Tag Archives: Okapilco Creek

Okapilco Creek, WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on Bill Osborne talk radio 2024-07-30

Songwriters, please send in your song by August 7, as Bill Osborne and I reminded everyone on his morning drive radio show at 7:30 this morning.

The Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest finals will be Saturday, September 7, 2024, during the WWALS River Revue, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Send songs by August 7, Bill Osborne Radio 2024-07-30, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, WWALS River Revue 2024-09-07

For that and many other topics we discussed, go to:
https://wwals.net

Here is a video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QwPL1huvH5anLwRwLEAWu3S&si=guytfiq-hr-aRjPm

Continue reading →

Pictures: Withlacoochee River and Okapilco Creek jon boat outing 2024-07-27

We cut a deadfall in the Withlacoochee River just below Wetherington Branch, below Valdosta’s treated outfall from its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. We found Okapilco Creek, cut a few deadfalls in there, and collected some trash on the creek and from the river. Including two blue barrels labeled Black Tea Extract that apparently had been used to support somebody’s dock.

We don’t see how Okapilco Creek is currently navigable up to US 84, according to GA HB 1397, a bill that did not pass the Georgia legislature this year. We had to cut some deadfalls even to get up to the mouth of Piscola Creek. Later we will motor up from Knights Ferry Boat Ramp to clear more deadfalls and trash from Okapilco Creek, and soon it will be navigable.

Both of those creeks drain Quitman, and Okapilco Creek comes down from Moultrie and above.

Black tea blue drums, Okapilco Creek trashjam, deadfalls, rapids, two jon boats 2024-07-27

We went 19.5 river miles from Troupville Boat Ramp to Knights Ferry Boat Ramp. We decided due to the time spent on Okapilco Creek not to continue to Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp.

The US 84 (Quitman) Gauge read 10.15 feet (93.65 feet NAVD88) at 10 AM, and rose another quarter foot while we were on the water. That’s near the WWALS recommended too-high water level, but it was fine with these boats and motors.

Here are some video snippets:
https://youtu.be/_o7FqYMMg6E Continue reading →

No spills yet from rain on Valdosta 2024-07-28

Update 2024-08-02: Three more Ashburn sewage spills reported more than a week late 2024-07-20.

Pictures of flooding in Valdosta are circulating on social media.

Flooding in Valdosta, Three inches of rain 2024-07-28, No sewage spills yet. Other contaminants?

As usual, people are commenting that Valdosta must be spilling wastewater.

So I called Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes. He says there have been no spills from this rain.

Sometimes WWALS members spot them first. So if you see or smell a spill, please let us know.
https://wwals.net/report/

The Valdosta Utilities Director didn’t mention, because he’s not in charge of this: there may be E. coli from other sources, such as pets, livestock, and wildlife.

And of course there will be trash washed into creeks and rivers, especially from all the parking lots that do not yet have trash cans. Much of that trash converges onto Sugar Creek, along with any sewage spills, because something like 80% of Valdosta drains into that creek.

I commend Anetra Riley and Valdosta City Marshalls for Continue reading →

Help keep paddle access to Georgia rivers 2024-07-22

Update 2024-08-09: Georgia House Navigable Streams Study Committee 2024-08-15.

The Georgia legislature is trying to define which creeks and rivers are navigable. They are using an antique law to do so.

You can help keep Georgia rivers and creeks navigable by logging your river trips here:
https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/32bc9531a62e4c83971b162a58eb25f2

The goal of this mapping project is to document the upstream extent of recreational descents on as many Georgia rivers as possible. Paddlers documenting their descents through this survey could help protect access to streams for generations to come. We encourage paddlers to submit their earliest and farthest upstream descent on as many rivers as possible.

Help keep paddle access to Georgia rivers, Contact your statehouse members, Record your paddle outings

Maybe you’d also like to explain to the Georgia statehouse that the 1863 definition of navigable is outdated: “is capable of transporting boats loaded with freight in the regular course of trade either for the whole or a part of the year.”

Nowadays we fish, paddle, and motor in forms of recreational commerce that were not common in 1863.

Here is one way to contact your Georgia state legislators:
https://action.outdooralliance.org/a/protect-the-publics-right-to-paddle-in-georgia_7_24 Continue reading →

Jon boat outing, Troupville to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2024-07-27

We will take two jon boats with outboards and chainsaws to find and remove any deadfalls, collect trash, and find the mouth of Okapilco Creek.

There is a seat or two available in the jon boats. Feel free to come along with a kayak or canoe. We can tow on a rope. Or join in with your boat and motor.

We will go 26 river miles from Troupville Boat Ramp to Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp. We could also let you know when we’re approaching Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, so you could join us when we get there.

Supposedly Okapilco Creek is navigable up to US 84, according to GA HB 1397, a bill that did not pass the Georgia legislature this year. If we find Okapilco Creek, we will look up it for the mouth of Piscola Creek. Both of those drain Quitman, and Okapilco Creek comes down from Moultrie and above.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, July 27, 2024

Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602. I-75 exit 18, west on GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) away from the Valdosta Mall, at the traffic light for Val Tech Road, turn left down to the boat ramp, in Lowndes County, Georgia.

GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536

Jon boat outing, Withlacoochee River 2024-07-27, Troupville to Nankin, Cleanup with chainsaws

Continue reading →

Brooks County Industrial Park Maps 2009-03-03

These 120 sheets of detailed 2009 Construction Plans for the Brooks County Industrial Park contain a clue to how the sewer system there is connected to Quitman.

Construction Plans, Brooks County Industrial Park 2009-03-03, DeVane PlanEng, Brooks County Industrial Authority

It turns out the clue is on the 2006 maps, too, but less obvious.

Stay tuned for that connection.

To interpret these sheets, it is useful to know that Prospect Drive is what appears on googlemaps as Fritzke Drive. Aviagen’s chicken incubation plant is south of Prospect Drive, east of GA 333. Continue reading →

Brooks County Industrial Park: Site Plan, Grading, Drainage, Water, Sewer

Update 2024-07-04: Brooks County Industrial Park Maps 2009-03-03.

Update 2024-06-21: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Santa Fe Rivers, problem on One Mile Branch 2024-06-19.

Here’s a map of the sewer system in the Brooks County Industrial Park, plus maps of the water and road systems. These maps were sent by the Brooks County Industrial Authority a couple of years ago in response to a WWALS open records request.

Brooks County Industrial Park, Sewer System 2006-05-09, Site Plan, Grading, Drainage, Water

What this industrial park sewer system map does not show is: how does it connect to the rest of Quitman’s sewer system?

How Quitman’s sewer system works and where it is important, because Quitman has had quite a few reported sewage spills; see Quitman: Noncompliance, 9 effluent violations, 5 sewage spills, 11 monitoring violations, 1 reporting violation –GA-EPD Nov 2022 – Oct 2023. Quitman is upstream of the Withlacoochee River, and some of its former spills have quite likely travelled all the way down the Suwannee River to the Gulf of Mexico. Continue reading →

Quitman, GA, utility maps 2022-01-03

Update 2024-06-15: Brooks County Industrial Park: Site Plan, Grading, Drainage, Water, Sewer 2006-05-09.

These are some sewer and water system maps obtained from the City of Quitman in January 2022 in response to a WWALS open records request.

The March 1986 map by Smith and Gillespie Engineers, Inc. is the easiest to read. Unfortunately, most of the numbers of the lift stations seem to have changed since then.

Lift Station Scan March 1986
PDF

The most informative map is dated March 28, 2019, by Tindall Enterprises, Inc. It has updated numbers for the lift stations that may be current. This matters for determining where reported sewage spills are, and what watersheds they drain into. Continue reading →

Quitman: Noncompliance, 9 effluent violations, 5 sewage spills, 11 monitoring violations, 1 reporting violation –GA-EPD Nov 2022 – Oct 2023

Update 2024-06-17: GA-EPD has said why they did not return followup water quality testing results.

Update 2024-06-11: Quitman, GA, utility maps 2022-01-03.

Update 2024-06-07: Filthy Franks Creek, clean Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers, despite Ashburn spill 2024-06-05.

Back on December 27, 2023, I sent what I thought was a routine request to the city of Quitman, Georgia, for state-required followup testing after a major sewage spill.

After four requests to Quitman and two to GA-EPD, I finally got a response from GA-EPD this Wednesday, five months later.

This foot-dragging was quite surprising, since previously I had sent such requests to Quitman and they had their former sewer system contractor send the test results within the statutory three days of the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA).

Quitman, GA, Noncompliant for Nov 2022 – Oct 2023 –GA-EPD, 9 effluent, 5 spills,, 11 monitoring, 1 reporting

The GA-EPD response still did not contain the followup test results, but it did show GA-EPD had already taken action for that an other Quitman sewage spills, effluent violations, monitoring violations, and a reporting violation.

Update 2024-06-17: GORArequest.Water@dnr.ga.gov answered on June 7, 2024 my followup questions of that same day:

John,
The LON was sent November 7, 2023. The spill report indicates 5,000 gallons spilled into a drainage ditch. The volume did not exceed 10,000 gallons, so stream monitoring would not be required. EPD’s database has been updated to revise the volume from 12,000 gallons to 5,000 gallons.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks

This is the subject sewage spill, according to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD)’s Sewage Spills Report of July 21, 2023. Continue reading →

Ashburn and Quitman sewage spills reported 2024-05-22

Update 2024-05-31: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers plus High Springs sewage spill 2024-05-30.

Ashburn had a 250,000-gallon sewage spill into Hat Creek to the Alapaha River Sunday a week ago, and a 2,500-gallon spill into Ashburn Branch into the Little River the day before, both because of “Wet weather”.

Quitman had a 300-gallon sewage spill at Brooks County High School Wednesday a week ago into a ditch that drains to Okapilco Creek.

Ashburn 250,000-gallon sewage spill into Hat Creek, Alapaha River 2024-05-19 and 2,500-gallon spill into Ashburn Branch, Little River, plus Quitman 300-gallon spill 2024-05-22

These spills appeared this Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

Why they took so long to report is a mystery.

Ashburn’s excuse of “Wet weather” is wearing thin. Yes, there were big rains those days, but Ashburn needs to fix its sewer system so rains don’t cause spills. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.