Tag Archives: river

Pictures: Banks Lake Full Moon Paddle 2017-07-08

Lights! Full Moon! Paint! Rice and watermelon! Fun was had by all last Saturday on the WWALS watery living room, Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA on GA 122.

Only saw one gator, and he got scared away by all the boats. Didn’t see any moccassins, but I bet they were there in the lily pads on the west side across the lake, where we turned back.

Paddlers with WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper Banners, 31.0351925, -83.0965187

The total I think was seventeen paddlers in sixteen boats, some not pictured here due to not arrived yet, or something.

[Paddlers with WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper Banners]
Paddlers with WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper Banners

Movie: Tom Cramer and his wife Barb are the volunteers at Banks Lake Outdoors (26M)

Continue reading →

Paddle races, songwriting contest, water trails, and advocacy at WWALS Board Meeting 2017-07-12

Draft Agenda
WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting
7:30 PM Wednesday 12 July 2017, After Annual WWALS Membership Meeting
Wooden Nickel, 3269 Inner Perimeter Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602
Dial-in Number: (641) 715-3580
Meeting ID: 855-676
Event: facebook

Election of officers, paddle races, songwriting contest, festivals, water trails, and more.

[Under the cypress]
Under the cypress, in the BIG Little River Paddle Race

All WWALS members, especially committee members, are invited to attend, as is the general public.

All WWALS Board Members are expected Continue reading →

Kayak Raffle to be selected at Annual WWALS Member Meeting 2017-07-12

Draft Agenda
WWALS Annual Meeting
7:00 PM Wednesday 12 July 2017, followed by WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting
Wooden Nickel, 3269 Inner Perimeter Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602
Dial-in Number: (641) 715-3580
Meeting ID: 855-676
Event: facebook

Presentation of annual report, election of board members and selection of kayak raffle winner! Until then, you can still get your raffle ticket Last chance to get a raffle ticket is at the Annual Member Meeting.

Pelican Icon 100X Angler 10-foot sit-on-top fishing kayak, with paddle

WWALS members can vote in this annual meeting, and the public is invited to observe.

Board members are Continue reading →

Hardee Spring and Plantation, Withlacoochee River, Hamilton County, FL

Yes, Hardee Spring is accessible by land, off of 34th Street NW, Jennings, Florida, aka Hardee Camp Road, but it’s on private land. It’s on one of four parcels totaling 305 acres, with 8,000 feet (1.6 miles) of river frontage and a lodge, which can be yours for a mere $8.5 million. Maybe Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) should buy it, since SRWMD already owns the next properties upstream and downstream on the Withlacoochee River. Or maybe it should be turned into a state park. Or maybe somebody wants to donate it to WWALS for an office location.

Map: River Error Farms Inc., Hardee Spring, Hamilton County, FL
Map from SRWMD PARCEL ASSESSMENT SUMMARY.

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail starts stagecoach line in an electric car world 2017-07-05

Let me fix some typos in Sabal Trail’s PR of yesterday, Sabal Trail Transmission Project Placed In-Service: New Pipeline System Increases the Reliability and Diversity of the Southeast U.S. Natural Gas Infrastructure.

Corrected headline: Sabal Trail starts stagecoach line in an electric car world.


Apologies to the 1877 Omaha Herald and True West.

Adding a third natural gas pipeline merely makes Florida even more than 60% dependant on natural gas, as Sierra Club Alabama, Georgia, and Florida pointed out three years ago. The people of Florida voted for solar power twice last year. Yet Sabal Trail is wasting $3 or $4 billion on Continue reading →

Banks Lake Outdoors 2017-05-05

Yes, there are kayaks for rent! And Tom says he’s happy to stay open this Saturday, July 8, 2017, for the Banks Lake Full Moon Paddle.

Kayaks for rent: 10 foot Old Town

If the store’s not open, knock on the RV next to it. Continue reading →

FERC down to 1 Commissioner, and you can help keep it without a quorum

On the way out before her last day at FERC Friday, Collete D. Honorable said “Bring on more renewables”. So why didn’t she do anything in the 2.5 years she was a FERC Commissioner? Oh, right, that’s forbidden at FERC; witness former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff who predicted in 2013 that more U.S. electricity would come from solar power than any other source within a decade, and he got pushed out the door. Nevermind he was right.


Honorable at an EBA event in 2016 | © RTO Insider
Michael Brooks, RTO Insider, 28 April 2017, No 2nd Term for FERC’s Colette Honorable

You can help keep FERC without a quorum by calling your U.S. Senator to oppose the two nominees so far.

And how about you, the one remaining Commissioner, Acting Chairman Cheryl A. LaFleur? Continue reading →

Support the Clean Water Act for our rivers and aquifer

This Fourth of July holiday, you can help promote continued independence of clean water by opposing the EPA’s attempt to repeal the Clean Water Rule and then undermine the Clean Water Act. FLoridians in the seven counties that have asked the EPA to do something about Valdosta’s wastewater: here’s your chance to make sure the EPA can still do anything. Georgians who don’t want coal ash in landfills or industrial waste in our waters: you can help save the Clean Water Act. Everybody in the Suwannee River Basin: the water we drink from the Floridan Aquifer interchanges with surface waters, and we need the EPA to help protect all those waters.

How to Comment

Continue reading →

Presto, there’s plenty of water in Florida? –Jim Gross @ WiLFest 2017-06-17

Jim Gross showed at WiLFest in Orlando Gainesville what he described later in the Orlando Sentinel:

“It was known by everyone in the agency that we had more demand than groundwater. Did the science completely change overnight? Now, ‘Presto! There’s plenty?’”

Discharge 1980 and 2010 from the Upper Floridan Aquifer
Jim Gross showing central Florida as far over sustainable withdrawals at WiLFest in Orlando Gainesville 2017-06-17
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS

Lauren Ritchie, Orlando Sentinel, 30 June 2017, Commentary: Stop letting developments such as The Villages suck up water, Continue reading →

Gibson Park to CR 141, Suwannee River, 2017-08-13

A pleasant just over five mile Sunday paddle on the Suwannee River as we take a short upstream paddle to the Alapaha River Rise. Then enjoy the river’s current downstream past the Alapaha River Confluence (there may be water in the Alapaha) to County Road 141 Ramp. There are a couple of springs along the way. Those still feeling energetic can paddle a few more thousand feet down to the Sabal Trail crossing and back to CR 141.


Suwannee River beach, 2015-08-15, 30.4193954, -83.1344223

Bring the usual personal flotation device, water, snacks, first aid kit, and gloves, trash bag, and gripper because every WWALS outing is also a cleanup. If you do not have a boat, ask us, or contact one of the many outfitters.

When: 9AM, Sunday, August 13, 2017

Put-In: Gibson Park Ramp, SRWT MILE 135.4, 6844 SW CR 751, Jasper, FL 32052, From Jasper, travel southwest on SW CR 249 to SW CR 751; turn left and boat ramp is on the right in Gibson Park.

GPS: Continue reading →