Tag Archives: Suwannee River

Rivers Task Force meeting, Lake City, Florida 2019-04-25

Agenda (PDF):

AGENDA
MIDDLE AND LOWER SUWANNEE RIVER AND
WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER TASK FORCE

April 25, 2019
4:00 p.m.

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard
Lake City, Florida

  1. INVOCATION
  2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
  3. INTRODUCTIONS
  4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – February 28, 2019*
  5. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES
    1. Florida Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee Testimony
    2. Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary and Governor’s Staff Meeting
    3. Joint Task Force and City of Valdosta City Council Workshop
  6. WATER SAMPLING SCHEDULE AND DATA
  7. NEXT STEPS

* See Attachments

Agenda, Meeting

See also:

Cypress Creek South (CR 6) to Cone Bridge, Suwannee River, 2019-05-04

Update 2024-05-14: Pictures: Cypress Creek South (CR 6) to Cone Bridge, Suwannee River 2019-05-04.

Rescheduled due to low water. Now we’re starting at Cypress Creek Launch on CR 6, and paddling to Cone Bridge Ramp.

A quiet, tranquil 9.4 mile section of the Suwannee River on a paddle appropriate for paddlers of any level.

When: Gather 9:00 AM, Launch 9:30 AM, Saturday, May 4, 2019

Put In: Cypress Creek South Launch @ CR 6. From White Springs, Travel north on CR 135 to SR 6, turn right; travel east to the bridge. At the foot of the bridge, turn left onto road shoulder and follow the road to the river.
From Valdosta, GA, travel south on I-75 to exit 460 for FL-6 toward Jasper, FL; travel east 11.4 miles, turn right to stay on FL 6. Continue through Jasper onto Hatley Street, which becomes CR 6. Continue 14.5 miles to the left turnoff just before the Suwannee River.

GPS: 30.50737, -82.71711

Take Out: Cone Bridge Ramp. From Lake City, travel north on US 441 to NW Cone Bridge Road; turn left and follow road to ramp.

Bring: a rope to drag your boat, the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.

Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Photo: John S. Quarterman, Cypress Creek South Launch, 2016-09-05
Photo: John S. Quarterman, Cypress Creek South Launch, 2016-09-05.

This paddle is on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail (SRWT). Continue reading →

Videos: Florida Counties meet Valdosta about sewage in rivers and wells 2019-04-10

Update 2019-04-13: Added Task Force Resolution.

Everyone in the dozen downstream Florida counties wants to help Valdosta finish fixing its sewage problems, and all were impressed with the thoroughness of the presentations by Valdosta Utilities Director Darryl Muse. There was even an offer to contact federal representatives and agencies from the elephant in the room, Ken Cornell of Alachua County, which contains half the population of the dozen Task Force Counties (and twice the population of Valdosta and Lowndes County),

[Ken Cornell, Alachua County, offers assistance]
Ken Cornell, Alachua County, offers assistance

Mayor John Gayle said “Valdosta is privileged to be a regional city”, serving eighteen counties and benefitting from sales taxes of all those who shop in Valdosta, and later offered assurances that Valdosta was doing everything it could.

[Assurances --Mayor John Gayle]
Assurances –Mayor John Gayle

They could answer the question from Beth Burnham of Hamilton County about reporting times: less than 24 hours to the state of Georgia.

[Hamilton County Commission District 1 Beth Burnham]
Hamilton County Commission District 1 Beth Burnham

Nonetheless Continue reading →

Videos and slides: Suwannee Riverkeeper @ Live Oak Woman’s Club 2019-04-05

Last Wednesday, I invited the Live Oak Woman’s Club to the meeting in Valdosta this Wednesday evening between elected officials of the dozen downstream Florida counties and Valdosta.

[FL Counties Rivers Task Force in Valdosta 2019-04-10]
FL Counties Rivers Task Force in Valdosta 2019-04-10

I talked about all the items on the alides, plus some topics raised by questions from the audience.

For example, they were horrified to hear that (according to GA-PSC), AGL did not follow its own corporate procedures to investigate the Homerville, GA pipeline gas explosion. Eileen Box mentioned that the source of AGL’s gas, Southern Natural Gas, also has a pipeline that runs through her property in Suwannee County.

Most of the attendees at the Live Oak Woman’s Club had not heard that Sabal Trail leaked gas at its Hildreth Compressor Station in Suwannee County in September 2018, and they were not pleased to learn Sabal Trail took a week to get around to telling FDEP about that.

[Img36]
LNG and FERC

They wanted to know about liquid natural gas (LNG), and they were again horrified to learn that Continue reading →

Defeat Suncoast Connector 2019-04-05

Please call your Florida state legislators to ask them to oppose a toll expressway across the Suwannee River, and maybe even across the Santa Fe or Ichetucknee Rivers. Instead, let’s do Amtrak passenger trains for better transportation and solar power for jobs and lower energy prices.

Map, Suncoast Connector, Defenders of Wildlife
Suncoast Connector, Defenders of Wildlife

This boondoogle would come up from Citrus County to Jefferson County. That’s all the bills (SB 7068 or HB 7113) say about the route.

Defenders of Wildlife has a corridor map that shows Suncoast Connector coming from Crystal River in Citrus County, through Gilchrist and maybe Alachua Counties, possibly crossing the Santa Fe River into Columbia County and the Ichetucknee River into Suwannee County. It would have to cross the Suwannee River somewhere, maybe into Dixie or Lafayette or even Madison County, heading on through Taylor County to Monticello in Jefferson County.

