Tag Archives: One Mile Branch

Pictures: Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA 2025-01-25

Update 2025-03-08: Another Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-16.

Thanks to the four Alpha Phi Alpha of VSU.

[Cleanup, One Mile Branch, Azalea City Trail 2025-01-25, Wainwright Drive, Alpha Phi Alpha, VSU]
Cleanup, One Mile Branch, Azalea City Trail 2025-01-25, Wainwright Drive, Alpha Phi Alpha, VSU

Thanks to Scotti Jay Jones and Sara Squires Jones for organizing this cleanup near the notorious Wainwright Drive manhole on One Mile Branch, along the Azalea City Trail in Valdosta, Georgia.

Donovan Henderson of Alpha Phi Alpha found the Zacadoo’s cup. Continue reading →

Sugar Creek sewer lines, Valdosta, GA 2024-12-29

Update 2024-01-04: Filthy Sugar Creek and Withlacoochee River 2025-01-02.

Where is the contamination in Sugar Creek coming from in Valdosta, Georgia?

Apparently mostly from somewhere between Baytree Road and Gornto Road, according to recent water quality results.

One way to narrow down the source is to collect water quality samples at more places between those city roads.

And likely places to check would be just below where sewer lines cross Sugar Creek.

[Valdosta sewer mains crossing Sugar Creek between Baytree Road and Gornto Road towards the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA]
Valdosta sewer mains crossing Sugar Creek between Baytree Road and Gornto Road towards the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, GA

It would be very useful to know if anybody has seen or smelled sewage just west of Sugar Creek on Spring Creek Circle, Wooddale Drive, Westbrook Circle, or on South Sherwood Drive.

Or just east of Sugar Creek, on Park Lane or the west ends of W. Park Ave. or McRee Drive.

Or anybody just upstream (south) of Gornto Road at Outdoor Living or Window World or the liquor store.

Here’s how to report it to WWALS and to the City of Valdosta:
https://wwals.net/report/

Continue reading →

Rescheduled: Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA 2025-01-25

Update 2025-01-26: Pictures: Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta, GA 2025-01-25.

Rescheduled to January because of impending thunderstorms on the previous date.

Join us to clean up trash near the notorious Wainwright Drive manhole on Sugar Creek, along the Azalea City Trail in Valdosta, Georgia.

When: 10 AM-1 PM, Saturday, January 25, 2025

Put In: Wainwright Drive between Baytree Drive and Brookhaven Drive in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

GPS: 30.84287, -83.30113

[Clean up One Mile Branch on the Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA, Rescheduled to 2025-01-25]
Clean up One Mile Branch on the Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA, Rescheduled to 2025-01-25

Continue reading →

Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA 2024-12-29

Update 2024-12-27: Due to impending rain at the original date, Rescheduled: Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA 2025-01-25.

Join us to clean up trash near the notorious Wainwright Drive manhole on Sugar Creek, along the Azalea City Trail in Valdosta, Georgia.

When: 10 AM-1 PM, Sunday, December 29, 2024

Put In: Wainwright Drive between Baytree Drive and Brookhaven Drive in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

GPS: 30.84287, -83.30113

[Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail 2024-12-29, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA]
Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail 2024-12-29, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA

Continue reading →

Malia Thomas of WTXL TV at closed Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek 2024-12-20

Update 2024-12-21: Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19.

Malia Thomas tried to cram two or three stories into her WTXL TV report about Valdosta closing the Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek. She asked me about all of the effects of the bridge closure, contamination of Sugar Creek, sewage spills, Valdosta municipal bonds for water and sewer projects, how those are all related, and what caused them. A for effort to Malia.

[Malia Thomas, WTXL TV, Gornto Road closed @ Sugar Creek 2024-12-20, Valdosta $67 M water & sewer bonds, Report sewage sights or smells]
Malia Thomas, WTXL TV, Gornto Road closed @ Sugar Creek 2024-12-20, Valdosta $67 M water & sewer bonds, Report sewage sights or smells

Among other things I said on-camera: to help find the source of the ongoing contamination in Sugar Creek, if anyone sees or smells sewage near Sugar Creek, One Mile Branch, or Hightower Creek, please let us know:
https://wwals.net/report/

And contact Valdosta Utilities:
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities

After excerpts from the WTXL story, I’ve included the Valdosta press releases about the bridge closure and businesses remaining open.

Malia Thomas, WTXL TV, December 20, 2024, Recent flood damage prompts repairs to Gornto Road bridge in Valdosta:
Valdosta works to repair Gornto Road after flood erosion compromises Earl Wetherington Bridge.

…

  • Heavy flooding from Hurricane Helene caused erosion under the Earl Wetherington Bridge on Gornto Road in Valdosta.
Continue reading →

Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta? 2024-12-17

Update 2024-12-21: Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19.

Update 2024-12-21: Malia Thomas of WTXL TV at closed Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek 2024-12-20.

Yesterday I went to the locations of all the recent creek water quality tests in Valdosta. No sewage spill warning signs were posted at any of them.

I understand that it can be difficult to find the cause of this ongoing contamination of these creeks weeks after the flash flood.

But how much can it cost to plant sewage spill warning signs?

There were no signs at Wainwright Drive or W Gordon Street on One Mile Branch, where Valdosta got 2,040 and 1,045 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Tuesday last week. The alert limit is 1,000. Not even where the Azalea City Trail goes along One Mile Branch at Wainwright Drive.

Not at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek where Valdosta got 1,120, nor at Baytree Road nor at the Norfolk Southern Railroad trestle sewer line on Sugar Creek where WWALS got 13,433 and 6,533 for Wednesday of last week. The higher the numbers, the more likely someone will get sick, either from the E. coli itself, or from other contaminants in sewage.

