Tag Archives: Suwannee Riverkeeper

Six Songs of the Suwannee Basin 2026-08-27

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Hahira, Georgia, August 27, 2026 — We got six fine songs about the crystal clear Ichetucknee River spring water with its wild turkey and deer flowing into the Santa Fe, and about the dark blackwater of the Suwannee River, with its gators, herons, ghosts, and memories.

“So fine, the organizing committee decided you can hear all six next month at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, in WWALS River Revue” said Sara Squires Jones, Chair of the organizing Committee.

That’s 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the Lowndes County 4-H Club, in Lake Park, Georgia.

[Six Songs: Bear and Robert, Saylor Dollar, Tom Brown, Sweet William Ennis, KC Nayfield, Robert Thatcher]
Six Songs: Bear and Robert, Saylor Dollar, Tom Brown, Sweet William Ennis, KC Nayfield, Robert Thatcher

“Before you hear the songwriters, you get a sit-down dinner with cash bar, two speakers, and a headliner, plus a silent auction,” said WWALS Board president Gee Edwards.

Read all about it here:

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026

“Your ticket or sponsorship or silent auction item helps with the advocacy and activities of WWALS,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

What happens when you cross a folkie with a bluesman? You get Continue reading →

Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage –Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25

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Sabal Trail tried to sneak under the radar, as usual.

Received yesterday via email:

Dear Sabal Trail Land Acquisition Team,

[Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage --Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25]
Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage –Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25
Map: her location in the WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT).

I received your voicemail requesting an in-person meeting and property survey.

As stated in my previous correspondence dated August 24, 2026, I do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage. Because our formal objection, structural constraints, and pre-existing water and land infrastructure have already been clearly outlined and filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), an in-person meeting will not change our position.

Continue reading →

Denial of Survey Consent, etc., Kira Pollock to FERC about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24

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Update 2026-08-26: Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage –Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25.

Kira Pollock is the first to file a complaint with the FERC about Sabal Trail’s plan to gouge a second pipeline next to the one they built a decade ago.

She lives in the middle of Suwannee County, Florida. It’s Accession Number 20260824-5071 in Docket CP15-17-000 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

That’s the old Sabal Trail docket, and nothing else has been filed in it since May 2025. The 2025 activity was just regular reports and a request and grant of extension of time for Sabal Trail Phase III. That’s an old project that was already delayed several years. It was to expand capacity of the old pipeline by a small amount.

This Sabal Trail Expansion Project would approximatly double the amount of fracked methane.

As previously mentioned, The only “economic development” I can see that would cause this is hyper-scale AI datacenters.

[Denial of Survey Consent, Kira Pollock to FERC, about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24]
Denial of Survey Consent, Kira Pollock to FERC, about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24
Map from Suwannee County Property Appraiser.

You can send in your own comments, so nobody can say there were no objections. Just go to ferc.gov -> FERC Online -> Login -> New User and make yourself an account. Then go to FERC Online Home -> eComment and comment in Docket Number CP15-17-000.

Here’s what she wrote:

Kira Pollock, Live Oak, FL.

PARCEL ID: 34-03S-13E-08739-000290 – Denial of Survey Consent, Formal Objection & Structural Constraint Notice – Sabal Trail Expansion Project (Quail Hollow)

Dear Sabal Trail Land Acquisition Team,

I am writing to share some important neighborhood feedback and formally log my concerns regarding the proposed Sabal Trail Expansion Project study corridor as it relates to my property and our immediate neighborhood within the Quail Hollow subdivision in Suwannee County, Florida. I understand that your team is currently in the planning and information-gathering phase, so I wanted to reach out cooperatively to bring some significant physical, structural, and hydrological bottlenecks in our neighborhood to your attention so we can avoid issues down the road.

After reviewing the track of your current 36-inch mainline easement Continue reading →

Diesel spill, Racetrac, US 84, I-75 Exit 16, Valdosta 2026-08-22

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A truck this afternoon leaked quite a bit of diesel into a storm drain at the Racetrac on US 84, West Hill Avenue, just west of I-75 Exit 16, Valdosta Georgia.

That’s near the Briarwood Road exit from the Racetrac service station. That area drains into Mud Swamp Creek, to the Alapahoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers.

According to Racetrac staff inside, who were reviewing CCTV video, the spill started about 2:30 PM and the Valdosta Fire Department was there by about 3:30 PM.

I was alerted to this event by texted pictures from a WWALS member at 4 PM. And I got there about 5:15 PM. VFD personnel did not have an estimate of gallons spilled.

Valdosta City Engineer Ben O’Dowd responded at 6:39 PM, “EPD was notified immediately following the incident by VFD as well as the gas station and are coordinating cleanup directly with the responsible party.”

[Diesel spill, Racetrac, Valdosta, GA, US 84, I-75 Exit 16, 2026-08-22, Drains to Mud Swamp Creek, Alapahoochee, Alapaha, Suwannee Rivers]
Diesel spill, Racetrac, Valdosta, GA, US 84, I-75 Exit 16, 2026-08-22, Drains to Mud Swamp Creek, Alapahoochee, Alapaha, Suwannee Rivers

Here are some video snippets.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/27808538962171760/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcXIVPFoe1q/

https://youtu.be/8RdEQEXXhYY

There are more images below.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Continue reading →

Local Development Authority of Irwin County 2026-08-18

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The Local Industrial Development Authority of Irwin County on August 18, 2026, apparently for the first time. Supposedly there are nine members, but they were not all present.

