Tag Archives: USGS

Global Croplands, Suwannee River Basin

You can see on these maps that the Suwannee River Basin is massively agricultural, except where it’s forestry or swamp or other wetlands. Thus it’s no wonder that most of the nitrate runoff problem here is due to agriculture, as shown in the Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs).

Basin Wide, Maps

WWALS Science Committee Chair Tom Potter points to this Global Croplands map to illustrate the BMAP issues. The question remains of whether agricultural best management practices as advocated in the recent BMAP meetings will be sufficient to deal with the problem, considering they haven’t decreased it in the past decade.

Global Croplands About: Continue reading →

Rivers Seven Days After Irma 2017-09-17

Looks like we may finally see Action stage tomorrow on the Withlacoochee River above Valdosta @ Skipper Bridge Road. This is upstream from Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, so it’s a good thing that didn’t spill during Irma. The Alapaha River at Statenville peaked Tuesday and probably would be a fine ride (what shoals?) today. The New and The Santa Fe Rivers are still flooding, and that’s still raising the Suwannee River all the way to the Gulf, and there’s minor flooding all the way up at Fargo, so another surge of high levels may follow on the Suwannee. The I-75 Santa Fe River bridge never did close.

2017-09-17 Withlacoochee River above Valdosta @ Skipper Bridge Road
2017-09-17 Withlacoochee River above Valdosta @ Skipper Bridge Road

The Suwannee River at White Springs peaked Continue reading →

River Gage Projections after Hurricane Irma 2017-09-14

Update 2017-09-15: On the seventh day.

Update 2017-09-15: Added Suwannee River at Wilcox @ US 19, plus another image for the Gage Map.

Hurricane Irma flooded the Suwannee River at White Springs, the Santa Fe River especially at Fort White, with a new record for the New River new Lake Butler. It did not flood the Withlacoochee or Alapaha Rivers.

N2017-09-14 Suwannee River at White Springs
2017-09-14 Suwannee River at White Springs

FDOT says the I-75 bridge over the Santa Fe River Continue reading →

River Gage Projections for Hurricane Irma 2017-09-10

Update 2017-09-15: On the seventh day.

Hurricane Irma is bringing flood levels on on most of the rivers in the Suwannee River Basin. Here are the gages with projections from downstream to upstream, since Irma is coming from the south. The images here are static to show this moment, but click on any image to go through to the live gage.

Suwannee River

Suwannee River at Fowlers Bluff

Suwannee River at Fowlers Bluff

Suwannee River at Branford @ US 27

Continue reading →

Revised Hydrogeologic Framework of the Floridan Aquifer System 2016-03

Salt water intrusion inland is worse than you think, including the “Apalachicola salinity feature” up to the GA-FL line and east through Lowndes County, with a special additional brackish Valdosta feature. Central north Florida is an island of fresh groundwater surrounded by entire saline Florida coast around from Alabama plus across to Brunswick, GA, then again from Savannah up past Charleston. South of Lakeland, FL the map is all red for saline.

Figure 53. Estimated altitude of the 10,000-milligrams-per-liter (mg/L) total dissolved solids boundary, southeastern United States.
Figure 53. Estimated altitude of the 10,000-milligrams-per-liter (mg/L) total dissolved solids boundary, southeastern United States.

Apparently using the data preliminarily mapped earlier in the Florida Well Salinity Study, geologists from three states connected the dots in Revised Hydrogeologic Framework of the Floridan Aquifer System in Florida and Parts of Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, By Continue reading →

Videos, Valdosta Wastewater and Flood Prevention 2016-10-27

The crowd was very attentive to every word about wastewater and flood prevention, with officials from the City of Valdosta presenting in the first of a new quarterly WWALS speaker series. If you didn’t come, you can see and hear in these videos Henry Hicks about wastewater, Emily Davenport about flood prevention, Tim Carroll about solar power, and Sementha Mathews about how to get more information from Valdosta. WWALS Treasurer and acting Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman opened and closed the meeting.

Each talk had many small but important stories, so we will probably blog more posts about those. Meanwhile, here are the videos: see for yourself! Continue reading →

Valdosta wastewater and flood prevention public meeting by WWALS 2016-10-27

New WWTP, 30.8327808, -83.3283234 Update 2016-10-23: Seen from the air.

Update 2016-10-19: PDF flyer.

Come hear about the $60 million in wastewater fixes Valdosta just finished, what remains to be done, and what they’re doing about flood prevention for the entire Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida. You can ask questions in this first of a new WWALS Quarterly Speaker Series, and the people organizing this work will be there to answer:

  • Henry Hicks, Utilities Director, about wastewater
  • Emily Davenport, Assistant Director of Engineering, about flooding, and
  • Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council, about solar power for utilities.

When: 6PM Thursday October 27th

Where: Valdosta City Hall Annex
Multipurpose Room
300 N Lee St.
Valdosta, GA 31601 Continue reading →

Lowndes County to match Valdosta funding for LiDAR flood mapping? 2016-07-11

Valdosta already had an airplane fly over Lowndes County and collect Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data for flood mapping. Will Lowndes County step up and match Valdosta on this project that affects everybody in the county (and downstream into Florida)? Valdosta started this LiDAR project in March 2015, and Valdosta fronted the entire cost to get it done, we know because Valdosta Assistant Director of Utilities Emily Davenport and Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll told us at a meeting Valdosta held at the request of WWALS for interested parties downstream in Florida and from as far away as Atlanta.

On the agenda for the 8:30 AM Monday morning Lowndes County Commission Work Session, item 7.d. Continue reading →

Come on down to Staten Road Bridge and paddle the Withlacoochee River to Langdale Park 2016-03-20

Update 2016-03-24: Pictures.

A few potholes never stopped us from paddling! Because potholes Come on down to Staten Road Bridge 9AM tomorrow, Sunday 20 March 2016; follow this link for details. Yes, Langdale Park will be closed, but VLPRA has made arrangements for us to get in. (facebook event, meetup)

Panorama

Staten Road has always been a put-in for carrying boats Continue reading →

Staten Road, Withlacoochee River, water levels, outing 2016-03-20

This Sunday, 9AM March 20th 2016, come paddle from Staten Road Bridge From high water put-in to bridge past Shadrick Sink and under the North Valdosta Road Bridge to Langdale Park! Follow this link for details. Although Langdale Park will be closed, Parks and Rec. will let us in for this event. (facebook event, meetup) Continue reading →