Update 2023-06-16: Cancelled due to weather reports.
More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.
-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
Here’s what they wrote:
We are excited to welcome our new member, WWALS Watershed Coalition, to the Southern Georgia Black Chambers! Their vision is to promote a healthy watershed with clean water that is swimmable, fishable, and drinkable. WWALS is an educational nonprofit charity that advocates for the conservation and stewardship of various river watersheds throughout South Georgia and North Florida. Join us in supporting WWALS and their efforts towards environmental monitoring and citizen activities in the area. Learn more about WWALS Watershed Coalition is Suwannee Riverkeeper and their work at www.wwals.net.
![[Southern Georgia Black Chambers welcomes WWALS]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-27--southern-georgia-black-chambers/343659309_3088303201476688_7080911220336717673_n.jpg)
Southern Georgia Black Chambers welcomes WWALS
“Thank You! We are excited to join and work on projects together,” wrote WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman.
And please come to
Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 11AM to 3 PM, Saturday, June 17, 2023, for food, activities for children, and boating with stunt adults!
https://wwals.net/?p=61855 Continue reading
Update 2023-06-16: Cancelled: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park, Little River, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, 2023-06-17
Food and activities for children will be provided by Fannie Gibbs and Macedonia Community Foundation and Jenard S. Asthma Foundation.
WWALS will provide boats for new paddlers at this gathering of people from Brooks, Cook, and Tift Counties, Georgia, and beyond in celebration of Juneteenth.
![[Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-17--juneteenth/many.jpg)
Boating and family fun at Juneteenth 2021
WWALS will provide stunt adults to go with any children 16 or under so they can boat, in case their parents don’t want to paddle. Continue reading
Due to thunderstorms, Macedonia Community Foundation has decided to cancel this outing.
Better safe than sorry with children on the water with lightning.
Continue readingUpdate 2022-06-18: Outing cancelled due to thunderstorms.
Children (and adults) are invited to paddle in boats at Reed Bingham State Park Swim Area for Juneteenth, in the the Water Works festival by Jenard S. Asthma Foundation and Macedonia Community Foundation. Once again, WWALS will provide boats and stunt adults to get children and others on the water.
![[Brown]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-18--juneteenth/IMG-0881.jpg)
A stunt adult goes with a child 16 or under so they can boat, in case their parents don’t want to paddle.
When: Gather 12 PM, end 5 PM, Sunday Saturday, June 19 18, 2022
Put In: Reed Bingham State Park Swim Area
Free: This outing is free to everyone. There is a $5 entrance park fee.
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations
Event: facebook, meetup Continue reading
Adel, Georgia, April 28, 2022 —
For the 8AM, Saturday, April 30, 2022, BIG Little River Paddle Race, ticket sales remain open until 5PM Friday, available only online. Join us for a three-mile paddle down the idyllic blackwater Little River into Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia. Tickets are $30 per boat online only at wwals.net. See
https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-30–blrpr/
You could win in any of a dozen categories, including $100 First Prize. But you are not required to race: it’s a nice spring paddle anyway! Lunch will be provided. You can just paddle along this scenic three-mile stretch of tea-colored river on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail among cypress trees, turtles, birds, and yes, alligators. (Don’t pet the alligators and they aren’t likely to bother you.) This race also has fierce competitors, with one past winner finishing in barely more than half an hour.
Nobody beat the previous fastest winning time, so this year if somebody does, they will get an additional $200 prize. Winners in other categories each get a special gift.
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, of Clay York finishing the BIG Little River Paddle Race 2019.
The race will start Continue reading
Adel, Georgia, April 21, 2022 — It’s 8AM, Saturday, April 30, 2022, at Red Roberts Landing in Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia. Join us for a three-mile paddle down the idyllic blackwater Little River into Reed Bingham State Park. Tickets are $30 per boat online only at wwals.net. See https://wwals.net/pictures/2022-04-30–blrpr/
A previous press release had an erroneous date. Please ignore that and come on down Saturday, April 30, 2022.
Continue readingAdel, Georgia, April 12, 2022 — After pandemic and bad weather the previous two years, the BIG Little Paddle Race is back this year.