They didn’t say anything until the very end about datacenters, which was why this board was formed. This meeting was entirely about attorney, officers, bylaws, training required by the state, and next meeting: 8 AM, Tuesday, September 8, 2026.

[Local Development Authority of Irwin County 2026-08-22, Apparently its first meeting, Maybe appointed July 6]
Local Development Authority of Irwin County 2026-08-22, Apparently its first meeting, Maybe appointed July 6

This Authority was approved by the Irwin County Commission on June 3, 2026.

As near as I can tell, the members were appointed at the July 6 County Commission meeting. I cannot find any agenda nor minutes on the Irwin County website for that July meeting.

Will Spicer sent this report and video from the August 18 meeting. My edits are marked with [square brackets].

The video:

https://youtu.be/_6cc70LBtFE

The report:

All,

I went to the inaugural meeting of the Development Authority of Irwin County tonight. It was held in a small board room in a building about 1 block from the hospital. I gather this space belongs to the Hospital Authority and it is used for hospital board meetings.

In attendance were [7 of 9 of the new board’s members. Clockwise from the end of the table: Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-08-19

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The Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers tested clean this week.

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia, but there was an update on the August 5 Tifton spill.

So according to the results we have, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, if you can avoid the rains.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers, No new sewage spills, Happy paddling 2026-08-19]
Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers, No new sewage spills, Happy paddling 2026-08-19

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 →

Full Hunter’s Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-10-26

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Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle on our mini-Okefenokee, Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just west of Lakeland, Georgia.

This Outing is honoring Farmers, who get free entry.

When: Gather 6 PM, launch 6:30 PM, moonrise 7 PM, sunset 6:50 PM, end 8 PM, Monday, October 26, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Hunter's Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2026-10-26]
Full Hunter’s Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2026-10-26

Continue reading →

Videos: Full Hunters Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2025-10-06

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The moon rose before the sun set over Banks Lake. Not just any moon: a supermoon. The moon’s orbit is not a circle, and it was the closest it ever comes, appearing 18% larger than some other times.

Thanks to Kimberly Godden Tanner for leading this paddle. A little drizzle didn’t stop us. The bats didn’t come out, but we heard them in their tree.

Video:

https://youtu.be/0ba4Qj6Y1Ds

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/1480346073300582/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DPmBkixiHE6/

[Full Hunters Moon Paddle, Banks Lake NWR, West of Lakeland, GA, 2025-10-06]
Full Hunters Moon Paddle, Banks Lake NWR, West of Lakeland, GA, 2025-10-06

There are more pictures below. Continue reading →

Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on Scott James radio 2026-08-13

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Last call, songwriters, tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19, 2026:

https://forms.gle/fihLNVC2xbD1SXBB6

Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman discussed the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest last Thursday at the Mayor’s day job, the radio show he owns and hosts on talk921.fm.

Songs can be about any waterbody in the 10,000-square mile Suwannee River Basin or Estuary in Georgia or Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, or Suwannee Rivers, or the Okefenokee Swamp, or any other river, creek, swamp, or sink. Plus underground waters such as the Floridan Aquifer.

Songwriters can be from anywhere; they come from as far as Tennessee and south Florida.

[Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by August 19, on Scott James radio, Finalists play September 12, 2026]
Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by August 19, on Scott James radio, Finalists play September 12, 2026

Here are WWALS videos from that radio show:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2118859655696045

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcL-5a7I2nc/

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSTFinxTNQsw&si=u4CDRXlSjW5tCIl6

Once we get those last few songs from the procrastinating songwriters, the organizing committee will select Finalists.

The Finalists will play at WWALS River Revue, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the Lowndes County 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, on Long Pond.

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026

When you buy a ticket, you get to hear them along with the three judges, who will select the winners.

And you get a sit-down dinner with cash bar, Headliner Joe First, who is last year’s winner, and two speakers:

  • Amy Sharma of Science for Georgia, talking about hyper-scale AI datacenters.
  • Rick Davis, Chair of the dozen-county Florida Task Force, talking about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the currently-hibernating scheme to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee Basin.

Plus a silent auction! Continue reading →

Florida Governor Candidates: Clean Water Questionnaire –WWALS 2026-08-17

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Here’s what six people running for Florida Governor have to say about clean water. The other candidates did not respond.

We got a variety of answers about WFNF, desalination, potable reuse, WMDs, datacenters, and RTCW. For what these candidates wrote about those and other issues, see below.

[Florida Governor Candidates, Clean Water Questionnaire, WFNF, Datacenters, WMDs, etc. --WWALS 2026-08-17]
Florida Governor Candidates, Clean Water Questionnaire, WFNF, Datacenters, WMDs, etc. –WWALS 2026-08-17

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is conducting a Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire: #WWALSCleanWaterQuestionnaire

We already reported responses from statehouse District 9 and District 10, and also U.S. Congress Florida District 2.

For much more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

If you are a candidate for state or national office in Florida this year, in the Suwannee River Basin, we sent you a questionnaire. If you didn’t get it, please let us know.

https://wwals.net/donations/contact/

Primary Election Day is tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18. Continue reading →