Tag Archives: quality

Sewage Spill, Wainwright Drive, One Mile Branch, Valdosta, GA 2025-08-23

Update 2025-08-24: Stopped Sewage Spill, Wainwright Drive, One Mile Branch, Valdosta, GA 2025-08-24.

Scotti Jay reports, “Active sewage spill at Wainwright Dr neglected manhole. Aug 23, 2025 12p.m.”

[Active sewage spill, Wainwright Drive 2025-08-23, One Mile Branch, Yet again]
Active sewage spill, Wainwright Drive 2025-08-23, One Mile Branch, Yet again

Scotti says he reported it to Valdosta Utilities at 12:50 PM.

I called Utilities Director Jason Barnes at 1:00 PM. He said he would send someone over there right now.

This is the same Wainwright Drive manhole that has spilled repeatedly over many years. The sewage goes directly into One Mile Branch, which runs into Sugar Creek, then into the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading

Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-08-21

Update 2025-08-23: Sewage Spill, Wainwright Drive, One Mile Branch, Valdosta, GA 2025-08-23.

The Withlacoochee River tested clean this week.

Nobody tested Sugar Creek, but I’d avoid it until somebody gets clean results.

Nobody tested Cat Creek or Beatty Branch, either, but I can attest that Cat Creek smelled like sewage last Saturday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s a strong chance of storms through Sunday, but mostly in the afternoon.

Rains lately have been spotty here and there, and any rain could wash contamination into waterways. We can only report test results we know.

So if you can get in and out before the rains, happy swimming, fishing, paddling, and boating this weekend.

[Clean Withlacoochee River, Storms through Sunday, Happy paddling, 2025-08-21]
Clean Withlacoochee River, Storms through Sunday, Happy paddling, 2025-08-21

Or join us at 8:30 AM tomorrow (Saturday) for Black Moon Morning Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-08-23.
https://wwals.net/?p=68213

Withlacoochee River

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Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-14

Update 2025-08-22: Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-08-21.

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

Sugar Creek still tested bad for E. coli Wednesday, but not as bad as last week. The Withlacoochee River was bad at US 84, but OK at US 41 and upstream, and downstream near the Suwannee River.

The Alapaha River tested clean for Thursday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s a chance of storms through Monday, but mostly in the afternoon.

So if you can get in and out before the rains, avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, and happy swimming, fishing, paddling, and boating this weekend.

[Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-14]
Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-14

Or join us tomorrow (Saturday) upstream from Valdosta in Lowndes County, Georgia, for Franklinville Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-16.

Withlacoochee River upstream

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Seven years of sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia 2025-08-14

Update 2025-08-15: Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-13.

Who is the Georgia sewage spill winner?

Hint, it’s the most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin in either Georgia or Florida: Valdosta.

Details are below, in which you can see that the number of spills and the amount spilled have decreased, but Valdosta has a long way to go yet. As do less populous places, especially Ashburn, as well as Tifton, Quitman, and Rochelle.

[Seven years of sewage spills, Suwannee River Basin, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, by WWALS 2025-08-14]
Seven years of sewage spills, Suwannee River Basin, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, by WWALS 2025-08-14

I hope we will all hear what Valdosta is doing this evening, when the Florida Rivers Task Force meets with Valdosta at 6 PM, at Valdosta City Hall Annex, 300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. https://wwals.net/?p=68173 Continue reading

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

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

Update 2025-08-15: Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-13.

Valdosta Utilities got very bad E. coli results Monday, after its sewage spill into One Mile Branch. But not just bad on Sugar Creek. Also bad upstream of Sugar Creek at US 41 on the Withlacoochee River, and downstream at both GA 133 and US 84.

Very bad, as in more than 9,000 cfu/100 mL, for each of the five locations they tested. That’s 9 times the 1,000 alert limit.

With Wednesday samples, WWALS got higher than the 410 one-time test limit for Cat Creek and Beatty Branch at Cat Creek Road, and for Franklinville Road on the Withlacoochee River, which is upstream of those creeks.

Surprisingly, the WWALS Wednesday test result for Langdale Park Boat Ramp was OK at 166. Surprising because that’s downstream from the other WWALS results of the same day, and just downstream from Valdosta Utilities’s sky-high Monday result at US 41.

Farther downstream for Thursday, WWALS got zero near the Suwannee River.

Meanwhile, for Sunday on the Alapaha River near Alapaha, GA, WWALS got very good results. There was one tiny sewage spill on Tuesday way upstream at Rochelle, GA, but that spill “Did not enter state waters.” No other sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Storms and thunderstorms are predicted for the next ten days.

