Tag Archives: State Line Ramp

A clean week, Withlacoochee River 2020-05-08

Update 2020-05-16: Clean Withlacoochee River 2020-05-13.

Update 2020-05-14: Withlacoochee River Landings on Swim Guide 2020-05-14.

Last week was clean for the Withlacoochee River, and with no rain predicted, probably this weekend and the coming week, too.

Don’t forget to send in your comment on the GA-EPD Valdosta Consent Order.

But remember, Valdosta is not the source of the recent contamination. WWALS is talking to some of the agricultural sources. Please be patient: agriculture takes months or years to fix.

You can help.

Approaching State Line Ramp —Bobby McKenzie, 2020-05-10

We’ve seldom seen a week this clean. Continue reading →

Video: Earth Day Cleanup and Paddle –Suwannee Riverkeeper & Georgia Power on Scott James Radio 2020-03-12

Update 2020-03-19: Earth Day Cleanup Postponed due to pandemic: WWALS, Georgia Power, Valdosta, and Brooks County, GA, Madison County, FL.

Update 2020-03-14: Much better water quality: Withlacoochee River, Okapilco Creek 2020-03-11.

Joe Brownlee is bringing Georgia Power people and a grill to the Earth Day Cleanup, 8AM, Saturday, April 18, 2020, at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp. This WWALS cleanup is co-sponsored by Georgia Power, the City of Valdosta, and Brooks County, Georgia. Madison and Suwannee Counties, Florida, will be holding Earth Day cleanups that same day downstream on the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers. The cleanups are free. The paddle is $10 per person, or free for WWALS members. No reservation necessary, but please check Going on the facebook event to encourage others to come.

On Air

We also discussed fecal bacteria in the river and the novel coronavirus. But first, we reminded people not to go on the Withlacoochee right now, because it’s Continue reading →

Earth Day Cleanup and BIG Little River Paddle Race on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM Radio 2020-03-12

Update 2020-03-13: Video.

8AM this Thursday morning, Georgia Power Southwest District Director Joe Brownlee and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will visit Scott James on his Talk 92.1 FM radio, to talk about an Earth Day Cleanup on the Withlacoochee River co-sponsored by WWALS, Georgia Power, the City of Valdosta, and Brooks County, Georgia.

When: 8AM, Thursday, March 12, 2020

Where: Talk 92.1 FM Scott James drive-time radio show.
You can listen on the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through several online listening services.

Event: facebook

WWALS and Lowndes County signs at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp.

All about the WWALS Earth Day Cleanup and optional paddle, which is co-hosted by Georgia Power, the City of Valdosta, and Brooks County, Georgia, at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River southwest of Clyattville, April 18, 2020.

And all about the Eighth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race (BLRPR) at Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia, April 25, 2020.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Sugar Creek, Gornto Road, after Valdosta record sewage spill 2019-12-12

Update 2019-12-17: Valdosta and Florida water quality data after Valdosta record raw sewage spill 2019-12-16.

Sara Jay took this video of Sugar Creek at Gornto Road, near The Salty Snapper and the YMCA, on Thursday, December 12, 2019, after Valdosta’s record-largest raw sewage spill.

As you can hear and see in the video, Sugar Creek, which usually runs clear, is cloudy from lime and dark at the edges out of the current.

Edge

Continue reading →

Final Finishers, WWALS Boomerang 2019-10-26

Thanks to Bret Wagenhorst, here are pictures of the last four boats to finish in WWALS Boomerang 2019. Come on down to Boomerang2020, and before that we have a cleanup on the Withlacoochee, a Light Parade at Banks Lake, and of course the Eighth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race, among many other outings and events.

Conn and Trudy Cole of Barwick, Brooks County, Georgia, were in the first and only Canoe.

2:19:28 Conn and Trudy Cole

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman of unincorporated Lowndes County, GA, says he wasn’t trying to win anything, which is good, because Continue reading →

Winners: WWALS Boomerang 2019-10-26

Update 2019-11-13: Pictures of the Final Finishers.

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

Hahira, Georgia, October 30, 2019 — Twice the paddlers this year participated in the Second Annual WWALS Boomerang Paddle Race into Florida and back to Georgia. That’s two dozen paddlers and about fifty people last Saturday at State Line Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

Winner: Russell McBride

“Paddlers from 3 to 69 years old included five parent-child tandems, and three solo children. All were led by overall winner and first male paddler Russell McBride, of Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, in a solo kayak, and first female paddler Jennifer James of Waldo, Alachua County, Florida, on a stand up paddle board,” reported Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie.

Winning in categories were Continue reading →

Pictures: WWALS Boomerang 2019-10-26

Update 219-10-30: The winners.

We’ll announce the winners soon. Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the Second Annual WWALS Boomerang.

Around the bend, 30.6353300, -83.3099100

Special thanks to Hamilton County, Florida, Commissioner Beth Burnam for welcoming all the paddlers to Florida. Continue reading →

Video: WWALS Boomerang on 94.3 FM Fox Radio Valdosta 8AM 2019-10-25

WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman took video of herself and Spencer van Horn on 94.3 FM Fox Sports Radio Valdosta, this morning, talking about the Second Annual WWALS Boomerang paddle race, from Georgia to Florida and back again, coming up 11AM tomorrow (Saturday morning) at State Line Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

How to get tickets, and everything else about the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, from Georgia to Florida and back again, 11AM, tomorrow, Saturday, Octobber 26, 2019, at State Line Ramp on Madison Highway south of Valdosta:
wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-26–boomerang/
WWALS Boomerang facebook event, WWALS Boomerang meetup

Please come early so we can get on the water as soon after 11AM as possible, due to possible showers as the day wears on. Continue reading →

WWALS Boomerang on 94.3 FM Fox Radio Valdosta 8AM 2019-10-25

“Actually, I’ll be on 94.3 FM Fox Sports Radio Valdosta, with host Spencer van Horn, at 8AM this morning, Friday, October 25, 2019,” said WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman, “about the Second Annual WWALS Boomerang paddle race, from Georgia to Florida and back again.” Boomerang on radio show facebook event

Apparently you can listen online via http://foxsportsvaldosta.com/.

Continue reading →

All the WWALS Boomerang sponsors on a banner

All these sponsors like the WWALS Boomerang, and we hope you will, too:

All the sponsors on a banner

Come on down, 11AM, this Saturday, November 26, 2019, to the Withlacoochee River
at State Line Ramp (Mozell Spells, GA 31 Ramp), 6461 Madison Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31601.

Some people will be racing hard, others will just paddle.

Free boat rental from two outfitters, a free Georgia Beer coupon for boat registered, and winners get a nice big tumbler with the race logo.

All about the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, including how you can still get tickets online (or at the event):
wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-26–boomerang

And Gretchen will be talking about it on 92.1 FM Talk Radio, Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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