The recent Georgia spills are now in the WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida water quality data.
Other than the very large December 2019 Valdosta spill, none of the spills (except one) obviously correlate with high E. coli as tested.
Which one? The April 24, 2020, Quitman spill, which may have been seen four days later at Running Springs on the Suwannee River.
![[Withlacoochee, Quitman spill, Running Springs, Suwannee]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-04-24--quitman-spill-wq/many.jpg)
Withlacoochee, Quitman spill, Running Springs, Suwannee
Update 2020-10-16: Ashburn spilled sewage three times in September 2020-09-27
It was harsh, but it went by fast. Except there seem to have been at least two sources of contamination.
The Health Advisory has been lifted for the Withlacoochee River, and I’ve set all the Withlacoochee “beaches” green again on Swim Guide.
![[Lifted, Green on Swim Guide, Sources]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-05--wq/many.jpg)
Lifted, Green on Swim Guide, Sources
The contamination that reached the GA-FL line on October 1st appears to have started from Continue reading
Steve Nichols and Suwannee Riverkeeper will ask again: does anybody want to drink dirty water? That’s 8:30 AM tomorrow, October 6, 2020, on 105.9 FM WVGA. In addition to water quality testing, we’ll also discuss the big cleanup coming up this Saturday on three rivers and many creeks, and the Third Annual WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia into Florida and back. Plus some other outings.
![[Water Quality Testing]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-08-18--suwrk-steve-nichols-radio/5testing.jpg)
Water Quality Testing 2020-08-18
The top rated morning talk show in south Georgia, Steve Nichols offers both sides of every story from Berrien County to the Beltway, and everywhere in between.
You can listen at 105.9 FM, on the WVGA Live apps, through ValdostaToday.com (link on front page), on Alexa devices, or you can stream in-studio video at the official Morning Drive Facebook page.
When: 8:30 AM, Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Where: 105.9 FM WVGA (see above for how to listen)
Event: facebook
Thanks to Steve Nichols for helping promote the Third Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, which went very well.
On Saturday, October 10, 2020, in conjunction with Lowndes County,
WWALS will be doing a three-location cleanup at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River, on Sugar Creek down to the Withlacoochee River, and at Naylor Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, plus Valdosta is organizing several creek cleanups.
https://wwals.net/?p=53557
![[Flyer: Cleanup on three rivers, many creeks]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-10--tri-river-cleanup/trioflyer.jpg)
Flyer: Cleanup on three rivers, many creeks
On Saturday, October 24, 2020, there’s the Third Annual WWALS Boomerang paddle race from Georgia into Florida and back.
Tickets to the WWALS Boomerang are
$20 online through Ocotber 15,
then $30 at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2020-tickets-118844038719?aff=efbeventtix
For much more, follow this link: wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-24–boomerang/ Continue reading
Rochelle, Ashburn, Tifton, Adel, Moody AFB, Valdosta, and Quitman all spilled sewage into the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia from December 2019 through September 2020. But only one of those spills since December is likely to explain any contamination we’ve been seeing on the Withlacoochee River.
![[Little, New, Withlacoochee, Summary, Alapaha River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-30--sewage-spills-suwannee-river-basin/many.jpg)
Little, New, Withlacoochee, Summary, Alapaha River
Yes, there were also some spills in Florida in the Suwannee River Basin, but those are actually harder to interpret, and they were mostly small, so they will have to wait.
At least Florida lets people sign up for pollution notices by county as they happen. Georgia has no such signup. So I’ve modified the scripts WWALS uses to display changes in the Georgia Sewage Spills Report to also send me an email alert.
Here are the Georgia spills, where, what streams they went into, and how far upstream that was: Continue reading
Update 2020-10-02: Health Advisory, Withlacoochee River, State Line 2020-10-02.
Mostly all clear on the Withlacoochee River in a bunch of data Valdosta and FDEP posted recently, except a bad reading at Knights Ferry Friday a week ago, and yet again a problem at GA 133 this past Monday.
The latest (Wednesday by Valdosta and Thursday by Madison Health) indicates good quality for this weekend. Since there has been hardly any rain to wash anything into the river, all the WWALS Withlacoochee River “beaches” remain green on Swim Guide.
Happy boating, so far as we can see!
Valdosta’s new data goes back two and a half weeks downstream, and FDEP filled in Tuesday a week ago as well as this Tuesday and Thursday.
That long chart is hard to read, so let’s take it a week at a time. Continue reading
Update 2020-09-11: fixed document and map links and added form for comments.
The Adel City Council had no questions after their Public Hearing on annexation and rezoning for a wood pellet plant, Tuesday, September 9, 2020, after thirty minutes of speakers for and against.
That was just the first reading. The second reading will be 5:30 PM, Monday, September 21, 2020, at Adel City Hall.
![[Maps and speakers, wood pellet plant, Adel City Council 2020-09-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-08--adel-city-council/many.jpg)
Maps and speakers, wood pellet plant, Adel City Council 2020-09-08
After the meeting I asked the City Manager, the City Clerk, and a couple of City Council members what maps and plans they had looked at. They all said they hadn’t seen any, and maybe I should talk to Economic Development. So I asked her, and she didn’t seem to indicate she’d seen any.
Yet there are maps and plans in the air permit application to GA-EPD, and others reviewed by the Planning Commission, which, as the City Manager pointed out during the meeting, issued a Public Notice of its public hearing on July 6, 2020. I don’t know why these state and county agencies have not published these documents, nor why the City of Adel has not. But those are public documents, so here they are (see Air Quality Permit maps and Planning Commission maps).
