Tag Archives: north Florida

Clean Rivers 2023-11-09

Update 2023-11-17: Mostly clean Withlacoochee River 2023-11-16.

The rivers were still clean, in yet another week with no rain: the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. Even famously filthy Crawford Branch was clean. However, notoriously dirty Sugar Creek was dirty, but it did not seem to affect the Withlacoochee River much.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-09]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-09

Heather Brasell got good results for Continue reading →

Georgia Conservationists meet in Waycross to protect the Okefenokee from mining 2023-11-10

“Beyond Trail Ridge, cities and counties in the Suwannee River Basin value the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River, and are passing resolutions supporting the Okefenokee Swamp and legislation protecting it, including the City of Valdosta and Clinch and Echols Counties,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Douglas Now, November 10, 2023, GEORGIA CONSERVATIONISTS MEET IN WAYCROSS TO PROTECT THE OKEFENOKEE FROM MINING,

The Georgia Water Coalition hosted its Fall Member meeting in Waycross November 8—10, 2023. Conservationists from around the state learned more about the Okefenokee and how to protect it from risky mining operations.

Attendees toured the Okefenokee Swamp Park, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and the St. Marys River. During the member meeting at South Georgia State College, Georgia Water Coalition members learned about how mining proposals along Trail Ridge threaten the Okefenokee.

[Boats and inside]
Mike Worley, CEO, Georgia Wildlife Federation welcomes Georgia Water Coalition members at the Okefenokee Swamp Park, and inside Okefenokee NWR Manager Michael Lusk, Alice Keys of One Hundred Miles, St. Marys Riverkeeper Emily Floore, Local resident Charlene McIntosh Carter of Okefenokee Pastimes Cabins and Campground, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. Photo: Southwings.

“The Okefenokee touches everyone that touches its dark waters,” Continue reading →

Eddyline kayak raffle tickets for each $100 in WWALS Day of Giving this month 2023-11-10

Update 2024-04-01: Done: Eddyline Kayak Raffle 2024-04-01.

Each $100 donated to the WWALS Day of Giving 2023 gets a kayak raffle ticket:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2023

[Eddyline kayak in Hahira Honeybee Parade, and WWALS Day of Giving this month]
Eddyline kayak in Hahira Honeybee Parade, and WWALS Day of Giving this month

That’s until all 30 tickets are taken for the Eddyline Sandpiper kayak with paddle, PFD, lock, and straps.

It’s slightly used. New, it retails for $1,749.00.

So donate to WWALS in #GAGIVES!

This is in addition to the other kayak raffle of a Vibe Sea Ghost 130, for which tickets are $10 and the drawing will be November 27, 2023.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

DeKalb County, GA, resolution requesting protection for the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-10-24

Congratulations to DeKalb County for passing a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp.

You can encourage your city council or county commission to pass such a resolutin. Local government resolutions help encourage state legislatures to pass bills.

And you can still ask GA-EPD to reject the permit applications for that strip mine for titanium dioxide for white paint.
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/

You can help save the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers.

[DeKalb County Okefenokee Resolution 2023-10-24]
DeKalb County Okefenokee Resolution 2023-10-24
PDF

Thanks to all those who got it done. I would name them, but I’m not sure who they all were. Continue reading →

Sand Mine Special Exception Levy County Commission 2023-12-05

Update 2024-01-15: Meeting: Outstanding Florida Springs Basin Management Plans 2024-01-23.

It’s back: the proposed Special Exception for the 3RT Sand Mine.

This time it will be at the Levy County Board of County Commissioners, 9 AM, Tuesday, December 5, 2023, in the Levy County Government Center Auditorium, 310 School Street, Bronson, FL 32621.

[Cows, mining trucks, and Public Notice]
Cows, mining trucks, and Public Notice

Meanwhile, you can still sign on to this change.org opposition petition by Kim Wheeler:
https://www.change.org/p/no-special-exceptions-for-mining-in-rural-neighborhoods

And you can send written comments up to five days before the Public Hearing; see below.

The mine site is still in the springshed of Rainbow Springs.

You may not think that these are enough: Continue reading →

Clean rivers, dirty Sugar Creek 2023-11-02

In yet another week with no rain, the rivers were clean: the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers. Not so clean was Sugar Creek that runs into the Withlacoochee River, but even that was below the 410 cfu/100 mL one-time test E. coli limit. That’s 14 WWALS test sites on three rivers and one creek in two states. Good baselines for later when there is contamination.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-02]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-02

Joanne Tremblay got clean results for the Santa Fe River at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 and at US 27.

Reina Lingle got clean results for the Suwannee River at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford and at Royal Springs.

Kimberly Tanner says about the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach, “Great results at both locations this week. And both areas were as clean as a whistle, too.”

Cindy Vedas got good results for the Withlacoochee River at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (yes, really), Staten Road, and US 41 (North Valdosta Road), with trash at US 41.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, and got too-high results, but clean at Knights Ferry and Nankin Boat Ramps on the Withlacoochee River. She also double-checked everybody else’s results. And the other testers cross-checked each others’ results.

Russ Tatum got clean results for the Withlacoochee River at Holly Point, between Allen Ramp and the Suwannee River.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman delivered testing supplies to several testers. She is also our testing trainer.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Wednesday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

And, as previosly noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

WWALS Day of Giving 2023 #GAGIVES

Update 2923-11-10: Eddyline kayak raffle tickets for each $100 in WWALS Day of Giving this month 2023-11-10.

You can donate anytime this month to help support the mission of WWALS in this #GAGives day of giving fundraiser:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2023

[FB: WWALS #GAGives 2023]
FB: WWALS #GAGives 2023

WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

WWALS Vision: A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.

Your donation will help WWALS encourage citizens to become more active in watershed conservation, benefiting our local economy, ecology, and community, including boating, fishing, and hunting. If you like, you can also donate more in time to help us all with boatable, fishable, swimmable rivers and clean drinking water.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Okefenokee Swamp, one of the world’s most beautiful places –National Geographic 2013-06-01

National Geographic lists the Okefenokee Swamp among “The World’s most beautiful places, 100 Unforgettable Destinations,” along with the Everglades, the Amazon River, Yosemite and Grand Canyon National Parks, the Pyramids, and the Great Wall of China.

[Okefenokee Swamp among the 100 Most Beautiful Places, National Geographic 2013-06]
Okefenokee Swamp among the 100 Most Beautiful Places, National Geographic 2013-06

Seems like that should help the UNESCO World Heritage Site bid for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR). Many of those 100 places are already UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

ONWR Manager Michael Lusk explained the Refuge, and then held up that copy of National Geographic. Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Wilderness Trail at Lafayette County Florida State Parks Open House Public Meeting 2023-10-26

Update 2025-06-07: Okefenokee Gateway Getaway at The Farm at Okefenokee 2023-10-26.

Learned a few things in this last of the FDEP series of county meetings about state parks, (almost) the only one that also included the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail and its River Camps.

[Posters and personnel]
Posters and personnel

We also talked about the previous day’s meeting, in Hamilton County, which included Big Shoals State Park. Moving the portage around Big Shoals from Columbia County to Hamilton County, on the right bank of the Suwannee River, is now merely a discussion topic, not a plan. They do want to do something to improve the exit from the portage back into the river. The jagged and slippery limestone rocks are a safety issue. One possibility is steps like at the Big Shoals Tract Launch. They didn’t like my suggestion of just put in some posts with a chain for people to use to get down to the river. But steps would be great. Continue reading →