Tag Archives: Sugar Creek

Water issues at Valdosta City Council 2017-03-09

A rare agenda with nothing about water on it does have this, “6. Citizens to be Heard”, which people from anywhere can use to talk about water issues such as sewage and its effects on the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers all the way to the Gulf, coal ash from TVA and Florida, PCBs, and Superfund wastewater in the landfill in Lowndes County, which is a quarter mile upstream from the Withlacoochee River and in a recharge zone for the Floridan Aquifer.

When: 5:30 PM, Thursday, March 9, 2017

Where: Council Chambers, City Hall, 216 E Central Avenue, Valdosta, GA 31601, 30.832961, -83.277471
Too far? Call them up or send them email.

Event: facebook


Photo: Michael Rivera Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

What: Continue reading →

Small Valdosta sewer spills after big rains 2017-01-23

Update 2017-01-25: And also a spill at the WWTP.

Nobody likes sewer spills, but no, these are not the same as before Valdosta’s recent wastewater system improvements: Document-0001 nothing this time came from the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the amounts were small compared to previous years (10-62%) and in far fewer locations.

That didn’t stop WTXL from using this title: Amber Lewis, WTXL, 24 January 2017, Major Sewage Spill Reported in Valdosta,

The City of Valdosta has reported that a large amount of untreated sewage has spilled in the area.

The Florida Department of Health reports that Continue reading →

Details on Valdosta overflows last weekend 2016-04-04

Force main and the new WWTP on line by May!

More extensive overflows than usual last weekend, and now more extensive information about them, in the update Tim Carroll promised, on the City of Valdosta website as City System Impacted by Severe Storms and Regional Watershed. It even starts with schedule details, which say they’re ahead of the schedule I previously posted. This report’s table of overflows has start and stop times and amounts, with the Creeks affected.

It still doesn’t say which river basin they go into. Knights Creek flows into Mud Creek, which goes into the Alapahoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. All the others end up in the Withlacoochee and the Suwannee Rivers. And there are still some unanswered questions. But getting the force main and the new WWTP on line by May is a very good development.

The City of Valdosta is ahead of schedule and plans to bring online nearly $60 million in wastewater system improvements next month. The $35 million Force Main project and the $23 million new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) are both ahead of schedule, and bringing them both online cannot come a day too soon for the city. 

“We are pleased to be in the final stages of construction on both projects. Testing is underway now with full startup expected in late May,” according to Director of Utilities Henry Hicks. “We are also pleased that these projects and other awarded sewer collection system improvement projects underway will resolve all the areas of the city impacted by reoccurring overflows that often follow heavy rains and regional flooding.”

Continue reading →

More Valdosta wastewater spills over the weekend; stay tuned 2016-04-04

Update 2016-04-05: Here are the details, and force main and new WWTP on line by May.

Valdosta spilled more wastewater over the weekend, according to Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll, who called just now. The Withlacoochee River is out of its banks, actually up on the property containing the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), but “according to the experts” not going to threaten the plant. “But lines are underwater”.

Water is not even close to the new WWTP currently under construction, according to Carroll. And the new force main project should deal with much of the manhole overflow problem on the west side of Valdosta in the Withlacoochee basin, for example into Sugar Creek.

On the east and southeast, in the Alapaha basin, Continue reading →

Three more Valdosta wastewater overflows 2016-03-28

Who thought it was a good idea for stormwater to go into Valdosta’s sanitary sewer system? 700 Cypress Street, Valdosta, GA Whoever it was, the current Valdosta Utilities, Engineering, and especially Stormwater Director have to deal with it, frequently. Maybe some of the upwards of $300 million Valdosta is spending on force main, new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, etc., will help with this problem. But none of that will stop rain from falling on Valdosta, and little of it is directed at the Alapaha River watershed in Valdosta, where one of this week’s three spills went.

Come see for yourself where Sugar Creek flows into the Withlacoochee River, this Sunday morning, April 3rd, on the extra WWALS Outing from Langdale Park to the Little River Boat Ramp. And come paddle with us on the Alapaha River Saturday morning April 23rd, from Hotchkiss Road in Lanier County to Mayday in Echols County, upstream from where Knights Creek flows into Mud Swamp Creek, which joins Grand Bay Creek to form the Alapahoochee River, which joins the Alapaha River in Florida. And of course both the Withlacoochee and the Alapaha join the Suwannee River. Valdosta says there’s no significant vestige of its wastewater that far downstream. It would be good to have some independent water quality monitoring to be sure.