Below are videos by Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE) of the pellet plant part of the Adel City Council meeting. See also the agenda and the WWALS letter to the Adel City Council. See also some helpful documents by the Dogwood Alliance
And this handy Dogwood Alliance form to send a comment to the Adel City Counci l.
By the way, this kind of work does take time and effort, so feel free to contribute to WWALS. . Continue reading
Update 2020-09-11: Wood pellet plant: speakers and documents @ Adel City Council 2020-09-08.
Here is the agenda for tonight’s Adel City Council meeting:
![[Agenda, Adel City Council 2020-09-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-08--biomass-adel/9-8-2020-AGENDA-0001.jpg)
Agenda, Adel City Council 2020-09-08
PDF
Since it can’t be any of the other items, apparently the wood pellet plant
is:
5.B. ANNEXATION AND ZONING OF INDUSTRIAL AUTHORITY PROPERTY
I don’t see anything about any previous hearings, nor any of the maps, plans, etc. that usually accompany a rezoning.
You can still use the Dogwood Alliance Action Alert to send in a comment before tonight’s meeting.
Meanwhile, I sent Adel this letter, mostly about water trails:
![[WWALS to Adel, Water Trails and pellet plant 2020-09-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-08--biomass-adel/2020-09-08--WWALS-to-Adel-0001.jpg)
WWALS to Adel, Water Trails and pellet plant 2020-09-08
PDF
For background, see Adel wood pellet plant sourcing radius: entire Suwannee River basin in Georgia 2020-09-08.
See you in Adel in about an hour and a half.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Update 2020-09-11: Wood pellet plant: speakers and documents @ Adel City Council 2020-09-08.
Update 2020-09-08: Adel agenda and WWALS letter 2020-09-08
If a company from Houston, Texas, gets its rezoning Tuesday at the Adel, Georgia, City Council, it could take trees from 75 miles around to turn into wood pellets to ship to Europe for burning for electricity. It takes 50 to 100 years for natural forest to regenerate completely. Meanwhile, rain on land without forest runs off faster, carries more sediment and pollution (pesticides, E. coli, etc.), damaging fishing and wildlife. Floods also become more likely.
You can help stop this biomass plant. Before 5:30 PM Tuesday, please, which is when the Adel City Council has this rezoning on its agenda.
![[Adel, GA, pellet plant sourcing radius]](/pictures/2020-09-08--biomass-adel/figure.jpg)
Adel, GA, pellet plant sourcing radius
(PDF)
That 75-mile sourcing radius around Adel would reach Tallahassee, Florida, and Albany, Georgia, as well as all of the Red Hills longleaf area around Thomasville. It would include all the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia: the Suwannee, Alapaha, Little, Withlacoochee, and Okapilco Rivers, from Fargo and most of the Okefenokee Swamp to Cordele in the north and Moultrie, Quitman, and Valdosta. As well as much of the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, include White Springs, Live Oak, Mayo, Jasper, and Madison. Plus the Ochlockonee and Aucilla Rivers and much of the Flint River on the west, and on the east most of the Satilla River and a bend of the Altamaha River.
This is an environmental justice issue because the plant will go in an African-American part of town and poor people are typically most adversely affected by deforestation.
When a local activist alerted me a few months ago to a proposed biomass plant in Adel, I pointed them to Vicki Weeks of the Dogwood Alliance. She has put together an Action Alert. Please follow that link to send your comment to the entire Adel City Council.
According to K.K. Synder, Georgia Trend, 31 July 2020, Adel | Cook County: Community in Motion,
Houston-based Renewable Biomass Group will construct Continue reading
Update 2020-09-11: Withlacoochee River looks good; odd Suwannee River results 2020-09-10
Good to go, so far as we know, for boating, swimming, and fishing on the Withlacoochee River this weekend. And both Valdosta and Madison Health concur that last weekend was good.
WWALS testers Michael and Jacob Bachrach for Thursday, September 3, got Continue reading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, GA, September 4, 2020 — For the third year, people will paddle down the Withlacoochee River from Georgia three miles into Florida, and back upstream, in the WWALS Boomerang! Canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards are welcome to register starting at 9 AM, Saturday, October 24, 2020, with the race to begin at 11 AM. There will be prizes, and food, and drink. “There will be plenty of water, no deadfalls, and probably some shoals to make it more interesting,” said Boomerang mastermind and WWALS Outings Chair Bobby McKenzie.
Tickets are on sale now, $20 online until October 15, then $30 at the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-boomerang-paddle-race-2020-tickets-118844038719
State Line Boat Ramp is at 6461 Madison Highway, Valdosta, GA 31601. Heading south down I-75, take Exit 11, turn west, and keep going until you see the boat ramp sign, then turn right. From Madison, Florida, head up CR 150 until you cross the river, make a U-turn, and head down to the ramp. “That’s the WWALS road sign for State Line Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail,” said WWALS Trails Committee Chair Dan Phillips. “And down by the boat ramp we have two informational signs: what to see downstream and up, safety, etiquette, etc.”
The course starts in Lowndes County, Georgia, and goes through Brooks County, GA, and Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida.
“Thanks to the many sponsors Bobby has rustled up: Continue reading
![[Charts and map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-24--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chart, Plates, Swim Guide]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-03--wq/trio.jpg)
![[WWALS Boomerang 2020]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-10-24--boomerang/big/WWALS-Boomerang-Flyer-2020-0001.jpg)