Tag Archives: trash

Pictures: Sugar Creek Beach, Shoals, Limbo Log 2021-07-10

It’s surprisingly lovely, Sugar Creek. It has a great beach, stretches where birds are far louder than traffic, some shoals (thanks to a Valdosta sewer main), and it’s wider in spots than the Alapahoochee River,

It’s a shame it’s always gotten trash and sewage.

Here’s what we’re doing, and how you can help with that and the rest of what needs to be done.

[Beautiful Sugar Creek, but trashed]
Beautiful Sugar Creek, but trashed

Meanwhile, Austin, Texas, is turning its urban Waller Creek into Waterloo Greenway of linked parks and trails down to the Colorado River. Continue reading →

Sugar Creek cleanup 2021-07-10

And the winner in yesterday’s tower of trash was….

[Tower of Trash]
Tower of Trash

Zacados!

We haven’t decided what the winner’s prize is yet.

Bobby McKenzie and Russell McBride staged one of their almost-weekly cleanups at the Sugar Creek logjam below the Salty Snapper on Gornto Road in Valdosta, and netted (literally) this tower of trash. Continue reading →

Suwannee Springs flood debris 2021-01-12

Update 2021-09-23 Flooding on the Suwannee River at Suwannee Springs –SRWMD 2021-09-23.

Many people have wondered when SRWMD will finish cleaning the debris out of Suwannee Springs from the flood last July. Probably in a few weeks, not months.

Yesterday at the invitation of Edwin McCook of the Suwannee River Water Management District I went to see the problem. He and I and his consultant discussed the problem.

As you can see, getting that rammed-in driftwood out of all that dirt and sand would be quite a task to do by hand. Edwin decided to start with larger equipment. The catch is how to get it in there, and what can fit. He and the consultant are working up a plan.

There will still be need for volunteers to do manual cleanup, since the big equipment can’t get everything. Stay tuned, and we’ll let you know when that will happen. It will probably be several weeks yet.

[Down the steps]
Down the steps

Continue reading →

Valdosta catching illegal dumpers, and some new management

Valdosta is actively pursuing the culprits ditching trash and dumping fecal waste into the Withlacoochee River, causing repeated spikes at GA 133.

They say they have even caught some.

And Valdosta has promoted two people: Catherine Ammons of Human Resources to Deputy City Manager of Administration, and Richard Hardy of Public Works to Deputy City Manager of Operations. Hardy is still Director of Public Works, but now he’s also over Engineering and Utilities, which also still retain their same Directors.

We don’t know whether these two news items are related. We do know we’re glad Valdosta recognizes that people downstream will continue to think they’re the cause of every Withlacoochee River contamination incident unless they actively find the real culprits.

Don’t worry: we post positive news about Valdosta when there is some, but we continue to watch them and other possible contamination sources like a hawk.

[Cleanups, Deputy City Managers]
Cleanups, Deputy City Managers

Pursuing dumping culprits

Valdosta PR, December 2, 2020, City Stresses Importance of Reporting Illegal Dumping in Local Waterways (see also Valdosta Today), Continue reading →

River and Creek Cleanup, Lowndes County, Valdosta, and WWALS 2020-10-10

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (See also PDF)

River and Creek Cleanup, Lowndes County, Valdosta, and WWALS 2020-10-10

Hahira, GA, September 8, 2020 — Lowndes County has three rivers, all great for fishing, boating, and swimming, and Valdosta has many creeks. Everyone enjoys our waterways better when they are clean. Here’s a fun opportunity to get outside and clean them up.

[Flyer: Cleanup on three rivers, many creeks]
Flyer: Cleanup on three rivers, many creeks

Lowndes County, the City of Valdosta, and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) are jointly organizing a three-river cleanup in the county, at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River, at Sugar Creek on the Withlacoochee River, and at Naylor Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, plus cleanups in Valdosta on Onemile Branch, Twomile Branch, and Sugar Creek.

Please join us, from 9 AM to 11 AM, on Saturday, October 10, 2020. No boat required, although if you want to bring a boat, there are water cleanup opportunities at each river location and some of the creeks.

Please bring sturdy mud boots or shoes, long pants and clothes that can get wet or dirty, insect repellant, a refillable water bottle, and an emergency phone number. Trash bags and trash pickers will be provided, as well as drinking water and snacks, but bring your own if you can.