I notice Section 5 Mud Swamp Creek Basin of Valdosta’s Master Stormwater Management Plan says: Continue reading →

Ray’s Mill Pond; was Withlacoochee River: Langdale Park to Little River Boat Ramp 2016-04-03

Update 2016-03-31: Rescheduled for Ray’s Mill Pond, due to flood stage on the Withlacoochee River.

Back on the Withlacoochee River in Valdosta, by popular demand from last weekend’s outing! Shuttle: 10 miles or 15 minutes each way We’ll continue next weekend on the next leg down the Withlacoochee River on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

Event: facebook or meetup.

When: 9AM Sunday April 3rd 2016

Put in: Continue reading →

Sewage into Two Mile Branch towards the Withlacoochee River 2016-02-15

I wonder what this “debris” was? And the rags? Anyway, Valdosta has fixed another sanitary sewage spill. Probably if you stay out of the water around 2500 Bemiss Road (south of Northside Drive) you’ll be OK. But you may also want to know where Two Mile Branch goes downstream, and as usual Valdosta didn’t tell us.

HUC boundaries aerial As we recall from Valdosta’s last episode of multiple wastewater spills earlier this month, Two Mile Branch runs into Sugar Creek which goes into the Withlacoochee River, and eventually into the Suwannee River and the Gulf of Mexico. Don’t be surprised if you see a Florida Department of Health advisory like the one earlier this month. Continue reading →

Yet more Valdosta wastewater spills

Maybe soon this February baker’s dozen of wastewater spills will be a thing of the past, but for now it’s deja vu similar to but worse than last February.

300x388 Figure 2.2.5. Sub-basins Areas, in Section 2 Methodology, by City of Valdosta, for WWALS.net, 14 January 2011 It looks like Valdosta has updated, as repeatedly asked, its schedule for wastewater project completion, with the force main project now aimed at July 2016 and relocation of the Withlacoochee WasteWater Treatment Plant (WWTP) for August 2017. See also Valdosta PR 22 January 2016, Withlacoochee Aerial Sewer Mains Replacement Project.

Those schedule changes are mentioned in the most recent Valdosta News. It does not, however, say which watersheds the various spills affect. I have added * for Alapaha River watershed and ** for Withlacoochee River watershed. It’s not that hard, and Valdosta has a water management plan that spells this all out, with maps. One Mile Branch** and Two Mile Branch** flow into Sugar Creek**, which goes into the Withlacoochee River**. Knights Creek* goes into Mud Creek* which goes into the Alapahoochee* River and then the Alapaha River*, eventually joining the Suwannee River in Florida, as does the Withlacoochee. Valdosta Utilities and Public Relations know all that. But why should every citizen, Continue reading →

Two Valdosta sewer spills in Withlacoochee River watershed

What crosses Lee Street and Gornton Road heading to the Withlacoochee River? Aerial Map: One Mile Branch HUCs One Mile Branch and Sugar Creek, but you wouldn’t know that from Valdosta’s press releases.

Valdosta PR 27 October 2015, Grease Blockage Causes Small Sanitary Sewer Spill in City,

At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2015, the City of Valdosta Utilities Department responded to a grease blockage that caused Continue reading →

Valdosta wastewater fixes schedule update

Thanks, Emily and Henry, and to the City of Valdosta for all your efforts. But could somebody please update the schedule on Valdosta’s website?

Subject: COV Sanitary Sewer System Improvement Update

Good afternoon Chris,

Force-Main-Project-Map--August-2015-001 Thank you for reaching out to me today for an update on the sewer improvements that the City has underway. We have continued to make substantial progress since our meeting back in March that you attended. As discussed then, the city has two major projects underway. One is a $36 million dollar Force Main project and the other is a $23 million dollar Plant Relocation. As of today, the Force Main project is 5 months ahead of the July 2016 schedule and the Plant Relocation is 16 months ahead of schedule. Both projects are tracking a timeline to be complete and online around February 2016. Please note that we have not had any overflow or major permit violations at the wastewater treatment plant since making the emergency repairs in February 2014.

Below is a quick summary of an update I recently received in reference to the sewer manhole overflows: Continue reading →