The Withlacoochee River tested too high for E. coli for Thursday at Langdale Park,
but clean upstream and OK downstream.
Whatever is amiss at Langdale Park, it’s not Sugar Creek, which is downstream.
It could be Cherry Creek or Stillhouse Branch coming out of the Country Club.
Or it could be coming from septic tanks west of Valdosta and the Withlacoochee River
in Lowndes County.
Or something else that washed in with the spotty rains Wednesday.
No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in
Georgia
or
Florida.
No rain is predicted until Monday.
So happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend!
Here WWALS videos of the Mayor and Chairmans Paddle by Suwannee Riverkeeper,
and the talks before the
Mayor and Chairmans Paddle 2025.
We didn’t get video of Gretchen Quarterman giving the host talk,
but she got video of Gee Edwards giving the Safety Lecture as the
leader of this expedition.
And of the two elected officials:
Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson,
and Lowndes County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter.
And of Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman,
who thanked Phil Hubbard and Phil Royce for the then most recent
WWALS chainsaw cleanups between Langdale Park and Troupville.
TJ Johnson also led three of the
ten chainsaw cleanups on the Withlacoochee River since Hurricane Helene.
Also thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for the grant that kept this paddle free to everyone.
And thanks to Paul Batts and Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA)
for the two shuttle vans and drivers.
And to Lowndes County Fire Rescue for paddling.
And to Lowndes County Public Works for grading the access road to Langdale Park Boat Ramp.
Thanks to Steve Miller and son for bringing a golf cart to the take-out at Sugar Creek.
They and WWALS President Sara Squires Jones held the fort at Sugar Creek while the rest of us were paddling.
Herman is preparing for the April 19th Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle.
I think he was relieved that
WWALS, Valdosta, and Lowndes County rescheduled it
because of high water on the previous date.
https://wwals.net/?p=67242
Thanks to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR)
that paid for (most of) the cost of these and other signs.
GA-DNR’s own signs about “Clean Your Gear” and “Don’t Release It Here!” have also been shot up.
Gordon and I are contacting them about that.
And I’ve already left a message for Lowndes County Public Works about the large potholes on the entrance road. Continue reading →
On my way to collect some water quality samples,
I looked in at Langdale Park towards the Withlacoochee River and Country Club Road at Three Mile Branch, both in Valdosta.
No doubt there are higher priorities for
Lowndes County Public Works and Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA). Continue reading →
Those deadfalls from Hurricane Helene are not even halfway down to Langdale Park Boat Ramp.
I will mention them to
Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA)
and Lowndes County Public Works,
but I doubt this park is high on their priority list. Continue reading →
Langdale Park is back open to drive in, since Monday.
Join us at Langdale Park Boat Ramp on Saturday, Friday, October 20, 2023, for a boating cleanup.
Don’t worry: if you don’t have a boat or don’t want to use one, you can clean up on land.
A week later, I checked again, and all that Hurricane Idalia debris was still there.
So I called Lowndes County Public Works.
They agreed they did maintain Hyta Mederer Road, and they would open a work order.
They asked if it was urgent, or would Monday do?
I said Monday would be fine.
And I thank Lowndes County Public Works for their longstanding agreement with WWALS
that they will pick up bagged trash we leave at boat ramps after cleanups.
The Litter Crew was using their RV down towards the river. Continue reading →
She says it’s in the “infamous ravine”, which I’m assuming to be the one south (left) of the boat ramp, about here:
30.674710, -83.394021. Continue reading →
We met at the Salty Snapper parking lot, but we did not actually go to Sugar Creek.
We headed straight for the biggest Withlacoochee River impediment,
the infamous NSRR Deadfall,
a stack of deadfalls (downed trees) across the river downstream
of the
Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge.
That took the allotted time of nine to noon.
We’ll probably do it again next Sunday; stay tuned.
![[Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-05-29]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-05-29--wq/many.jpg)
![[Filthy Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River 2025-02-22, Clean upstream and downstream]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-05-22--wq/many.jpg)
![[Videos: Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Withlacoochee River 2025-04-19, Langdale Park Boat Ramp to Sugar Creek]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-04-19--mayor-chairmans-paddle-videos/fbmany.jpg)
![[Installed: water trail signs at Troupville Boat Ramp, Little River @ GA 133, Thanks, VLPRA & GA-DNR 2025-04-01]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-04-01--troupville-br-signs/fbmany.jpg)
![[Langdale Park still inacessible, Country Club Road closed 2024-12-05, Withlacoochee River, Three Mile Branch]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-12-02--hurricane-helene-damage-langdale-park-country-club-road/fbmany.jpg)
![[Deadfalls on entry road, 2024:10:23 17:52:25, 30.8860860, -83.3192000]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-10-23--langdale-park-still-closed/20241023_175225.jpg)
![[Thanks to Lowndes County Public Works for reopening Langdale Park]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2023-10-10--langdale-park/many.jpg)
![[Lowndes County Litter Crew and beach deadfalls, Folsom Bridge Landing, Little River @ GA 122]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-08-23--folsom-bridge-landing-jlh-beach-lowndes-county-litter-crew/many.jpg)
![[Ravine, freezer, Withlacoochee River under Clyattville-Nankin Road Bridge --Suzy Hall 2023-07-05]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-05--trash-nankin/many.jpg)
![[Logjam, Sawing, Cleanup, Banners]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-05-29--chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)