Tag Archives: Michael Bachrach

Bad Water Quality, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-30

Update 2022-07-03: PFAS testing, Withlacoochee River, Georgia and Florida 2022-06-30.

Update 2022-07-03: Madison Health Advisory, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-02.

Please avoid the Withlacoochee River this weekend, at least downstream from Hagan Bridge (GA 122). Try the Little River or the Alapaha, or the Suwannee upstream of the Withlacoochee River Confluence.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide 2022-06-30]
Chart, River, Swim Guide 2022-06-30

There was already contamination washed into the river by rain up to 4 inches in spots, according to Valdosta’s Wednesday results at US 41 and GA 133: 1,000 cfu/100 mL and 2,000 cfu/100 mL, where 1,000 is the alert level.

Then Valdosta had a major sewage spill. Continue reading →

Bad Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-23

Update 2022-07-01: Bad Water Quality, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-30.

Update 2022-06-25: Plus Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers also clean, thanks to Pam Thomas and the TREPO crew.

Not good at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River: 1,333 cfu/100 mL E. coli, above the alert level of 1,000. That was a Thursday sample, so watch out downstream. This is puzzling, since there has been no rain to speak of. Also, no sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the Suwannee River Basin. Yet chances are something came down Okapilco Creek from Brooks County, Georgia. Sure, it could have been wild hogs directly on the river, but that’s less likely. Maybe there was more rain in Brooks County than the stations we use reported. Or maybe there was a sewage spill that has not yet been reported.

Everywhere else tested by WWALS Thursday was good: Little, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers.

The most recent Valdosta downstream results were for Monday, and was clean. The most recent Valdosta upstream were for Friday (apparently Valdosta city staff took Monday off for the new Juneteenth holiday), and were also clean, after the high GA 133 results last week.

So I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River from Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on down this weekend. Elsewhere looks good for boating, swimming, and fishing.

Thundershowers are expected this weekend, so conditions could change rapidly.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide]
Chart, River, Swim Guide

Thanks to Continue reading →

Five Rivers Clean 2022-06-09

2022-06-17: WWALS Thursday tests clean, but Valdosta bad Wednesday results for US 41 and GA 122, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-16.

All tested clean: Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers, for Thursday. Sure, those were only a few test sites on each river. But there’s been little rain, none predicted, and no sewage spills reported. So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide]
Chart, River, Swim Guide

Thanks to Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2022-06-02

Update 2022-06-11: Five Rivers Clean 2022-06-09.

Seventh week: all rivers clean! Happy swimming, fishing, and boating in the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.

For example, tomorrow morning, Florida Campsites to Allen Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-04.

Of course, there can be undetected local water quality problems (see below). But all the WWALS sites tested Thursday got clean results. While there is a prediction of rain today and tomorrow, if it’s like what we’ve been seeing, it will be light and won’t wash much contamination into the river. No sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the past week. So have a good weekend.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and Wednesday of last week downstream. Those were all clean, too.

But earlier contamination was detected in Valdosta results. Continue reading →

Clean All Rivers 2022-05-26

Update 2022-06-03: Clean Rivers 2022-06-02.

All tested sites Thursday were clean on five rivers: Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers. No sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the Suwannee River Basin for the last week. It hasn’t rained much, and no rain is predicted for the weekend.

So happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday of last week downstream. Those were all clean, too. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers again 2022-05-19

Update 2022-05-28: Clean All Rivers 2022-05-26.

Happy swimming, fishing, and boating on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers this weekend.

There has been no rain and no sewage spills reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. All WWALS sampling sites tested clean. No significant rain is predicted, so no cattle manure is likely to wash down Okapilco Creek, nor even much trash down Sugar Creek. So this is about as unqualified as we can get on a positive river quality report.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide]
Chart, River, Swim Guide

Thanks to Elizabeth Brunner for her Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2022-05-05

Update 2022-05-13: Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, Santa Fe all clean 2022-05-12.

Another clean river week! All the WWALS test results for Thursday and Wednesday are good.

It did just rain cats and dogs, but only briefly. We can’t know yet, but my guess is there wasn’t enough rain to wash much contamination into the rivers, not even down Okapilco Creek. I would paddle this weekend, or swim, or fish.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

If you’re not doing that, come on down to the Salty Snapper for the WWALS Withlacoochee River cleanup. Continue reading →

Clean rivers again 2022-04-28

Update 2022-05-06: Clean Rivers 2022-05-05.

Happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

Come on down to Reed Bingham State Park tomorrow for the BIG Little River Paddle Race.

[Chart, rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, rivers, Swim Guide

All the WWALS results for Wednesday and Thursday and the Valdosta results up to Monday agree: all the tested locations are clean of E. coli. No sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida, and no rain is predicted. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2022-04-21

Update 2022-04-28: Clean rivers again 2022-04-28.

Happy Earth Day, and good swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

All the test results we have are fine for this weekend. There have been no new sewage spills reported in Georgia or Florida. And no rain is predicted for a week.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map

All the WWALS test results for Wednesday and Thursday were well down in clean green levels.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday. They got too high on Okapilco Creek after the Sunday rains (presumably the usual cattle manure). But Valdosta got OK results downstream on the Withlacoochee River for Monday.

Valdosta’s Friday results corroborate what we reported last time. Continue reading →

All rivers bad water quality 2022-04-07

Update 2022-04-15: Clean Rivers 2022-04-15.

Best to avoid the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers this weekend. In very unusual results, all three were too high in E. coli at GA 122, and the Withlacoochee was way too high at Nankin Boat Ramp.

The Ichetucknee tested clean for Tuesday at TREPO’s Hodor Park.

You might try lakes that are not downstream from likely rivers, such as Banks Lake and Grassy Pond, and maybe Reed Bingham State Park, but we have no data on those lakes.

In good news, no sewage spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida. Of course, certain cities (Quitman, Ashburn) almost always report a week or more late, so stay tuned on that.

[Chart, rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, rivers, Swim Guide

The most recent data we have from Valdosta is for Monday upstream, which was before the Wednesday and Thursday rains. So WWALS data is what we have to go on, and the WWALS results are pretty bad. Continue reading →