Tag Archives: Trudy Cole

Dirty Crooked Creek Wednesday & Friday; Withlacoochee River better in GA Wednesday 2020-02-21

Update 2020-02-28: Madison County fed up with contaminated water –WCTV 2020-02-26

Two of these rows are not like the first, and the middle ones are worst.

[Three sets]
Three sets

The really ugly plates in the middle were made from water collected at the Devane Road bridge over Crooked Creek, just off of US 84, in Brooks County, Georgia, a bit east of Okapilco Creek, upstream of Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

[Crooked Creek Bridge]
Crooked Creek Bridge

You can see these Friday results are even worse than what the Coles saw Wednesday. In this table of results for this week, focusing on Brooks County and downstream, my Friday Devane Road result is up in the range of what Valdosta saw for Monday at Knights Ferry on the Withlacoochee River. My Monday result for Devane Road was actually taken at US 84, and it would appear I was sampling ditch water, not the main creek. We will be using the Devane Road bridge location for sampling Crooked Creek. And if anyone knows a better name for this creek, let us know.

[Crooked Creek quite bad]
Crooked Creek quite bad
The entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of data from three Florida agencies, WWALS, and Valdosta is on the WWALS website.

I even stopped by Valdosta City Hall Friday to compliment them on something. But there is more Valdosta and the state of Florida need to do.

WWALS will keep testing. You can help.

The first row of plates is Continue reading →

Very high E. coli on Okapilco feeder creek 2020-02-19

2020-02-23: Dirty Crooked Creek Wednesday & Friday; Withlacoochee River better in GA Wednesday 2020-02-21.

This very high E. coli count of 5,933 cfu/100 mL can’t possibly be because of Valdosta. And it can’t be because of the Quitman Land Application Site (LAS). What could it be? Well, there are many cows upstream on Crooked Creek. But also a Quitman sewage settling pond. You can help find out what it is.

[Crooked-creek]
Crooked Creek in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

Conn and Trudy Cole took this sample Wednesday, February 19, 2020, for WWALS, at the bridge on Devane Road over what we’re calling Crooked Creek. If anybody knows Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee, Okapilco Creek (mostly), and Little River 2020-02-02

Update 2020-02-08: Clean Withlacoochee River; dubious Okapilco Creek; and rain 2020-02-05.

Even better news: clean everywhere WWALS tested Sunday on the Withlacoochee River, Little River, and Okapilco Creek. If this keeps up, eventually we, and presumbably Lowndes County, will remove our warning signs. We’ll make some inquiries in Quitman while waiting for Lowndes County’s data upcoming this Wednesday.

At least weekly ongoing testing is still needed. What Lowndes County keeps seeing in Okapilco Creek illustrates that while Valdosta is chronically the biggest problem, and Valdosta has some remediation to do, it’s not the only source of contamination. The only way to tell when our rivers are clean or not, so we can market eco-tourism and gradually lift the reputational stigma on our rivers, is regular, weekly, water quality testing.

You can help.

[With reference dog]
Photo: Suzy Hall, of the Withlacoochee RIver downstream of Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, With reference dog.

Suzy Hall tested the 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]
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 →

Boston, GA, Man wins WWALS Kayak Raffle 2019-07-15

The winner is: Josh Maichele of Boston, Georgia.

[Josh Maichele, Gretchen Quarterman, brother]
Photo: John S. Quarterman, Josh Maichele, Gretchen Quarterman, brother

That’s in the Piscola Creek watershed. He came over to the other side of the Withlacoochee River to collect his prize. Continue reading →