If you can avoid the weather, and avoid the Withlacoochee River upstream and near Sugar Creek, happy paddling, motoring, fishing, and swimming this weekend.

[Filthy Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee 2025-08-04, Dirty Cat Creek and Beatty Branch 2025-08-06, Clean Alapaha River 2025-08-03, Clean Withlacoochee downstream 2025-08-07]
Filthy Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee 2025-08-04, Dirty Cat Creek and Beatty Branch 2025-08-06, Clean Alapaha River 2025-08-03, Clean Withlacoochee downstream 2025-08-07

Or come to the WWALS Social tomorrow (Saturday) evening at 6PM at Banks Lake west of Lakeland, Georgia.
https://wwals.net/?p=67844

Later that same evening, you can also join the Full Sturgeon Moon Paddle on Banks Lake.
https://wwals.net/?p=67607

Cat Creek

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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

Withdraw both Interim Final Rules about NEPA –many to USACE 2025-08-04

The Great God Efficiency is no excuse to abolish public input and harm public health, safety, and wildlife habitats.

This objection letter may or may not have much effect, but we can be sure that not objecting would grease the railroad these rules changes are riding on.

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters nationwide, the 135 undersigned organizations write in strong opposition to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Interim Final Rules Implementing the National Environmental Policy Act for its civil works (COE-2025-007) and regulatory (COE-2025-006) programs. These rules will silence public input, erode public health and safety, and harm vital and cherished wildlife habitats across the country.

These Interim Final Rules bear no relation to improving efficiencies in project delivery. To the contrary, they will lead to inefficient, inconsistent, and inadequate NEPA reviews that will further undermine agency decision-making and the public’s trust in project decisions. The Interim Final Rules functionally repeal essential NEPA protections, including eliminating the most basic safeguards for meaningful public input. They make a mockery of the Corps’ stated purpose of aligning the NEPA regulations with current law.1 And they fail to provide any guidance at all on multiple, critical NEPA requirements.

You can read the reasons in the PDF. Images of each page are below.

[Withdraw both Interim Final Rules about NEPA --many to USACE, August 4, 2025]
Withdraw both Interim Final Rules about NEPA –many to USACE, August 4, 2025

Conclusion

For at least the reasons highlighted above, our organizations urge the Corps to withdraw both Interim Final Rules, and in their place issue regulations that properly implement the National Environmental Policy Act.

Continue reading

Pictures: More Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River 2025-07-31

We went back to where we stopped the previous trip, and got the deadfalls about a 1/3 of a mile down the Withlacoochee River from Langdale Park Boat Ramp. Yes, we’re still clearing passage through deadfalls (trees across the river) from Hurricane Helene.

[Pictures: More Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park 2025-07-31, Withlacoochee River, Very hot that day]
Pictures: More Chainsaw Cleanup, Langdale Park 2025-07-31, Withlacoochee River, Very hot that day

We used the Old Town Camper canoe donated to WWALS by Bob and Sue Raffaele.

This may be the fewest pictures I’ve ever posted from an outing, because it’s hard to photograph while paddling or chainsawing.

We went back again that Sunday, August 3; stay tuned for a report. Continue reading

OK Withlacoochee River, Cleaner Sugar Creek, Dirty Beatty Branch, 2025-07-30

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

Update 2025-08-04: Yet another Wainwright Drive sewage spill 2025-08-04.

WWALS got pretty clean water quality results for the Withlacoochee River upstream and down for Wednesday, and even Sugar Creek seems cleaner.

This is surprising after Valdosta’s much worse results for Monday.

Also surprising is the dirty winner of Wednesday: Beatty Branch, which runs into Cat Creek before that gets to the Withlacoochee River.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia since the report of the Valdosta Sugar Creek spill for July 13.

If you can avoid the thunderstorms predicted this weekend, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing. At least the temperature is predicted to be somewhat lower.

[OK Withlacoochee River, Cleaner Sugar Creek, Dirty Beatty Branch, 2025-07-30]
OK Withlacoochee River, Cleaner Sugar Creek, Dirty Beatty Branch, 2025-07-30

Maybe join us tomorrow for Longer chainsaw from Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River 2025-08-03.

Cat Creek

WWALS tester John S. Quarterman (jsq) got 300 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Cat Creek at Cat Creek Road. That’s well below the 410 one-time test limit. He did hear from a neighbor that there aren’t nearly as many fish in Cat Creek as there used to be.

WWALS is working on a grant strategy to do systematic testing of Cat Creek, Beatty Branch, and Beaverdam Creek to get at the bottom of that. It will be expensive, because it will require DNA testing in addition to many frequent E. coli tests. Continue reading