Not at Gornto Road on Sugar Creek where Valdosta got 11,900 and WWALS got TNTC, Too Numerous to Count. And not at Sugar Creek in front of Berta’s Kitchen, where WWALS got TNTC, and not at the bottom of Berta’s parking lot near the WaterGoat.

Also not at Langdale Park on the Withlacoochee River, even though Valdosta has previously posted a sewage spill sign there when there was Withlacoochee River contamination, such as the 695 Valdosta got at GA 133 for Tuesday of last week. The one-time limit is 410.

I did find one sewage spill sign: facedown in the dirt between Berta’s parking lot and the WaterGoat.

How about some sewage spill warning signs, Valdosta, planted where people can see them?

[Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta, E. coli counts remain sky-high 2024-12-17, One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River]
Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta, E. coli counts remain sky-high 2024-12-17, One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River

Here is a chart of the numbers. Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12

Update 2024-12-21: Clean Alapaha River, OK Withlacoochee River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-19.

Update 2024-12-21: Malia Thomas of WTXL TV at closed Gornto Road bridge over Sugar Creek 2024-12-20.

Update 2024-12-18: Where are the sewage spill signs, Valdosta? 2024-12-17.

WWALS testing showed Sugar Creek got even more contaminated after the rains Wednesday. Valdosta Utilities testiong showed Hightower Creek and One Mile Branch were bad again, and the Withlacoochee River too high in E. coli at GA 133.

WWALS tests showed Franks Creek bad, upstream from the Little River.

WWALS water quality results downstream at Holly Point for Wednesday showed the Withlacoochee River clean there. But upstream contamination from the recent rain had not had time to get there.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia. But this E. coli contamination has to be coming from somewhere.

No flooding is shown on any river gauge in the Suwannee River Basin.

So if you like cold, this weekend seems good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, as long as you avoid the vicinity of Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near GA 133, and possibly the Little River downstream of Franks Creek.

Or join us Sunday evening for the Banks Lake Full Cold Moon Paddle, 2024-12-15 and, also at Banks Lake, raffle drawing for the Skimmer 128 Hurricane kayak.

[Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-12, dirty Franks Creek 2024-12-11, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-11]
Filthy Sugar Creek 2024-12-12, dirty Franks Creek 2024-12-11, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-11

Sugar Creek

Continue reading →

Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD from November 7 through December 3, 2024

Update 2024-12-13: Filthy Sugar Creek, dirty Franks Creek, bad upstream Withlacoochee River, clean downstream 2024-12-12.

I got part of what I asked for in an open records request to the City of Valdosta: “All sewage spill reports sent to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) on or after November 6, 2024, through December 2, 2024”. Those provide some extra detail, and some hints of fixes being planed for these problems.

[Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD, from November 7 through December 3, 2024]
Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD, from November 7 through December 3, 2024

I did not get the rest of it: “together with all associated correspondence between the City of Valdosta, GA-EPD, and other parties including state agencies in Georgia and Florida and relevant landowners.”

The December Meadowbrook Drive spill into Two Mile Branch

Let’s look at the most recent spill in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, and compare that to what Valdosta Utilities sent to GA-EPD. Continue reading →

Bad Sugar Creek, clean Withlacoochee River 2024-11-26

Update 2024-12-02: Nasty Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River; questionable Sheboggy, Alapaha River 2024-11-30.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek, but the Withlacoochee River otherwise is probably OK, as well as other rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.

So happy fishing, paddling, boating, and, if you like cold, swimming this weekend.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

[Bad Sugar Creek; Clean Withlacoochee River 2024-11-26 No new known sewage spills; No rain]
Bad Sugar Creek; Clean Withlacoochee River 2024-11-26 No new known sewage spills; No rain

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. And there has been very little rain this week to wash any new contamination into waterways.

But something must have been causing the extremely high E. coli results by Valdosta Utilities Gornto Road on Sugar Creek. The result for Tuesday of 3,755 cfu/100 mL is more than three times the 1,000 alert limit.

Valdosta’s 605 upstream for Tuesday at St. Augustine Road on Hightower Creek was way down from previous results, although still higher than the 410 one-time test limit. So maybe Valdosta Utilities found and fixed the leak. We don’t know, because they have not returned our calls about that, and the City of Valdosta has not made any announcement.

WWALS tester Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek downstream of Gornto Road last Saturday. Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River and Two Mile Branch better, Hightower and Sugar Creeks very bad 2024-11-14

Update 2024-11-20: Madison Health lifts Health Advisory for Withlacoochee River 2024-11-20.

It’s best to avoid the Withlacoochee River for a few more days at least, with it still in Action Stage around Valdosta, and not coming down fast, plus still questionable water quality results.

We have rescheduled to next week our Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-11-23.

Better luck with the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers, or the Ichetucknee if any park entrances are open there.

Remember, many parks and put-ins remain closed after Hurricane Helene. So check before you go.

[Filthy Hightower and Sugar Creeks Better Withlacoochee River 2024-11-14 OK Two Mile Branch Good Franks Creek]
Filthy Hightower and Sugar Creeks Better Withlacoochee River 2024-11-14 OK Two Mile Branch Good Franks Creek

Water quality has improved for the Withlacoochee River, although Fecal coliform was still high at GA 133 and US 84 as well as One Mile Branch (Valdosta Utilities), and State Line (Madison Health).

Meanwhile, Valdosta Utilities reported E. coli and Fecal coliform still too high on Sugar Creek at Gornto Road and increased to extremely high on Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road.

While no new sewage spills were reported in Georgia or Florida, it’s a little hard to believe there is no sewer spill on Hightower Creek with 42,500 cfu/100mL E. coli (42 times the 1,000 alert limit), Continue reading →