This Tuesday, February 20, 2024, we learned of two small Valdosta sewage spills,
each 100 gallons.
That’s not enough to get down the creeks to affect the Withlacoochee River,
but enough to stink up the neighborhood.
One was on Boone Drive at Baytree Road, next to Valdosta State University
and One Mile Branch, which runs into Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River.
The other was at 215 Knob Hill Road on a ditch that runs into Three Mile Branch at the southeast corner of Langdale Park, then into the Withlacoochee River
near the southwest corner of the park.
That’s the same location as the
much larger January 10 spill.
I learned about the Boone Drive spill when I called Valdosta Acting Utilities Director Jason Barnes Tuesday morning about the Knob Hill spill.
Neither of these spills has yet appeared in the
GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.
Jason Barnes says he already sent a report on the Boone Drive spill to EPD,
and he will send one soon about the new Knob Hill spill. Continue reading →
WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst will guide a tour of the Little River from Red Roberts Landing to Reed Bingham State Park Lake. All reservations online in advance, limited to 20 paddlers.
When: Gather 8 AM, launch 9 AM, end 12 PM, Saturday, April 27, 2024
Put In:Red Roberts Landing,
4727 Rountree Bridge Rd., Adel, GA 31620. River left at Rountree Bridge south of Rountree Bridge Road (CR 251) west of Adel; exit 41 off I-75.
Last year we saw bald cypress, pond cypress, pines, willow, tupelow, river birch, water oak, primrose, fetterbush, sparkleberry, holly, titi, wild grapevines, native wisteria, lichen, resurrection fern, goldenclub, mistletoe, and blooming Spanish moss.
We also saw many turtles, some alligators, and a great blue heron.
Continue reading →
As crossover day approaches in the Georgia legislature, events are moving faster
about the proposed strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp.
In addition to a mining prohibition bill that has been in the legislature since last year,
now there is a fine, draft permits, and two new bills, for increased criminal penalties, and for a mining moratorium (with a big catch).
None of these are likely to stop this specific “demonstration” mine,
but some of them could prevent any further such mines.
Crossover day is the day by which a bill has to have been passed by one house
to get into the other house.
It’s February 29 this year, Thursday of next week.
Back in January, I was told by a former state legislator that these miners be very careful to avoid infractions, because they had a lot of money riding on their venture.
A week later, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD)
issued a Consent Order on TPM, saying back in 2018 the miners had drilled soil
samples without a professional geologist or engineer supervising, as required by state law,
and they also failed to provide a letter of credit or a performance bond.
TPM “voluntarily” agreed to pay a tiny fine of $20,000.
For more details, see Russ Bynum, AP, 24 January 2024, Company seeking to mine near Okefenokee will pay $20,000 to settle environmental violation claims.
This is not the first time TPM has been under a Consent Order. Continue reading →
Emily Floore, St. Marys Riverkeeper, will give the third WWALS
Webinar, about the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the
St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers: why we protect it and the proposed
strip mine that threatens it, as well as a recent Conservation Fund
study.
This webinar will be by zoom, noon-1 PM, Thursday, March 21, 2024.
“WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper continue our work to protect the
Okefenokee Swamp, 85% of which is in the Suwannee River Basin. We conduct
outings for direct exposure, we have gotten city council and county
commission resolutions passed, and we talk to Georgia state
legislators, while expanding the issue into Florida. But the mine
site is in the St. Marys River watershed. So I am very pleased that,
since she’s been St. Marys Riverkeeper, Emily Floore has taken a
strong position and action to support the Swamp and to oppose the
mine,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
Successful boat trials at Action Stage on the Little River!
Videos by John S. Quarterman and Russell Allen McBride for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS).
Thanks to Laura D’Alisera for transfering the new WWALS 9.9hp Mercury fourstroke 20-inch shaft electric start outboard motor ten miles from West Marine in Jacksonville Beach to a shipping location, where Phil Hubbard received it Saturday.
Thanks to Wild Green Future (WGF) for the generous grant that bought it.
Sunday evening, Russell Allen McBride, Shawn O’Connor, Bobby McKenzie, and I
unboxed it, connected it to its fuel supply, and tried it out.
Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper for the jon boat.
With that outboard, the jon boat will indeed go upriver easily under these conditions.
It took only ten minutes to haul Russell in his kayak up the third of a mile from the Little River Confluence to Troupville Boat Ramp.
Also due to WGF, we received an 85lb-thrust Goplus 8 Speed, 36 inch shaft, trolling motor, two
Power Queen LiFePO4 12.8V 100Ah, lithium-iron-phosphate batteries,
and a Power Queen 14.6V 10A LiFePO4 Battery Charger.
Those we put on the WWALS bass fisher chainsawing boat,
plus the old WWALS 40lb-thrust mounted on the front.
Shawn and I demonstrated that the new motor alone will push that boat upstream
in these conditions, and both motors will troll it upstream at a walking pace.
