Tag Archives: south Georgia

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-01-07

Update 2026-01-12: Filthy Hightower Creek 2026-01-08 but clean upstream ILM Pond 2026-01-09.

The Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers tested clean for this Wednesday.

We have no new creek results since last week.

The inch of rain last Saturday seems to have little effect on the rivers, neither level nor water quality.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in Georgia or Florida.

The weather is supposed to be fine this weekend, so if you can find a river with enough water, and happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

[Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers; No new creek results, 2026-01-07]
Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers; No new creek results, 2026-01-07

Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow for Ichetucknee Polar Plunge and Paddle to see SPZ 2026-01-10. Meet us at Ichetucknee State Park North Entrance: 9 AM to dip in the spring; 10 AM for the paddle.

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results rainfall and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Pictures: First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

Our first paddle of 2026 was during the day on beautiful Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA, on New Years Day.

A hardy band of five paddlers, some very experienced, some very novice, paddled into the eastern sun glare, then west to the bat tree. We saw Sand Hill Cranes and an osprey nest, but no bats.

[First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree]
First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree

Here are some video clips:

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/867635092790046/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTNpYodiJhP/

https://youtu.be/glaea7oHi9g

This was Shirley Kokidko’s experiment in a day paddle on Banks Lake. This is the third time we’ve done this, after 2023-09-04, when I found this bat tree, and 2025-08-23.

Plus the outboard birding 2025-12-04, in which the birders noticed feathers falling from a nest in the bat tree.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2026-02-01

Update 2026-01-31: Cancelled due to inclement weather.

Come see the beauty of a sunset and full moon rising across the lake, at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, our watery living room just west of Lakeland, Georgia. There may be Sand Hill Cranes, or bats.

When: Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:05 PM, sunset 6:09 PM, end 7 PM, Sunday, February 1, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA 2026-02-01, Will Hart, Maybe bats]
Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA 2026-02-01, Will Hart, Maybe bats

Continue reading →

Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01

Update 2026-01-09: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-01-07.

It sure looks like there is some sort of leak upstream of Norman Drive on Hightower Creek.

WWALS tester Suzy Hall got 833 cfu/100 mL for Thursday, only slightly lower than her 866 half a mile downstream at St. Augustine Road. Both results are above the one-time test limit of 410. Both WWALS and Valdosta Utilities have been getting too-high results at St. Augustine Road for many weeks.

And Valdosta Utilities got 880 at GA 133 for Wednesday on the Withlacoochee River.

That could be the contamination Suzy saw Tuesday washing downstream. If so, where is the water coming from to wash it down? There was no rain until today.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

[Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01, And Withlacoochee River at GA 133 2025-12-31]
Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01, And Withlacoochee River at GA 133 2025-12-31

Suzy’s Norman Drive number is way worse than when I sampled the same location a year ago, December 12 02, 2024. That was part of a ten-site effort with Suzy Hall all the way down Hightower Creek and Sugar Creek to just above the Withlacoochee River. That project localized a likely sewer leak within 2,000 feet.

And a month later, the City of Valdosta found that major sewage spill in Sugar Creek that had been spilling for months.

Will Valdosta Utilities find this sewer system leak?

Fortunately, Valdosta Utilities got an OK 200 downstream at US 84 on the Withlacoochee River for Wednesday.

Today’s rain is supposed to be gone by tomorrow.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us, weather permitting for Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:07 PM, sunset 5:55 PM, end 7 PM, Saturday, January 3, 2026.

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results rainfall and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-30

Update 2026-01-03: Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01.

Update 2026-01-02: And clean Santa Fe River. At Mills Dock for Wednesday, Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler got 0 E. coli at 7 C air temp. and 17.9 C water temp.

Yet again, Hightower Creek tested dirty with E. coli at St. Augustine Road for Tuesday in Valdosta.

It still appears there is some other source of sewage upstream of St. Augustine Road into Hightower Creek.

Sugar Creek at the WaterGoat tested much cleaner, but the next rain will wash down whatever that is upstream.

The most recent results we have for the Withlacoochee River are for last week, but they were clean.

The Alapaha River tested clean upstream for Wednesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. The Florida Pollution Notices Map is broken again: “Unable to create map: Cannot read properties of null (reading ‘insertBefore’)”.

Rain is predicted for Saturday.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us, weather permitting for Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:07 PM, sunset 5:55 PM, end 7 PM, Saturday, January 3, 2026.

This image is an overview. Scroll down for the details.

[Hightower Creek still dirty 2025-12-30, Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31, Withlacoochee River Clean last week]
Hightower Creek still dirty 2025-12-30, Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31, Withlacoochee River Clean last week

Valdosta Creeks

Continue reading →

Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break @ VCC 2025-12-11

Update 2026-01-01: Hightower Creek still dirty; Alapaha River clean 2025-12-31.

The Valdosta City Council approved two sole-source vendor items among seven water and wastewater items at its December 11, 2025, Regular Session.

