.jpg)
![[Big new deadfall, chainsaw, trolling motor, outboard 2024-02-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-25--pictures-chainsaw-cleanup-troupville-up-to-sugar-creek-and-back/igmany.jpg)
![[Warrior Creek, Okapilco Creek, Deep Creek, Bird Wing Run]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-22--ga-navigable-streams/igmany.jpg)
![[Tifton Golden Road 7,000-gallon sewage spill into Little River 2024-02-12]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-12--tifton-golden-road-sewage-spill/igmany.jpg)
![[803 Golden Road, Tifton, Spill of 2024-02-12 in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-02-19]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-12--tifton-golden-road-sewage-spill/2024-02-12--tifton-golden-road-spill-2024-02-19-ga-epd.jpg)
![[BIG Little River Paddle Event, Red Roberts Landing, 2024-04-27, led by Dr. Bret Wagenhorst to Reed Bingham State Park]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-04-27--blrpe/igmany.jpg)
![[9.9hp outboard and 86lb thrust trolling motor (thanks, Wild Green Future) and jon boat (thanks, Flint Riverkeeper) and Bass Fisher (WWALS)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-18--boat-motor-tryouts/igmany.jpg)
![[Mayor and Chairman's Paddle, Withlacoochee River, Okefenokee Swamp, and Troupville River Camp and Nature Park on Scott James radio talk921.com 2024-02-03]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-02--radio-scott-james-videos/igmany.jpg)