Tag Archives: river

Franklinville, Skipper Bridge, Langdale Park, GA 133, Withlacoochee River WQ 2022-10-27

Yesterday I went to five water quality testing sites and sampled four of them. Results tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Brunner sampled nine sites on Cat Creek, Beatty Branch, and Beaverdam Creek. If nothing else we should have a good baseline to use in deciphering what is causing the E. coli and Fecal coliform that keeps showing up at US 41 and GA 133.

And inquiring minds want to know: what happened to all the trees at the entrance to Langdale Park?

[4.5 sites, Withlacoochee River, 2022-10-27]
4.5 sites, Withlacoochee River, 2022-10-27

Toms Branch

No water in Toms Branch, so no sample. Continue reading

Videos: Suwannee Riverkeeper on WWALS Boomerang on Scott James Radio 2022-10-18

On the Scott James radio show Tuesday, he and Suwannee Riverkeeper talked about the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, coming up tomorrow morning, Saturday, October 22, 2022, at State Line Boat Ramp.

https://wwals.net/pictures/boomerang2022


[Movie: WWALS Boomerang paddle race, State Line Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-10-22]
Movie: WWALS Boomerang paddle race, State Line Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2022-10-22

Follow this link https://youtu.be/CIoEFysSwM0 for that video. Continue reading

Pictures: Alapaha Station Celebration 2019-11-09

2019 was the last year the Alapaha Station Celebration was held, and WWALS was there for the sixth year running.

[WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman, Berrien County photographer Wenda Gaile Bailey, WWALS booth]
WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman, Berrien County photographer Wenda Gaile Bailey, WWALS booth

Yes, it’s back this year, at the historic railroad station in Alapaha, Georgia, near Sheboggy Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, the most upstream public landing on the WWALS Alapaha River Water Trail. We will be back there. Stay tuned. WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration 2022-11-12. Continue reading

Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16

Update 2023-05-19: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2023-06-24.

There must be a better way to order pizza.

[Start, chainsaws, pizza, sandbars]
Start, chainsaws, pizza, sandbars

The good news: we did get pizza delivered on the river during the Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16. We cleared many logjams. Some of them we had sawed at higher water levels several times before. It seemed like we were a relix rock band doing a greatest hit tour. And at twelve hours we beat our record of taking longer than expected.

Our advice if you want to try paddling this stretch with the water this low (3.6′ or 113.8′ NAVD88) on the US 41 (North Valdosta Road) USGS Gauge?

Don’t.

Not unless you want to drag your boat much of the way. Also, stock up on magnesium and vitamin C for the muscle cramps. Continue reading

Pictures: Banks Lake Full Hunters Moon 2022-10-09

Bonus Jupiter above and to the right of the full moon, at Banks Lake Saturday.

[Banners, paddlers, sunset, moonrise]
Banners, paddlers, sunset, moonrise

This expedition was honoring Farmers and First Responders, got in free. Phil Royce spoke up for First Responders, but he’s a WWALS member, so he got in free anyway. I’m a Farmer, but I had relatives back at the farm, so I didn’t paddle.

Thanks to novice expedition leaders Scotti Jay and Nic Cole for leading this one. And to Elizabeth Brunner for mentoring them.

Special thanks to Nic Cole for paddling back in with the key to get gear for three latecomers. Everybody please remember to show up on time. Continue reading

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2022-10-09

Here is the agenda and zoom parameters for the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, new WWALS President Sara Jay presiding. The public is invited.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09

One tap mobile: +13092053325,,89308028204#,,,,*392346#

We will be discussing the WWALS Boomerang Paddle Race, Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, Songwriting Contest, trash, outings, water quality testing, opposition to mines, water withdrawals, coal ash, pellet plants, and LNG export, as well as promotion of water trails and solar power, and of course finances.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little times two, New times two, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

When: 8 AM – 10 AM, Sunday, October 9, 2022

Where: Online via zoom, so you don’t even have to go anywhere.

[All pages]
All pages
PDF

Continue reading

GA-DNR Board does not discuss mining near Okefenokee Swamp 2022-09-27

Nobody said anything new about the titanium strip mine proposed near the Okefenokee Swamp, when the Board of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources met at the Stephen C. Foster State Park Eco-Lodge, just outside the Okefenokee Swamp, in Fargo, Georgia.

But you can tell Georgia legislators and candidates in the election that a majority of Georgians say the state should immediately protect the Swamp from mining, according to a recent poll.
www.protectgeorgia.org/okefenokee

[DNR Board and Twin Pines dragline]
DNR Board and Twin Pines dragline

Citizens were not allowed to speak to the Board. But you can send them a message:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/#howtocomment

Floridians, you can write to GA-DNR, too, telling them part of the Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida, and anything that affects it will affect the Suwannee River of the Florida State Song.
TwinPines.Comment@dnr.ga.gov

Former Valdosta City Council member John Eunice, now Assistand Director of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, basically recited Continue reading

Videos: Tracy Horenbein winning Best Americana with Wild and Free, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022-08-20

Here are videos of Tracy Horenbein, of Tallahassee, Florida, singing her song Wild and Free, and winning Best Americana, at the 2022 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.


[Wild and Free --Tracy Horenbein, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022]
Wild and Free –Tracy Horenbein, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2022

Thanks for playing, Tracy!

Here’s a WWALS video playlist: Continue reading

WWALS response to FERC on opposition comments of Pivotal LNG about small, inland LNG Rulemaking 2022-10-04

Update 2022-10-26: WWALS response to opposition comments by Eagle LNG about small, inland LNG 2022-10-17.

Today WWALS and seven other organizations rebutted the opposition comments of Pivotal LNG, LLC to the WWALS, et al. petition to FERC for Rulemaking on small, inland, LNG facilities.

[First and last page]
First and last page

If you also want to intervene or comment, here’s how:
https://wwals.net/?p=59062#tocomment.

Yes, the comment deadline has passed, but a FERC attorney told me the Commission usually considers comments filed later.

Thanks to all the co-signers on today’s response: LEAD Agency, Inc., Kissimmee Waterkeeper, Lake Worth Waterkeeper, Peace+Myakka Waterkeeper, Collier County Waterkeeper, Three Rivers Waterkeepers, and Food and Water Watch.

Thanks to all the previous commenters, especially Floridians Against Dirty Energy (FADE), League of Women Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Florida Springs Council, Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, Anacostia Riverkeeper, Potomac Riverkeeper, Assateague Coastal Trust, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and others too numerous to list here.

Thanks to Maxine Connor for rustling up many of those organizations.

Thanks as always to Cecile Scofield, doggedly pursuing LNG for decades now.

The Response

Filed with FERC 2022-10-04 12:40:32 PM as Accession Number: 20221004-5116, “Response to Opposition Comments of Pivotal LNG, LLC, by WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc., et al., under RM22-21.”

See also Continue reading

Notice: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2022-10-09

Update 2022-10-10: Agenda: WWALS Board Meeting 2022-10-09.

New WWALS President Sara Jay will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting. The public is invited.

We will be discussing the WWALS Boomerang Paddle Race, Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle, Songwriting Contest, trash, outings, water quality testing, opposition to mines, water withdrawals, coal ash, pellet plants, and LNG export, as well as promotion of water trails and solar power, and of course finances.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little times two, New times two, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

When: 8 AM – 10 AM, Sunday, October 9, 2022

Where: Online via zoom, so you don’t even have to go anywhere. The zoom parameters will follow, as will an agenda.

[Square WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper logos]
Square WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper logos

Continue reading