Which is all we need to get back to the ramp from the Confluence during chainsaw cleanups.
We are awaiting a couple more items via the WGF grant. Stay tuned.
This is more preparation for the
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Saturday, March 2, 2024,
starting at Langdale Park.
One hopes that the water level will be well below Sunday’s 148′ NAVD 1988 level, or we may have to reschedule for later.
And also preparation for more chainsaw cleanups on other stretches of this and other rivers.
Next: 9AM Sunday, February 25, 2024, we will take the jon boat from Troupville Boat Ramp
down around the Confluence and up the Withlacoochee River to Langdale Park,
chainsawing any remaining paddle obstacles along the way.
That one will be a bit hard to participate in by paddling.
Three of us cleared boating passage between the Sugar Creek WaterGoat
on the Withlacoochee River
behind the Valdosta YMCA and Wood Valley,
around the future Troupville Nature Park and River Camp,
past the Little River Confluence, then upstream on the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp.
Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading, and his Stihl chainsaw and electric chainsaw,
to Shawn O’Connor for using his polesaw.
I brought the new Husqvarna 460 Rancher 24-inch chainsaw,
paid for through a generous grant by Wild Green Future.
That grant also paid for some other things you will see in the near future.
Today at Troupville Boat Ramp, at 4:30 PM, we will be trying out some of those things.
The big deadfall between GA 133 and I-75 was underwater,
but there were plenty more to work on.
Phil Royce drove an hour from Live Oak, Florida,
and Gary Koch drove two hours from Ocala, Florida,
saying it was better to stop trash upstream.
In addition to regulars Russell Allen McBride and Bobby McKenzie,
Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson came to see us off; he’s second from left in the banner picture.
More on that in a later post.
These pictures are by Phil Royce.
Phil had to leave early, so his portage pictures are before we came along and sawed a river passage.
We got good results for Wednesday for the Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers,
and Franks Creek.
Valdosta’s recent upstream Withlacoochee River results through Wednesday are good.
Rain is predicted for this weekend, through Saturday.
But if there is not much rain, paddling Sunday should be OK.
If you like high water, since the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers are up
from previous upstream rains.
The Santa Fe River is coming back down.
The Suwannee was never especially high.
No sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in
Florida in the past week.
But one was reported in
Georgia.
Ashburn had a spill of 3,000 gallons of raw sewage into Ashburn Branch, which flows into the Little River. Continue reading →
Tom Baird, archaeologist of Tallahassee, Florida, gave the second WWALS Webinar,
this one about the history and archaeology of the Withlacoochee River in Georgia and Florida.
“Tom talked about arrowpoints, fish weirs, spears, atlatls,
mounds, missions, wood mills, and ghost towns, as well as current threats to the Withlacoochee River and archaeological opportunities,”
said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.
Tom Baird is an education consultant who has previously worked as
a high school teacher, community college instructor
(oceanography and microbiology), director of a science and
environmental center, supervisor of science (K-12) in Pasco Co., FL,
Director of Science (PreK-12) in Pinellas Co. FL,
Principal of a math/science/technology magnet high school in
Pinellas Co., FL, and director of a National Science Foundation program.
Tom was introduced by WWALS President Sara Jay Jones,
who received a copy of Tom’s book during the webinar. Continue reading →
![[Map, Boone Drive & Knob Hill 100-gallon sewer spills, Valdosta, GA, 2024-02-20]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-20--valdosta-small-spills/igmany.jpg)
![[BIG Little River Paddle Event, Red Roberts Landing, 2024-04-27, led by Dr. Bret Wagenhorst to Reed Bingham State Park]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-04-27--blrpe/igmany.jpg)
![[Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge: 15 miles]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-21--okefenokee-bills/igmany.jpg)
![[Okefenokee Swamp over proposed strip mine --Emily Floore, WWALS Webinar]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-03-21--wwals-webinar-st-marys-riverkeeper-okefenokee-swamp/igmany.jpg)
![[9.9hp outboard and 86lb thrust trolling motor (thanks, Wild Green Future) and jon boat (thanks, Flint Riverkeeper) and Bass Fisher (WWALS)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-18--boat-motor-tryouts/igmany.jpg)
![[Sawing Hurricane and other deadfalls, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-02-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-11--sugar-creek-troupville-chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/igmany.jpg)
![[Banners, bass fisher, chain saws, Withlacoochee River, Langdale Park to Sugar Creek 2024-02-03]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-03--langdale-park-sugar-creek-chainsaw-cleanup-royce-pictures/igmany.jpg)
![[Chart, Clean Franks Creek and Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers 2024-02-14, Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-14--wq/many.jpg)
![[FB: Banks Lake and painting --Julie Bowland, February 5, 2023]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-24--banks-lake-full-snow-moon-paddle/fbmany.jpg)
![[Paddles Through Time by Tom Baird]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-15--wwals-webinar-tom-baird-videos/fbmany.jpg)