You could win in any of a dozen categories, or up to $300 if you
beat the previous winning record time. But you are not required to
race: it’s a nice spring paddle anyway! On Saturday, April 30, 2022 24, 2021,
in Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia, it’s
the ninth tenth annual BIG Little River Paddle Race. There will be lunch
and tickets will be available for the annual kayak raffle. You can just paddle along this scenic three-mile
stretch of tea-colored river on the Withlacoochee and Little River
Water Trail among cypress trees, turtles, birds, and yes,
alligators. (Don’t pet the alligators and they aren’t likely to
bother you.) This race also has fierce competitors, with one past
winner finishing in barely more than half an hour.
After having to cancel the event last year due to severe weather, we are hoping for sunnier skies this year. This is a great opportunity to learn about the joys of paddling canoes and kayaks, to see the natural beauty of our region’s blackwater rivers, and to have fun while getting some outdoor exercise with family and friends.
![[Tandem female canoe, orange (BW)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2019-04-27--wwals-blrpr/59286201_10220164503641964_277548384464666624_n.jpg)
Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of 2019 First female tandem kayak:
Megan Robinson & Lily Robinson, of Tifton, GA.
WWALS President Trudy Cole said, “BLRPR is a great opportunity to meet like minded folks and paddle a pristine section of the Little River, while supporting a great organization.”
There are several categories in which you could win, Continue reading
In addition to the Alapaha and Withlacoochee River segments GA-EPD has accepted to be redesignated Recreational, according to today’s update letter several others still could be considered with certain additional information, and still more can be nominated. This would be for the next Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards, which starts next year, 2022.
Read the whole thing here: PDF.
Excerpts related to the Suwannee River Basin are below. I’ve added a few comments in [square brackets].
The following waterbody segments are being proposed for designated use change to recreation for the 2019 Triennial Review. EPD has received complete nomination packages for each of these waterbody segments, including thorough documentation of year-round primary contact recreation throughout the length of the segment, current and planned investment data, and letters of support from community and stakeholders. A map of these waterbody segments can be found at
https://arcg.is/1i0ezv
![[Stretches redesignated Recreational]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-09-01--ga-epd-triennial-recreational/map-redesignated.jpg)
Stretches redesignated Recreational on the GA-EPD map.
- Alapaha River – Cherry Creek to Stateline
- Alapaha River – Willacoochee River to Dampier Branch
[Those two Alapaha River stretches omit Sheboggy Boat Ramp downstream from Alapaha, and Lakeland Boat Ramp, Pafford’s Landing, and Rowetown Church Landing downstream from Lakeland.]- Withlacoochee River – Tiger Creek to State Line
[Plus Reed Bingham State Park Lake on the Little River was already Recreational, even though it does not appear on the above GA-EPD map. The rest of the Little River we can resubmit.]
Incomplete nomination packages were received for the following waterbodies. EPD will continue to solicit information from the nominators to complete these packages. If EPD receives complete nomination packages, EPD will review the complete packages and consider changing the designated use of these waterbodies to recreation as part of the 2022 Triennial Review:
Missing Documentation of year-round primary contact recreation:
Continue reading
Update 2021-09-01: More Recreational redesignation of waterbodies still possible –GA-EPD 2021-09-01.
GA-EPD picked a subset of the river stretches they previously said they would consider for Recreational designation: in the Georgia Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards: parts of the Alapaha River, and a smaller part of the Withlacoochee River.
There’s an online Update Meeting next month.
So that’s the Alapaha River from the Willacoochee River to Dampier Branch, and from Cherry Creek to the state line. I guess you can still paddle from Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135 to Berrien Beach Boat Ramp @ GA 168 without getting into any non-Recreational stretches. But Lakeland Boat Ramp and Pafford’s and Burnt Church Landings are right out. But you can paddle from Hotchkiss Road Landing to Naylor Boat Ramp, Mayday Landing, Statenville Boat Ramp, and on to Florida.
Redesignated Recreational is the Withlacoochee River from Tiger Creek (at Spook Bridge, just below US 84) to the state line. So Knights Creek, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps can all be Recreational, even though they’re all downstream of Okapilco Creek and all those cattle in Brooks County, but Langdale Park Boat Ramp and Troupville Boat Ramp are not designated Recreational, despite the Valdosta Mayor’s letter of support.
However, the big win is that anything at all got redesignated. In previous cycles, GA-EPD declined to consider such a thing. And we can reapply next time.
Completely missing from this list are: Continue reading
![[Outing Cancelled]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-17--juneteenth/manycancelled.jpg)
![[Outing Cancelled]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-06-18--juneteenth/many.jpg)
![[Header, Suwannee River Basin]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-11--ga-epd-rule-change/many.jpg)