Tag Archives: north Florida

Rescheduled: Ichetucknee to Santa Fe Rivers 2025-02-22

Update 2025-02-15: Because the river was still closed for hurricane debris removal, Rescheduled: Ichetucknee to Santa Fe Rivers 2025-04-05.

Rescheduled to February 22, 2025, because of park closure.

Join us on a leisurely paddle on the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers, starting at Ichetucknee Springs State Park North Entrance, past many springs, taking out at the US 129 Boat Ramp.

When: Gather 8:30 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, February 22, 2024

Put In: Ichetucknee Springs S.P. North Entrance, 8294 SW Elim Church Rd, Fort White, FL 32038.

GPS: 29.986107, -82.760109

[Ichetucknee River to Santa Fe River 2025-02-22, Ichetucknee Springs S.P. North to US 129 Boat Ramp]
Ichetucknee River to Santa Fe River 2025-02-22, Ichetucknee Springs S.P. North to US 129 Boat Ramp

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Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17; Clean Withlacoochee River and Franks Creek 2025-01-19; Clean New River 2025-01-20

Update 2025-01-26: Cleaner but still dirty Sugar Creek 2025-01-24.

Due to the ice storm, nobody sampled this week since Monday: not WWALS and not Valdosta.

So here is what data we do have from Friday about Sugar Creek (filthy), Sunday about Franks Creek and the Withlacoochee River (good), and Monday about the New River in Tifton (good).

Valdosta Utilities drew samples today from Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River, and their results should be up tomorrow on their 2025 Sugar Creek Spill Testing web page. More about Sugar Creek below.

Most of the river gauges we follow couldn’t handle the sleet, snow, or rain Wednesday, so we don’t know how much preciptation fell. From the few that did register, probably up to an inch or more.

Which means more contamination probably washed into the waterways.

Since the weather prediction is freezing at night and cold during the day this weekend, I wouldn’t be paddling. If you must go out in a power boat while the rivers are up a bit, best not to get the water on you.

Or join us tomorrow for an on-land cleanup on One Mile Branch at Wainwright Driver in Valdosta, on the Azalea City Trail.
https://wwals.net/?p=66659

[Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17, Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-01-19, Clean Franks Creek 2025-01-19, Clean New River 2025-01-20]
Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17, Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-01-19, Clean Franks Creek 2025-01-19, Clean New River 2025-01-20

Sugar Creek

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Time to sign the petition: Right to Clean Water in Florida 2025-01-20

The day after Christmas, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal rejected a titusville charter amendment approved by 83% of local voters for Right to Clean Water (RTCW).

We recognize the overwhelming support of this charter amendment by the residents of the City of Titusville and the admirable policies of the amendment. However, the Legislature in drafting section 403.412(9)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act has not authorized the types of rights provided for in the charter amendment. As such, an appellate court has no power to change or alter what the Legislature mandated.

A week before, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a youth climate case, based on Montana’s 1972 Environmental Rights Amendment. Florida needs to catch up to Montana and Pennsylvania.

“[Montana’s] constitution does not require that dead fish float on the surface of our state’s rivers and streams before its farsighted environmental protections can be invoked.” —Justice Trieweiler, Montana Supreme Court, MEIC v. Montana DEQ 1999

[Florida Right to Clean Water, Please sign the petition, Join Montana and Pennsylvania]
Florida Right to Clean Water, Please sign the petition, Join Montana and Pennsylvania

Florida needs a Right to Clean Water in the state constitution to reverse that legislative pre-emption and to go farther in protecting Florida’s waters, like Montana and Pennsylvania have already done.

Go here to have your copy of the petition mostly filled out for you: https://bit.ly/FRTCW-petition

[QR Code, Florida RTCW Petition]
QR Code, Florida RTCW Petition

Or do it yourself by getting a copy at
https://floridarighttocleanwater.org

WWALS and many other organizations hand out petitions at festivals and outings.

Montana has a state Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA). Pennsylvania also has an ERA, and its Supreme Court has upheld similar cases.

Amy Beth Hanson, Associated Press, December 18, 2024, Montana Supreme Court upholds state judge’s landmark ruling in youth climate case Continue reading →

Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16

Update 2025-01-24: Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17; Clean Withlacoochee River and Franks Creek 2025-01-19; Clean New River 2025-01-20.

Thursday WWALS water quality samples showed the Alapaha River clean at Lakeland and Naylor.

But Valdosta Thursday samples showed Sugar Creek worse again at Gornto Road.

