Tag Archives: quality

Ask Georgia legislators to support HB 71 to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from mining 2023-02-12

The headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, the Okefenokee Swamp, is threatened by a proposed strip mine too close to it. That mine site also sits above the Floridan Aquifer, from which we all drink.

Here is a handy form you can use to ask your Georgia state legislators to support HB 71, to protect the largest blackwater wetland in North America:
https://protectgeorgia.org/okefenokee/#/366/

[Bear: Protect the Okefenokee]
Bear: Protect the Okefenokee

And don’t forget to send GA-EPD comments on the Mining Land Use Plan:
https://wwals.net/?p=60735

Floridians, you can 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 →

Videos: Morven Solar denied @ Brooks County Commission 2023-02-06

After two hours of speakers in the Public Hearing, the Brooks County Commission this Monday denied the Special Exception for Morven Solar, 3:1:1.

[Speakers, Decision: Morven Solar @ Brooks County Commission 2023-02-06]
Speakers, Decision: Morven Solar @ Brooks County Commission 2023-02-06

Commissioner Myra Exum, after saying that whatever the Commissioners did they would be wrong, 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 →

Lowndes County nixes planned Dollar General –VDT 2023-01-26

Update 2023-05-06: Dollar General developer and property owner sue Lowndes County about rezoning denial –VDT 2023-05-03.

Thank you, Lowndes County Commission, and all the opposition speakers and writers, for this win written up in the local newspaper of record.

This win keeps some trash out of the Withlacoochee River, upstream from Valdosta and Florida, while stopping a foothold for further development too close to the river, avoiding clearcutting, impervious surface, and the flooding that would have caused.

Malia Thomas, Valdosta Daily Times, January 26, 2023, County nixes planned Dollar General,

VALDOSTA — Lowndes County residents felt heard as a contentious zoning request for a rural Dollar General was denied by the Lowndes County Commission.

[Hearing, Location, Withlacoochee River]
Hearing, Location, Withlacoochee River

Teramore Development, the retail real estate company behind the request, petitioned to rezone three acres of the 35-acre property from Estate Agricultural to Crossroads Commercial.

Continue reading →

Bad Water Quality, Creeks and Rivers 2023-01-26

Update 2023-02-03: Clean rivers 2023-02-02,

Avoid the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers this weekend.

All three rivers tested worse for E. coli than the one-time test limit of 410 cfu/100 mL. The worst river result was at Nankin Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River, of 6,567. That contamination has probably washed past State Line Boat Ramp to Florida by now.

I’d also avoid fishing in Beaverdam Creek, Cat Creek, and especially Beatty Branch this weekend.

If you do want to fish, swim, or paddle this chilly weekend, I’d recommend the Suwannee or Ichetucknee Rivers.

But not the chainsaw cleanup tomorrow: we postponed that until February 19th.

[Chart, Creeks and Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2022-01-26]
Chart, Creeks and Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2022-01-26

All this contamination was washed into the creeks and rivers by big rains Wednesday.

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

So what is the contamination? Continue reading →

Limit water withdrawals, strip mine near Okefenokee Swamp, Valdosta trash –WWALS to NCFRPC 2023-01-26

The meeting is 7PM tonight in Lake City, with remote participation options; see:
https://wwals.net/?p=60792

January 26, 2023

To: Scott Koons, E.D., North Central Florida Regional Planning Council

Re: Limit water withdrawals, strip mine near Okefenokee Swamp, Valdosta trash

Dear NCFRPC,

Thank you for the opportunity for public input.

I would like to bring to the attention of the Council three issues:

[Three topics for NCFRPC from WWALS 2023-01-26]
Three topics for NCFRPC from WWALS 2023-01-26

  1. Deadline January 31st for public comment on the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP), Continue reading →

Agenda: North Central Florida Regional Planning Council 2023-01-26

Update 2023-01-26: Limit water withdrawals, strip mine near Okefenokee Swamp, Valdosta trash –WWALS to NCFRPC 2023-01-26.

Tonight I will ask them to take up Valdosta trash as an issue like they previously successfully took up Valdosta sewage.

I will ask them to oppose the proposed titanium strip mine and to support the Okefenokee Swamp, the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, and the Floridan Aquifer.

And I will ask them to ask SRWMD and SJRWMD to add a water budget and constraints on water withdrawals to the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP).

[When and Where NCFRPC 2023-01-26]
When and Where NCFRPC 2023-01-26

Now I am composing a letter to send them before the meeting. Continue reading →