Here’s a better way to improve transportation in the Suwannee River Basin: revive Amtrak through Madison and Lake City. The tracks are already there, so Continue reading →

Deese-Howard Ramp to Gibson County Park, Suwannee River, 2019-06-01

Update 2019-05-22: Moved by the Outings Committee to Allen Ramp on the Withlacoochee River to Suwannee River State Park.

This is a 12 mile paddle on the Suwannee River. We will meet at Deese-Howard Public Boat Ramp at 8:30 to unload kayaks and gear before the 12 mile shuttle to Gibson County Park begins at 9 a.m. You will probably need to use the Lat/Long coordinates with your GPS to find the ramp easier.

We will pass Holton Creek River Camp, where we will stop for a break and a swim.

Just before the takeout this section of the river also includes the Alapaha Rise, an interesting natural feature that is worth the short side trip.

When: Gather 8:30 AM, Launch 10AM, Saturday, June 1, 2019

Put In: Deese Howard Boat Ramp, 107th Road, Live Oak, FL 32060, Suwannee County.

GPS: 30.41439, -82.96292

Take Out: Gibson Park Ramp, 6844 SW CR 751, Jasper, FL 32052. From Jasper, Hamilton County, FL, travel southwest on SW CR 249 to SW CR 751; turn left and boat ramp is on the right in Gibson County Park, in Hamilton County.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Alapaha Rise,
Photo: Beth Gammie, of Alapaha River Rise, on Southwings flight for WWALS with pilot E.M. Beck, 2016-11-23.

Continue reading →

Pictures: Wild Azalea Festival, White Springs, FL 2019-03-16

A new festival to WWALS, and one of the smaller ones, but very friendly. The Mayor of White Springs came by to welcome us and then to invite us back, as did one of the city council members, at Wild Azalea Festival. Oh, and the musicians were astonishingly good. We invited them all to the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 24 in Valdosta; submissions open April 1, 2019.

Songwriting Contest, Talking

Note the Songwriting Contest flyers. Each one is backed by a flyer for the BIG Little River Paddle Race.

Hanging pictures, Setting up

Continue reading →

Video: WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman on Charlie Walker Radio 2019-03-13

In eight minutes she talked about the BIG Little River Paddle Race, the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, on the air with Charlie Walker, KIX 99.5 Country Radio, plus Paddle Georgia, and all the other events and outings.

BIG Little River Paddle Race

“That’s our signature event,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, about the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race.

On the Air, Gretchen Quarterman

It’s our seventh year. It’s at Reed Bingham [State Park]. We paddle from Continue reading →

Cone Bridge, Big Shoals Portage, to Suwannee Wayside Park, Suwannee River, 2019-05-04

Update 2019-04-18: Due to low water, changed to Cypress Creek South (CR 6) to Cone Bridge, Suwannee River, still May 4, 2019.

This 15.6 mile paddle includes a strenuous portage around Big Shoals, the biggest whitewater rapids in Florida and paddling over a smaller set of rapids at Little Shoals. Due to the portage which involves climbing up and down steep, sandy banks with kayaks, carrying kayaks 300 feet and lifting over downed trees, this trip is listed as difficult. You must be physically able to get back into your kayak on the slippery edge of this swift moving section of the Suwannee River. We help each other as much as possible, but ultimately you are responsible for your boat. We will take a break at the shoals and enjoy the outstanding view. No one is paddling over the shoals and this portage is the only way around.

When: Gather 8:30 AM, Launch 10 AM, Thursday, May 4, 2019

Put In: Cone Bridge Ramp, From Lake City, travel north on US 441 to NW Cone Bridge Road; turn left and follow road to ramp in Columbia County.

GPS: 30.445156, -82.670845

Take Out: Suwannee Wayside Ramp, From White Springs, travel south on US 41 to the river; the ramp is on the south side in the town park. Hamilton County.

Bring: a rope to drag your boat, the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.

Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, Cone Bridge Boat Ramp, 2015-11-22
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, Cone Bridge Boat Ramp, 2015-11-22

This paddle is on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail (SRWT). Continue reading →

Valdosta Sewage Spills Workshop at Florida Senate 2019-03-20

A Florida Senate Committee has scheduled a Workshop on Valdosta Sewage Spills.

Table, Committee

The same session this Wednesday afternoon will hear three water bills, SB 1100 about funding water well testing, which is relevant to the recent detection of E. coli in for example Hamilton County wells, SB 1758, which includes some changes to Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) requirements and requirements for wastewater treatment plants to notify customers of unlawful discharges, and SB 1552 about Red Tide mitigation.

Event: facebook, meetup

Florida Senator Bill Montford, District 3 When I went by Senator Bill Montford’s office last Wednesday, his staffer said they would be scheduling this workshop, with public input. They have done so. Senator Montford is the Chair of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. His District 3 includes Hamilton, Madison, and Taylor Counties, all of which are members of the twelve-county Florida Rivers Task Force and signatories on its Resolution asking for assistance from Florida and Georgia about Valdosta sewage spills. The Withlacoochee River, into which much of Valdosta’s raw sewage spills have gone, is the border between Madison and Hamilton Counties, and the Alapaha River, into which basin other Valdosta spills have gone, runs through Hamilton County. Taylor County is not on either of those rivers nor on the Suwannee River, yet its economy is affected by the stigma of Valdosta’s sewage spills.

The Florida Senate, COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICE,

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Senator Montford, Chair
Senator Albritton, Vice Chair

MEETING DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 2019

TIME: 4:00—6:00 p.m.

PLACE: Mallory Horne Committee Room, 37 Senate Building [404 S. Monroe, Tallahassee, FL 32399]

AMENDMENT DEADLINE: Continue reading →