As noted yesterday, the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers also seem clean, although I’d avoid the Withlacoochee near Sugar Creek, and Sugar Creek itself.

We hear there is a Sugar Creek bypass, but that creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

If you like rain (Saturday) or cold (Sunday), this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16, Rain coming Saturday, Cold all next week]
Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16, Rain coming Saturday, Cold all next week

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Kimberly Godden Tanner for Thursday got zero (0) E. coli at Lakeland Boat Ramp. Can’t get cleaner than that. Continue reading →

Pictures: Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13

It was fun, the Sasser Landing Cleanup on the Alapaha River 2024-07-13. We also went to Jannings Bluff Landing and the Dead River Sink, all by land.

[Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink]
Sasser Landing Cleanup, Alapaha River 2024-07-13, Jennings Bluff, Dead River Sink

Thanks to Dennis J. Price for leading this expedition in Hamilton County, Florida.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter. Continue reading →

OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15

Upate 2025-01-18: Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16.

For Wednesday water quality samples, The Little River at US 82 west of Tifton, Georgia, tested OK, as did the Withlacoochee River at GA 133, US 84, and Holly Point four miles from the Suwannee.

The New River on 18th Street in Tifton tested too high in E. coli.

We hear there is a Sugar Creek bypass, but that creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia one new Valdosta spill showed up, although it apparently did not get into waterways.

This weekend, I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near downstream from it. If you like rain (Saturday) or cold (Sunday), this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[OK Little, Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek, 2025-01-15]
OK Little, Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek, 2025-01-15

New River

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Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2025-01-12

WWALS President Sara Squires Jones will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting. The public is invited to this regular business meeting.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

When: 6-8 PM, Sunday, October 20, 2024

Where: Online via zoom. Registration required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/SFkUD_5OTpWmXgnpchRRVw

[WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting Agenda 2025-01-12]
WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting Agenda 2025-01-12

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Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River 2025-01-09

Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

Update 2025-01-13: Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11.

Update: 2025-01-11: Samantha Carr, WWALS Intern and water quality tester 2025-01-10.

Sugar Creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

The Little River tested clean at Troupville Boat Ramp Sunday, and the Withlacoochee River tested clean Thursday at Langdale Park upstream of Valdosta and OK Wednesday at Holly Point, a few miles from the Suwannee River.

The Alapaha River tested clean Thursday at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach.

Valdosta Utilities has not yet posted its Withlacoochee River results for this week.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia the Valdosta Sugar Creek broken sewer pipe finally showed up today.

This weekend, I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near downstream from it. If you like cold, this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River, 2025-01-09]
Filthy Sugar Creek, OK Withlacoochee River, Clean Alapaha River, 2025-01-09

Sugar Creek

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Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03

Now anyone who wants to sell property within the new boundary to the Refuge can do so.

That includes the coal miners from Alabama who want to strip mine within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp. Sure, right now they say they don’t want to do that, but things could change.

See also the WWALS support letter for this Minor Expansion, which notes that this action protects not just Trail Ridge, but the entire circumference of the Swamp.
https://wwals.net/?p=66587

Leslie Hull-Ryde, USFWS PR, January 3, 2025, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Finalizes Plan for a Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Boundary
Enables voluntary actions to protect hydrological integrity, conserve wetlands and key wildlife habitat, and create fuel reduction zone to help protect neighboring properties

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced its final decision to expand the acquisition boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by approximately 22,000 acres. The new acquisition boundary includes lands currently held by a variety of owners within a 1-mile fuel reduction zone adjacent to the refuge. Potential conservation actions on the lands within the boundary expansion could strengthen protection of the hydrological integrity of the swamp, provide habitat for the gopher tortoise, mitigate impacts of wildfires, and provide opportunities for longleaf pine restoration to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker.

The expanded boundary allows the Service to potentially offer priority public uses such as hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and education to the more than 400,000 annual visitors to the refuge, thereby driving a growing ecotourism economy within the community.

[Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]
Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Today’s decision follows the Department’s recent announcement that Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge will be nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List. If designated, the refuge would join the list recognizing 1,223 cultural and natural sites of universal importance, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall in China, and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Continue reading →

Notice: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2025-01-12

WWALS President Sara Squires Jones will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting. The public is invited to this regular business meeting.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Notice: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, by zoom, 6-8 PM Sunday, January 12, 2025]
Notice: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, by zoom, 6-8 PM Sunday, January 12, 2025

When: 6 PM, Sunday, October 20, 2024

Where: Online via zoom. Registration required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09 Continue reading →