Tag Archives: south Georgia

Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29

Update 2026-04-26: Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Upstream, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29.

Update 2026-04-25: Pictures: Downstream chainsawing, Langdale Park Boat Ramp 2026-03-29.

Update 2026-03-23: WWALS Chainsaw Cleanups clear passage, leaving habitat 2026-03-23.

With Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta, meet at Langdale Park Boat Ramp @ 9 AM. We will remove deadfalls and debris to permit passage as far upstream on the Withlacoochee River as we are able within an approximate 6 hour time frame. Volunteers do not have to use a chainsaw if not experienced. Help with debris and trash removal as well as photos and videos assistance are always welcome. Bring your kayak and join this adventure.

You do not have to boat. You can walk along the left (east) bank of the river in Langdale Park. As Brianna Schawalder says, let’s make 2026 the Year of Outdoor Recreation in Lowndes County.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 4 PM, Sunday, March 29, 2026

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, on Hyta Mederer Drive.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, with Trails4Valdosta

Thanks to Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) for support for all this. Continue reading →

Chainsaw cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Troupville 2026-03-21

Update 2026-03-21: The water level is now too low for the jon boat. Still meet at Troupville Boat Ramp to decide on the actual put in with a WWALS canoe and any kayaks or canoes you bring.

Launching the WWALS jonboat from the Troupville Ramp, around the Little River Confluence and up the Withlacoochee River, we will remove deadfalls and debris to permit passage as far upstream as we are able within an approximate 6 hour time frame. Volunteers do not have to use a chainsaw if not experianced. Help with debris and trash removal as well as photos and videos assistance are always welcome. Bring your kayak and join this adventure.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 3:30 PM, Saturday, March 21, 2026

Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602. I-75 exit 18, west on GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) away from the Valdosta Mall, at the traffic light for Val Tech Road, turn left down to the boat ramp, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536

Chainsaw cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Troupville, 9 AM, 2026-03-21

Continue reading →

Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County Board of Commissioners 2026-03-17

Update 2026-04-20 Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06.

Update 2026-03-27: Videos: Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County Board of Commissioners 2026-03-17.

Irwin County is holding a Public Hearing about a Data Center Ordinance
tomorrow, March 17, 2026, at 6 PM,
in the Irwin County Administration Building, 225 East Fourth Street, Ocilla, Georgia.

Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance, Irwin County BOC, 6 PM, March 17, 2026

https://wwals.net/?p=69660

Here is the Public Notice and the draft ordinance.

Linked in a popup on https://irwincounty-ga.gov:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
The Irwin County Board of Commissioners will hold a Public Hearing on March 17, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Irwin County Administration Building, located at 225 East Fourth Street, Ocilla, Georgia and March 30, 2026 at 5:45p.m in the Irwin County Courthouse, located at 301 South Irwin Avenue, Ocilla, Georgia. The purpose of these hearings are to receive public comments regarding the following matter:

Review Data Center Ordinance
Continue reading →

Irwinville Data Center Withdrawn by Applicant, Irwin County Commission 2026-03-02

Here’s a reason to stay until the end of a County Commission meeting.

A proposed data center ordinance was read at the March 2, 2026, Irwin County Commission meeting, according to correspondence between the former data center applicant’s attorney and the Irwin County Attorney.

It was not on the agenda. I’m guessing they read it under

13. NEW BUSINESS
a. APPROVE APPLICATION FOR A SPECIAL EXCEPTION TO ZONING FOR DATA CENTER

Tomorrow in Ocilla there is a a Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County Board of Commissioners 2026-03-17.

https://wwals.net/?p=69663

Irwinville Data Center, Withdrawn by Applicant 2026-03-02, Irwin County Commission, and Developments of Regional Impact (DRI)

I got the attorney correspondence by asking in an open records request for the applicant withdrawal letter that staff read at the Public Hearing on March 2.

First, that withdrawal letter.

Then a document on Developments of Regional Impact (DRI).

Then a couple of maps labeled as Concept Site Plan with the name for the project as Ocilla DC.