Please maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from people not in your household. Please wear a mask when near people not in your household. We will have extra masks.

Events: Facebook, meetup.

The Valdosta Locations are:

Continue reading →

OK quality mid-week, but much rain yesterday, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-22

2020-05-01: Yes, water quality was much worse that weekend, but then, Withlacoochee River good despite dirty creek 2020-05-01.

Five inches of rain Thursday in Brooks and Lowndes Counties means the next water quality results will probably be worse than these charts.

[2020-04-23 NWS Tallahassee Radar]
2020-04-23 NWS Tallahassee Radar

Valdosta’s upstream Withlacoochee River results were pretty good for Wednesday, April 22, 2020, and Madison Health’s downstream results were quite good for Monday, April 20. However, Valdosta’s results were significantly higher at the state line than Madison Health’s, and not very good at Nankin and worse at Knights Ferry. Monday Valdosta got a bad reading on Okapilco Creek and not very good on Wednesday. There is some question as to where Valdosta is sampling Okapilco Creek, but that’s another story.

WWALS will be sampling today so as to have some results tomorrow. You can help by donating for water quality collection supplies.

[Raindown 2020-04-19-23]
Raindown 2020-04-19-23
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida data, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.
See also Continue reading →

Video: Waterkeepers Florida toast Earth Day 2020-04-22

The facebook livestream didn’t happen, but here’s YouTube video of yesterday’s Waterkeepers Florida Toast to Earth Day. Most of the fourteen Waterkeepers of Florida spoke.

And you can still pick up trash for Earth Day and post pictures or videos with hashtag #SuwanneeCleanup, as some WWALS members already did.

The Suwannee Riverkeeper segment is at 6:35.

[Intro]
Intro

I was at the Withlacoochee River at State Line Boat Ramp, 6461 Madison Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31601. You can’t see in the video, but only a few minutes before, the place was hopping with activity: a guy on a very loud four-wheeler, people in SUVs with beers, two trailers pulling out boats, the former police chief of Live Oak, Florida, and a group of young people hiking back from down the river. All declined to get on the boat ramp to be in the video. They were mostly staying apart from other groups.

[Caution signs]
Caution signs

We put up these Caution signs because Continue reading →

Trash at GA 376, Alapahoochee River, Echols County, GA 2019-11-08

Elizabeth Reynolds sums it up in her video with her pictures of the trash at the Alapahoochee bridge: “Way to go, humans!“

Who’s interested in a cleanup?

[Mattress]
Mattress

This is about halfway between Lake Park in Lowndes County and Statenville in Echols County, at the GA 376 bridge on the Alapahoochee River.

It’s also about ten miles upstream from Florida, and about a dozen miles from the Alapahoochee Confluence with the Alapaha River. Continue reading →

Songwriting Contest on Scott James radio show 2019-08-23

Apparently we’re such an institution that Scott James thought tomorrow is our fourth or fifth Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, but actually it’s the Second Annual, 1-5PM, Saturday (tomorrow), at the Salty Snapper on Gornto in Valdosta, GA.

[Agenda]
Agenda

Tickets are still $10 online, which gets you closer to the stage, or $12 at the door. The VIP tables of eight right in front of the stage are sold out, but you can still get individual tickets.

Here’s WWALS radio TV (YouTube) of Scott James and I discussing the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on 92.1 FM WVGA this morning from the steps of the historic Lowndes County Courthouse.

[Hat]
Hat

You can listen to the video, although you’ll hear why Valdosta wants a truck bypass around downtown. So I’ve summarized below what we said. Continue reading →

Waterfalls, rapids, and a lawn chair: Statenville to Sasser Landing 2019-07-06

Nineteen paddlers in fifteen boats braved the early morning deluge, which quit just in time to start paddling the Alapaha River from Statenville Boat Ramp to Sasser Landing, past many waterfalls, quite a few shoals, one real rapid, and an incoming river too fast to paddle up. Even a couple of unexpected boat ramps, one of them concrete.

[Ronnie, Shirley, Fountain, 13:50:02, 30.6253002, -83.0480667]
Ronnie, Shirley, Fountain, 13:50:02, 30.6253002, -83.0480667

Around every corner, a waterfall. Continue reading →