Tag Archives: Okapilco Creek

Okapilco Creek Bridge closed between Pavo and Barney, GA 2023-04-07

It’s actually two bridges closed: over what GDOT calls Brice Pond Tributary Bridge and over Okapilco Creek.

There are detours shorter between Pavo and Barney than GDOT indicates.

Which is fortunate, since the closure is very long: from 7 AM April 11, 2023 to 4 PM July 31, 2024, according to GDOT 511.

[Creeks and Bridges]
Creeks and Bridges

Press Alert, Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), April 7, 2023, Brooks County… Two Bridges on SR 122 Closed Beginning Next Week, Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-03-30

Update 2023-04-07: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-04-06.

Best to paddle, swim, and fish tomorrow morning. Rains are predicted tomorrow.

But until then, all the water quality tests we have are good, for the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in the past week.

But High Springs had a 150-gallon spill. That small an amount and apparently inland should have no effect on the Santa Fe River or its springs.

Thanks to WWALS tester Continue reading →

Clean Thursday from Franklinville to US 41: Withlacoochee River, but raining now 2023-02-09

Update 2023-02-18: Clean rivers 2023-02-16.

Update 2023-02-13: Cherry Creek water quality sampling after Valdosta sewage spill 2023-02-12.

Thanks to new WWALS tester Cindy Vegas for four more Withlacoochee River site results for Thursday, all clean.

But it rained hard yesterday and continues today, so contamination has probably washed into the rivers: all of the Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee. Maybe not the Santa Fe, but we’ll see.

I wouldn’t swim, fish, or boat in these rivers this weekend.

[Chart with Rain, Withlacoochee River, Swim Guide Map 2023-02-09]
Chart with Rain, Withlacoochee River, Swim Guide Map 2023-02-09

Look at the rain for yesterday, Friday: 1.67 inches at the Skipper Bridge Gauge, in the same stretch of river she sampled Thursday. Cat Creek comes in between Franklinville and Skipper Bridge, so it is very likely that contamination washed into the river yesterday. Continue reading →

Clean rivers before rain 2023-02-09

Update 2023-02-11: Clean Thursday from Franklinville to US 41: Withlacoochee River, but raining now 2023-02-09.

Good news: all WWALS tests pretty clean for yesterday’s samples, on the Little, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers.

Warning: It’s raining, and will more tomorrow, so contamination may wash into the rivers from creeks such as Okapilco, Sugar, and Cat Creek.

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

No new sewer spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida, not since the two Rochelle, GA, spills of January 30th that we discussed in the previous post.

Thanks to Continue reading →

New week river water quality update 2023-02-06

Update 2023-02-10: Clean rivers before rain 2023-02-09.

Here’s an update between our weekly WWALS water quality reports.

Three more downstream WWALS Withlacoochee River test sites matched the upstream ones for Thursday, February 2nd, as predicted.

However, not as predicted, Valdosta got too-high upstream results for Friday, February 3rd, at GA 133 and US 84 (but not at US 41). So apparently the drizzle of rain that Thursday did wash something into the river. However, Valdosta’s results for Monday at the same sites are all good, so whatever it was, it was short-lived.

And Rochelle, Georgia, got around to reporting another small far-upstream sewage spill in the Alapaha River basin.

[Chart, Withlacoochee River, Swim Guide, 2023-02-02]
Chart, Withlacoochee River, Swim Guide, 2023-02-02

The additional downstream sites I sampled last Thursday were the Continue reading →

Clean rivers 2023-02-02

Update 2023-02-09: New week river water quality update 2023-02-06.

Happy paddling, fishing, and swimming (if you like cold) this weekend!

Yes, we are paddling tomorrow (Saturday) on the Withlacoochee River from Allen Ramp to Suwannee River State Park. If you like high water including a quarter mile paddle upstream, join us!

All the WWALS water quality tests were well within the one-time test limit.

The rains promised for yesterday mostly did not happen, so most likely not much contamination washed into the rivers.

The only sewage spill was small and at the top of the Alapaha River watersheds, and it did not appear to affect downstream water quality.

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

The city of Rochelle, Georgia, at least took less than a week to report its sewage spill. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-01-12

Update 2023-01-20: Mostly Clean Rivers 2023-01-19.

All three rivers tested clean in WWALS results for Thursday. And no new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

However, it also rained later Thursday, more than half an inch at almost every gauge we follow.

So, by the test results, happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend. If you like cold.

But remember that rain of more than half an inch often washes contamination into the rivers, such as happened from Beatty Branch, Cat Creek, and Sugar Creek last Friday.

Personally, I’d pick the Alapaha or the Suwannee River for this weekend. Although with the predicted freeze, I’m not paddling this weekend.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-01-12]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-01-12

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are from Friday a week ago. Continue reading →

Bad Upstream: Little and Withlacoochee Rivers 2023-01-05

Update 2023-01-07: Bad Creeks and Withlacoochee River 2023-01-06.

Avoid the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers this weekend.

WWALS got too high and way too high E. coli on the Little River at Folsom Bridge (GA 122) and Troupville Boat Ramp.

And almost as much too high at Hagan Bridge (GA 122) on the Withlacoochee River.

The Alapaha River still seemed OK. For boating this weekend, I’d pick the Alapaha or the Suwannee, or the Ichetucknee or the Santa Fe.

Or come to our on-land cleanup tomorrow, on the Alapaha River at Statenville Boat Ramp in Georgia and Sasser Landing in Florida.

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

No new sewage spills were reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for upstream before the Wednesday rain that washed this contamination into the rivers. The most recent downstream Valdosta results are for last week.

WWALS collected many more water samples today, including on Cat Creek, Beaverdam Creek, Beatty Branch, and Sugar Creek, which we will report tomorrow. Valdosta presumably also tested today, but we and the public won’t see any updated Valdosta results until probably Tuesday. Continue reading →

Mostly clean rivers 2022-12-22

Update 2022-12-31: Clean rivers 2022-12-29.

All the recent WWALS test results are quite clean, for the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers. There was some rain Tuesday, but not enough on the drought-dry ground to wash much E. coli into the rivers, not even from Cat Creek, Sugar Creek, or Okapilco Creek.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday a week ago, but they are bad for US 41 and GA 133. There’s not enough water to be boating there anyway, and it’s too cold for fishing or swimming.

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

So if you do want to brave the freezing weather and paddle, I recommend below the Little River Confluence on the Withlacoochee River, or the Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Suwannee, Santa Fe, or Ichetucknee Rivers. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2022-12-01

Little rain, no new sewage spills reported, and good test results: happy swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend!

Maybe you’d like to join us on the WWALS Trashjam cleanup, Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River 2022-12-03.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2022-12-01

We all took last week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, since there was no rain that week. Except thanks to Suzy Hall for testing Knights Ferry and Nankin last Saturday. She got very low E. coli.

Valdosta got high results at US 41 three times and most recently at GA 133 on Monday, which is the most recent date for which Valdosta has published results. While that contamination has probably washed downstream and gotten diluted by now, we have no more recent results for that location. There’s not enough water to boat there, anyway. Continue reading →