Tag Archives: PR

WCTV: Florida river task force to meet with Valdosta City Council about sewage spill concerns 2025-08-13

Update 2025-08-18: Videos: Florida River Task Force and City of Valdosta City Council Joint Workshop 2025-08-14.

Michael Clark from WCTV interviewed me by zoom yesterday, and here’s the story. What he quoted that I said:

“This also matters upstream in Georgia, because, for example, Lowndes County, Georgia, is always trying to attract clean industry with the sorts of people who like to oh let me think, paddle, motor, swim, fish. And the Withlacoochee River goes right by Valdosta, so it’s not good for attracting the kinds of businesses and employees they want if there’s a problem with that river,” Quarterman said.

The meeting is 6 PM today at Valdosta City Hall Annex, 300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, GA 31601.

It’s not a WWALS meeting, but WWALS invites the public to come.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2285600495227880/

[WCTV story]
WCTV story

WCTV Staff, WCTV, Aug. 13, 2025 at 10:40 PM EDT|Updated around midnight, Florida river task force to meet with Valdosta City Council about sewage spill concerns: Continue reading

PSA: Send your song by Wednesday –Rachel Grubb, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025-08-10

Rachel Grubb will headline this year’s WWALS River Revue with the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

She asks musicians to send in their song by the extended deadline, this Wednesday, August 13, 2025.

Here is the Entry Form:
https://forms.gle/LfXFBVESipd231Dr7

[Rachel Grubb PSA: Send your song by Wednesday August 13, for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
Rachel Grubb PSA: Send your song by Wednesday August 13, for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Here is her Public Service Announcement (PSA):

The organizing committee will decide on Finalists within a week after all the songs are in.

The Finals will be Saturday, September 6, 2025, at WWALS River Revue, Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta, Georgia.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025/

Here’s Rachel’s winning song from last year: Continue reading

Last call: Wednesday, August 13, 2025, for songs for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Update 2025-08-10: PSA: Send your song by Wednesday –Rachel Grubb, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025-08-10.

Hahira, Georgia, August 7, 2025 — We’ve got some songs, but we’d like yours. The new last day to send your song is Wednesday, August 13, for the 2025 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Here’s a link to the entry form, or follow the QR code below:
https://forms.gle/LfXFBVESipd231Dr7

[Flyer: Songwriting Contest]

Organizing Committee Chair Sara Squires Jones said, “That song you’ve been polishing: now’s the time! If you are not musically inclined you can still become a sponsor to help us clean up our local waterways.”

The Eighth Annual Finals will be held at the WWALS River Revue, an indoor fundraising dinner, to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, speakers from Georgia and Florida, a silent auction, the music of a headliner and the Songwriting Contest Finalists. That’s 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 6, 2025, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Tickets are $65 each.
https://app.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2025

WWALS Membership Director Janet Martin said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.” Continue reading

WTXL on Wainwright Drive One Mile Branch sewage spill 2025-08-05

Update 2025-08-08: Clean Alapaha River 2025-08-03, Dirty Creeks 2025-08-06, Withlacoochee River Clean downstream 2025-08-07.

I’ve added some information to Malia’s report, so you’ll know what she was looking at.

Malia Thomas, WTXL, 2025-08-05, Valdosta sewage spill renews concern after second overflow hits creek in under a month: Another sewage spill near Sugar Creek sparks urgency as Valdosta faces decades-old infrastructure strain

VALDOSTA, GA. (WTXL) — Another sewer spill in Valdosta—this time small, but still stirring concern.

[Wainwright Drive sewage spill on WTXL TV 2025-08-05, into One Mile Branch, at site of many previous spills]
Wainwright Drive sewage spill on WTXL TV 2025-08-05, into One Mile Branch, at site of many previous spills

  • Monday’s spill released up to 1,000 gallons into Sugar Creek [actually, into One Mile Branch, which flows to Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River to the Suwannee -jsq], which connects to the Suwannee River system.
  • Since April 2024, over 409,000 gallons of raw sewage have spilled from the same Wainwright Dr. location.
  • Watch the video to hear from neighbors and the city’s plan of action.
Continue reading

WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2025-08-07

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, August 7, 2025.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about the WWALS River Revue with the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025, plus chainsaw cleanups, the Okefenokee Swamp, Springs and Rivers, and water quality testing.

[Spotlight Radio 2025-08-07: WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
Spotlight Radio 2025-08-07: WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/760143599756568/

For more WWALS outings and events, see:
https://wwals.net/outings

 -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/

PSA: Send your song by Wednesday for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-07: Last call: Wednesday, August 13, 2025, for songs for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025-08-07.

Like Billy says, send your song by this Wednesday, August 6, 2025, for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Here is the Entry Form:
https://forms.gle/LfXFBVESipd231Dr7

[PSA: Send your song by Wednesday, August 6, 2025, for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
PSA: Send your song by Wednesday, August 6, 2025, for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

The organizing committee will decide on Finalists within a week after all the songs are in.