A sole-source vendor is a single point of failure, and sometimes a very expensive one, as we saw with the Valdosta drinking water meter sole-source issue 2025-10-19.

In that case Valdosta had to completely replace 25,000 water meters.

Sole-source vendors can also be expensive, due to lack of competition.

[Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break, Still, sole-source vendors are a problem @ VCC 2025-12-11]
Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break, Still, sole-source vendors are a problem @ VCC 2025-12-11

The sole-source vendor items were 6.d) about the Force Main Pump Stations, and 6.d) about a new Decanter Unit for the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, among these seven water and wastewater items:

  • 5.e) about the Knights Academy Road and Goodyear Lift Stations,
  • 5.f) also about the Knights Academy Road Lift Station,
  • 5.g) about cost recovery for those same two Lift Stations,
  • 5.h) about the Barack Obama Boulevard North Widening Project, with an agreement with LEA for a 16-inch water main,
  • 6.b) about emergency repairs at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Station (WWTP),
  • 6.c) about rebuilding pumps at the Gornto and Remer Master Lift Stations on the Force Main, and
  • 6.d) about a new Decanter Unit for the WWTP.
Continue reading →

Valdosta drinking water meter sole-source issue 2025-10-19

Update 2025-12-30: Valdosta fixing sewer system problems before they break @ VCC 2025-12-11.

Back in 2020, Valdosta happily announced installation of new water meters, including a video of them installing the meters in the ground, with a steel cover. They were supposed to last a long time.

[Valdosta drinking water meter sole-source issue 2020-01-31, 25,000 meters replaced again in October 2025]
Valdosta drinking water meter sole-source issue 2020-01-31, 25,000 meters replaced again in October 2025

Unfortunately, those meters were not designed for hot subtropical summers. That steel cover kept the heat in, and the meters failed in little more than five years. There was no upgrade, because the sole-source vendor went bankrupt.

So in 2025 the City of Valdosta had to buy a whole new set of 25,000 meters, which were not in its budget, and required changing customer billing.

This story is about drinking water. In a later post, we will discuss how the sole-source issue is also relevant to Valdosta’s sewer system, and other sewer systems.

Metro 17, Valdosta, January 31, 2020, New Water Meters, Continue reading →

Phil Hubbard fixed the WWALS Husqvarna 24-inch chainsaw 2025-12-21

Thanks, Phil.

[Phil Hubbard fixed the Husqvarna 24-inch chainsaw 2025-12-21, Thanks for the grant to WWALS from Wild Green Future]
Phil Hubbard fixed the Husqvarna 24-inch chainsaw 2025-12-21, Thanks for the grant to WWALS from Wild Green Future

Here’s a video:

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/2205168176559427

https://youtube.com/shorts/KQ_mqQSzUEE?feature=share

What was wrong with it? It ran fine, if you didn’t mind gasoline leaking down your leg, and it running for only a couple of minutes.

Maybe I shouldn’t have set it on top of my running tractor. It fell five feet down onto a concrete floor. Turns out that’s bad for the gas tank.

No kind of glue would fix it. And you can’t just replace the gas tank: it’s integralto the chassis.

So I bought a new crank case. And Phil swapped the guts of the saw into it.

Runs fine now, and does not leak.

Thanks again to Wild Green Future for the generous grant that bought this Husqvarna 460 Rancher 24-inch chainsaw, as well as two outboard motors, a trolling motor, some LIFEPO2 batteries, and related items.

After the holidays, we’ll be back to doing chainsaw cleanups. Continue reading →

Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer peer-reviewed evidence, WWALS Webinar, 2026-01-15

Update 2026-01-17: Video: Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer peer-reviewed evidence, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15.

UGA Professors Jaivime Evaristo (isotope data) and Todd Rasmussen (water levels) review two lines of evidence that the Okefenokee Swamp leaks through the underlying limestone into the Upper Floridan Aquifer, and nearby water withdrawals draw more down.

This WWALS Webinar by zoom at noon will explain their recent scientific paper on this subject.

https://wwals.net/?p=69044

This paper is more incentive to pass Georgia House Bill 561 to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from mining, at least on its east side. Georgians, please ask your statehouse delegation to pass HB 561. Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do the same. Here’s how to contact Georgia Statehouse members:

https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

[Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15, Prof. Evaristo & Rasmussen]
Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15, Prof. Evaristo & Rasmussen

When: 12-1 PM, Thursday, January 15, 2026

Register to join with Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1z-dW1OESdqPj1W3BhwENA

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end. Continue reading →

Videos: Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

History Instructor Vickie Everitte conducted a historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction to this WWALS Webinar. Questions and answers were at the end, including a distinguished guest.

[Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11]
Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

Here is a zoom video of this WWALS Webinar:

https://youtu.be/ULUwKQEOh10

Her slides are on the WWALS website in PowerPoint and PDF. Images of each page are below.

Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1

As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian Removal Policy of the 1830s.

Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much, they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2

About the Speaker

Continue reading →