Finally, there are images of the rest of the document the County Attorney sent in response to a WWALS open records request. The entire PDF document he sent is on the WWALS website. Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek 2026-03-12

Sugar Creek is filthy again, according to a WWALS sample of Thursday.

All the Withlacoochee River results we have are clean, but the most recent are from Monday, so we don’t know what conditions are like now.

The Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers tested clean for Thursday samples.

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

So happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, but I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River downstream from Sugar Creek.

Come join us today, Saturday, at the WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival 2026-03-14, in Drexel Park, on One Mile Branch, in Valdosta, Georgia.

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

Filthy Sugar Creek, Clean Alapaha River 2026-03-12, Clean Santa Fe River, Withlacoochee unknown

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 →

Trash trap, Withlacoochee River 2025-07-02

Three different trash trap companies have quoted for a Withlacoochee River location just upstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, and downstream from US 41, North Valdosta Road.

Two have looked at another Withlacoochee River location just downstream from GA 133, in Troupville Park, where VLPRA briefly owns both sides of the river.

Trash trap sites, Withlacoochee River 2025-07-02, Langdale Park below US 41, Troupville Park below GA 133

The Langdale Park location is about 28 feet across the river, and would require a 50-foot trap.

That location is very convenient, because the access road goes right there.

I sent quotes for this location by two trash trap companies to the City of Valdosta in 2023. A catch is that these locations are not in the City of Valdosta. Continue reading →

Valdosta puts Osprey trash trap in Sugar Creek 2026-03-05

Update 2026-03-13: Trash trap, Withlacoochee River 2025-07-02.

Four other places trash traps would be very useful, two in the Withlacoochee River, above VLPRA parks:

Upstream from Langdale Park, at the US 41 (North Valdosta Road) bridge, in the Withlacoochee River
Upstream from Troupville Nature Park and the future Troupville River Camp, at the GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) bridge, in the Withlacoochee River
in Three Mile Branch on Country Club Drive
in One Mile Branch below VSU, above Sustella Avenue

Valdosta puts Osprey trash trap in Sugar Creek, Upstream from the Withlacoochee River 2026-03-05

The city PR doesn’t say, but this new trash trap appears to be above the Gornto Road bridge in Sugar Creek.

City of Valdosta PR, March 5, 2026, City of Valdosta Receives $98,250 Grant to Expand Waterway Debris Interceptor Program Continue reading →

Call about developer and datacenter give-away bill GA SB 447 2026-03-17

If datacenters are so great, why did their proponents first gut GA SB 34, which would have prohibited datacenters from passing on electric bills to other ratepayers?

And why now are they trying to pass SB 447, which would distort local permitting processes to favor datacenters and developers in general?

Please ask your Georgia statehouse delegation to vote NO on GA SB 447.

SB 447 will be heard this Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in a subcommittee of the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment (HNRE) Committee.

It may get voted on there, and then in the full Committee on Thursday.

Call about datacenter and developer give-away, GA SB 447

You can find your Georgia House members here:

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

Or type in your ZIP code here:

http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ Continue reading →

Cleanup, One Mile Branch, Azalea Trail 2026-03-28

Join us for an on-land cleanup along One Mile Branch downstream from Valdosta State University, and Azalea City Trail, in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9 AM, end 11 AM, Saturday, March 28, 2026

Put In: Wainwright Drive between Baytree Drive and Brookhaven Drive, and maybe also downstream, in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

GPS: 30.84287, -83.30113

One Mile Branch, Azalea City Trail, Valdosta, GA, Cleanup 2026-03-28

Continue reading →

WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival 2026-03-14-15

Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends.

That’s in Drexel Park, Valdosta, Georgia, this Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15, 2026.

The festival starts at 9 AM each day, and runs until 6 PM Saturday and 5 PM Sunday.

We’ll be at our usual location at the entrance on Slater and Brookwood.

GPS: 30.848576, -83.285556.

Drexel Park is on One Mile Branch, which runs into Sugar Creek, into the Withlacoochee River, on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

WWALS Booth at Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA, March 14-15, 2026

If you are a WWALS member, you can come help give out flyers and answer questions about outings and events, advocacy and education.

We’re on our own this year, because Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.