It was a fine time with 30,000 friends at Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Georgia.
See also Onemile Branch Cleanup, Drexel Park, during Azalea Festival 2019-03-10.
Saturday
Gretchen Quarterman and Julie Magruder, Booth
Paddle Georgia, PR
Tag Archives: Lowndes County
E. coli at GA 133 Withlacoochee 2019-03-05
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.
GA 133, Withlacochee River, Withlacoochee
At the next station downstream from US 41, at GA 133, the Withlacoochee River still showed Continue reading
Video: BIG Little River Paddle Race, Paddle Georgia, Songwriting Contest, coal ash, trust funds, and wastewater, on Scott James Radio 2019-02-22
On WWALS TV radio Scott James and Valdosta Airport Executive Director James Galloway and I discussed alligators, karst limestone, and water levels on the Suwannee, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers. If I have to fly, I much prefer flying out of Valdosta to Atlanta, because if you forget about your pocketknife, security will just ask you if you want to take it to your car.
Before outings, we talked about coal ash and how Continue reading
The #Trashtag Challenge: Cleanups are good, but throwaway plastic needs to be stopped
It’s great the #Trashtag Challenge is getting people to clean up litter, but remember the straw and the sea turtle. Let’s also get on with fixing the problem, which is throwaway plastic and other discardable containers and wrappers.
![[A new challenge.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/53109624_309787839740111_3782262578527659154_n.jpg)
It’s fun and useful to clean up a creek, like we did Sunday on Onemile Branch at Azalea Festival in Valdosta.
![[Scotti downstream]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_142143.jpg)
WWALS does this on every outing, which is also a cleanup, plus some specific cleanups, such as two at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River and one at Sheboggy on the Alapaha River last year. We find the amount of trash tends to go down, as more people catch on that we need to take care of our waters.
Yet more needs to be done. Remember last year at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the sea turtle and the straw? Continue reading
Onemile Branch Cleanup, Drexel Park, during Azalea Festival 2019-03-10
Update 2019-03-12: The #Trashtag Challenge: Cleanups are good, but throwaway plastic needs to be stopped.
Not bad for an idea from a few days before: a cleanup at Onemile Branch in Drexel Park during Azalea Festival.
![[Beatriz assisting]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_144703.jpg)
Juan and Luisa from Colombia with the VSU English Language Institute waded into the stream, with Beatriz Potter holding the bucket and Tom Potter advising.
Sara Jay explained her WWALS water quality test kit.
Continue reading![[Sara explaining]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-10--onemile-branch-cleanup/20190310_142225.jpg)
WCTV on FL Counties Rivers Task Force and Valdosta Wastewater 2019-03-07
It turns out Valdosta can schedule a workshop for elected officials to meet with the Valdosta City Council, as the the dozen downstream Florida counties previously requested.
Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 7 March 2019, Task force looks to curb Valdosta sewage spills,
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WCTV) — Communities continue to push for more prevention of spills at Valdosta’s wastewater treatment system.
Several North Florida counties down the river from Valdosta formed a task force last year to try and protect local waterways. The group is now hoping the states can step in to help.
Counties across North Florida and South Georgia are making it a priority to protect the rivers. The task force has passed a Continue reading
WWALS booth at Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA 2019-03-09-10
Update 2019-03-20: Pictures.
Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends, at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. We will have information about our outings and advocacy (yes, including Valdosta wastewater), and pictures for sale Gretchen took of our rivers, plus a kayak raffle.
When:
10AM-6PM Saturday 9 March 2019
10AM-5PM Sunday 10 March 2019
Volunteer: WWALS members can help at the table!
Where:
Drexel Park
30.846771, -83.285066
Patterson at W. Brookwood Drive, Valdosta, GA
(across Patterson from VSU)
That’s on One Mile Branch, which flows into Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River,
the Suwannee, to the Gulf.
Drexel Park is upstream of Wainwright Drive, where
WWALS did a cleanup in November 2017,
and
Valdosta spilled 218,075 gallons of raw sewage.
You can help with cleanups or water quality testing.
Photo: John S. Quarterman, of
Shirley Kokidko and Gretchen Quarterman at Azalea Festival 2018.
What: Our Story, Azalea Festival,
Approximately 30,000 attendees from all over the Southeast come to Valdosta to enjoy Continue reading
Monthly Valdosta WQ Data 2019-02-07
Valdosta has fallen down to only monthly water quality testing, instead of their former weekly schedule.
They’ve also dropped their two state line stations, so the GA-FL Line trace on this graph ends in December 2018.
Readings have risen since their January sampling, with Valdosta’s US 84 sampling station above the Georgia state limit at 265 cfu/100 ml of E. coli. Continue reading
Paddle Race, Paddle Georgia, and Songwriting Contest on Scott James Radio 8:00AM 2019-02-15 2019-02-22
Update 2019-03-28: Video.
Update 2019-02-15: Actually, Friday, February 22, 2019. Also, we’ll be broadcasting from Valdosta Airport.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman
will be on the radio 8:00 AM this Friday, February 15, 22, 2019,
with
Scott James on his Talk 92.1 drive-time radio show,
out of Valdosta, Georgia,
talking about
WWALS paddle outings and events, including the
BIG Little River Paddle Race Saturday, April 27, 2019,
Paddle Georgia, June 15-21, 2019,
and the
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Saturday, August 24, 2019.
When: 8:00 AM, Friday, February 22, 2019
Where: You can listen on the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through several online listening services.
Event: facebook.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Coal Ash, Trust Funds, and Water Quality Testing at Lowndes County Bird Supper in Atlanta 2019-02-13
Last night Georgia legislators from all over the state, including numerous committee chairs, feasted on quail supplied by Lowndes County and Valdosta in the annual Bird Supper, a six-decade tradition of local lobbying in the Georgia state capitol.
I thanked Jeff Jones (District 167) for his new coal ash bills, and reminded other legislators to vote for them this year, like they did his earlier ones last year: Continue reading