The Finals will be Saturday, September 6, 2025, at WWALS River Revue, Turner Center for the Arts, Valdosta, Georgia.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025/

Here’s Billy’s PSA:
https://youtu.be/q6iViaKOYNk Continue reading

Send your song by Wednesday for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Update 2025-08-07: Last call: Wednesday, August 13, 2025, for songs for the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025-08-07.

Hahira, Georgia, July 31, 2025 — Wednesday, August 6, is the last day to send your song for the 2025 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

Here’s a link to the entry form, or follow the QR code below:
https://forms.gle/LfXFBVESipd231Dr7

[Flyer: Songwriting Contest]

Organizing Committee Chair Sara Squires Jones said, “Hurry, get your song submissions in before it’s too late. If you are not musically inclined you can still become a sponsor to help us clean up our local waterways.”

The Eighth Annual Finals will be held at the WWALS River Revue, an indoor fundraising dinner, to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, speakers from Georgia and Florida, a silent auction, the music of a headliner and the Songwriting Contest Finalists. That’s 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 6, 2025, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Tickets are $65 each.
https://app.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2025

WWALS Membership Director Janet Martin said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.”

For how to sponsor or provide an item for the silent auction, follow the above link or the QR code, or go to wwals.net and scroll down to WWALS River Revue.

Continue reading

Valdosta Sugar Creek sewage spill update 2025-07-17

Update 2025-07-18: Florida River Task Force meeting with Valdosta City Council 2025-07-30

Test results continue to show high Fecal coliform and E. coli in Sugar Creek after the weekend’s sewage spill, even though the bypass pump has been running normally since Sunday. It can take many days for sewage to wash downstream, especially without much rain.

The spill was too small to have much effect on the Withlacoochee River downstream, and probably none on the Suwannee River.

[Update: Valdosta Sugar Creek Sewage Spill Testing 2025-07-16, Still high, even upstream at Baytree Road]
Update: Valdosta Sugar Creek Sewage Spill Testing 2025-07-16, Still high, even upstream at Baytree Road

This is the bypass pump yesterday. Continue reading

Suwannee Riverkeeper on Welcome to Florida podcast by Craig Pittman 2025-04-08

Thanks to Craig Pittman for inviting me on his Welcome to Florida podcast, Episode 250: The Suwanee River.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1169570/episodes/16921299

The Suwannee part starts 6:15.

He spells it Suwanee with one n.

Stephen C. Foster spelled it Swanee.

We talked about the Suwannee, Santa Fe, Alapaha, Withlacoochee, New, New, Little, and Little Rivers. About sewage and cow manure, fertlizer nitrates leaching into springs and rivers causing algae blooms, the Hamilton County phosphate mine, and Titanium dioxide mines in north Florida at the top of the Santa Fe River Basin and in south Georgia too near the Okefenokee Swamp. About leaping Gulf sturgeon, Alligator snapping turtles, and beavers.

And musicians, don’t forget to send in your song to the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, part of WWALS River Revue, September 6, 2025, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.
https://wwals.net/?p=67322

[Suwannee Riverkeeper on Welcome to Florida podcast, by Craig Pittman, April 8, 2025]
Suwannee Riverkeeper on Welcome to Florida podcast, by Craig Pittman, April 8, 2025

Best selling author, award winning reporter and Florida native Craig Pittman is joined by radio personality and Florida transplant Chadd Scott to discuss the state’s history, people, politics, environment, animals, current events and weirdness. You’ll hear great storytelling and have great fun in each weekly episode.

Show Notes Continue reading

Send in your songs, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025

Hahira, Georgia, March 28, 2025 — Submissions open April 1, really, no fooling, for the 2025 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

WWALS Board Member Scotti Jay said, “It will be even more fun this year!”

The Eighth Annual Finals will be held at the WWALS River Revue, an indoor fundraising dinner, to benefit WWALS Watershed Coalition, with an evening of food, drink, speakers from Georgia and Florida, a silent auction, and the music of a headliner and of the Songwriting Contest Finalists. That’s 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 6, 2025, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.

Tickets are $65 each.
https://app.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2025

WWALS Membership Director Janet Martin said, “Your ticket or sponsorship helps support everything WWALS does, from water quality tests, paddle outings and swimming & boating lessons, to chainsaw cleanups, and beyond to advocacy to stop trash at its sources, strip mines, and pipelines. We work for water trails, solar power, and Right to Clean Water, with growing engagement for youth and marginalized communities.”

For how to sponsor or provide an item for the silent auction, follow the above link or the QR code, or go to wwals.net and scroll down to WWALS River Revue.

[Song Submissions Open April 1, 2025, no fooling!, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
Song Submissions Open April 1, 2025, no fooling!, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

WWALS President Sara Squires Jones said, “Musicians, don’t wait until the deadline to send in your songs. I can’t wait to hear them.”

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said, “You’ll hear more later about the M.C., the speakers, and the judges.”

Continue reading