Come clean up trash along Azalea City Trail in Valdosta. Start near the notorious Wainwright Drive manhole on Sugar Creek, and go upstream and downstream.
When: 10 AM, Sunday, March 16, 2025
Put In: Wainwright Drive between Baytree Drive and Brookhaven Drive, and maybe also downstream, in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
GPS: 30.84287, -83.30113
![[Azalea City Trail Cleanup 2025-03-16, Start at Wainwright Drive, One Mile Branch]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-03-16--one-mile-branch-cleanup/fbmany.jpg)
Azalea City Trail Cleanup 2025-03-16, Start at Wainwright Drive, One Mile Branch
For the Withlacoochee River this week, WWALS got good results upstream and down, and Valdosta Utilities got good results for the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 and US 84.
We have no new water quality test results for Sugar Creek. Chances are that the previous sewage spill has washed out, although more testing would be good.
WWALS got excellent results for the Alapaha River at Naylor Park Beach.
No new sewage spills were reported in Florida or Georgia.
Saturday is supposed to be mostly rainless, before thunderstorms Sunday. River levels are good.
So happy fishing, swimming, paddling, and boating Saturday!
![[Clean Alapaha and, Withlacoochee Rivers, 2025-03-05, 2025-03-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-03-06--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Alapaha and, Withlacoochee Rivers, 2025-03-05, 2025-03-06
Join us tomorrow for the
Troupville Withlacoochee Upstream Chainsaw Cleanup 2025-03-08
https://wwals.net/?p=67153
Or come on down to the WWALS Booth at
Azalea Festival, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-08.
https://wwals.net/?p=67089
And Saturday week join us for the
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle.
https://wwals.net/?p=66833
TJ Johnson from Live Oak, FL, and I sawed a few deadfalls, and Tish Hall from Lake Park, GA, cleared brush and got some trash, on the Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River upstream from Troupville 2025-03-04.
![[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2025-03-04, upstream from Troupville, Got a few deadfalls]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-03-04--withlacoochee-upstream-troupville-chainsaw-cleanup-pictures/igmany.jpg)
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2025-03-04, upstream from Troupville, Got a few deadfalls
We gnawed on the infamous CiHiG (Cut It Here, I Guess) Deadfall yet again.
A bit downstream from there we got through a deadfall that had been diverting boats sharp around a cypress with knees, where the WWALS jon boat more than once has canted 45 degrees.
The Valdosta Gauge read 120.27 at noon Tuesday.
Tish Hall gets the good sport award for helping tow the jon boat up the Little River when the 9.9 hp outboard would not start and the 86lb-thrust trolling motor wasn’t quite strong enough.
That outboard is annoying: day after day it started and ran no problem in a bucket back at the ranch. But when we needed it on the river, it would not start.
I left it at Winsel’s Boats to see if he can fix it.
Oh, and I did use the 24-inch Husqvarna chainsaw that Wild Green Future’s grant bought for WWALS. Nobody got any pictures, so I guess you can just believe me. Would have gone faster if TJ hadn’t kept saying stop, you’re getting water in the boat.
Phil Hubbard and I may try chainsawing another time or two this weekend, depending on water levels and thunderstorms.
Also this weekend, come see the WWALS Booth at the Azalea Festival
in Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA.
If you’re a WWALS member, maybe you’d like to help at the booth.
https://wwals.net/?p=67089
Yes, we will announce the final route for the March 15 Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle
by Monday.
https://wwals.net/?p=66833
For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading
Come out Tuesday morning before the rains, start at Troupville Boat Ramp, down around the the Little River Confluence and up the Withlacoochee River towards Sugar Creek, seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect.
Thanks to TJ Johnson for coming up from Live Oak, Florida, to lead this one.
Looks like the water will be about a foot higher than last time, when we were stopped by the CiHiG (Cut it Here, I Guess) Deadfall, so this time we should be able to get up over that one to see what’s upstream.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602. I-75 exit 18, west on GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) away from the Valdosta Mall, at the traffic light for Val Tech Road, turn left down to the boat ramp, in Lowndes County.
![[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, upstream from Troupville, Saturday, March 4, 2025]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-03-04--withlacoochee-upstream-troupville-chainsaw-cleanup/fbmany.jpg)
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, upstream from Troupville, Saturday, March 4, 2025
Update 2025-03-07: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-03-06.
Update 2025-03-01: Ashburn spill locations and causes in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2025-02-26.
We have no new water quality test results for Sugar Creek. However, since there has been no rain, chances are it’s not bad.
Meanwhile, Valdosta Utilities got good results for the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 and US 84.
And WWALS got excellent results for the Withlacoochee River at Holly Point, down near the Suwannee, for Franks Creek at GA 122 west of Hahira, and for the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach.
No new sewage spills were reported in Florida or Georgia, although GA-EPD did post some clarification about the most recent Ashburn spills; stay tuned for a separate post about that.
Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be sunny. The Withlacoochee River is still a bit high, but not if you know what you’re doing.
So happy fishing, swimming, paddling, and boating this weekend!
![[Clean Franks Creek, 2025-02-26, Clean Alapaha & Withlacoochee, Rivers 2025-02-27]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-02-27--wq/many.jpg)
Clean Franks Creek, 2025-02-26, Clean Alapaha & Withlacoochee, Rivers 2025-02-27
Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends.
When: 9 AM-6 PM, Saturday, March 8, 2025
9 AM-5 PM, Sunday, March 9, 2025
Put In: Drexel Park, 1401 North Patterson Street, Valdosta, GA, 31601
![[Azalea Festival, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-08-9]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-03-08--azalea-festival/fbmany.jpg)
Azalea Festival, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-08-9
Update 2025-02-28: Clean Franks Creek 2025-02-26 and Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-02-27.
We do not have any updates on Sugar Creek, but the recent rains probably washed more contamination into it.
Valdosta Utilities got too high E. coli downstream on the Withlacoochee River at GA 133 for Wednesday. But OK results farther down at US 84.
Upstream on the Little River at US 82 west of Tifton, WWALS got too high for Monday.
Ashburn had yet another small sewage spill Friday a week ago, at the usual location of Rockhouse Road and Sylvia Drive, into Hat Creek, which goes to the Alapaha River.
“On Sunday, February 16, 2025 at approximately 6 PM,” Chemours spilled approximately 230,000 gallons of process water from its Trail Ridge South Mine east of Starke, Florida, upstream of the Santa Fe River. Stay tuned for a separate report.
The Withlacoochee River is in Action Stage at and above Valdosta and at Pinetta.
If you’ve got a power boat and stay below the Little River Confluence, the volume of rainwater probably makes the Withlacoochee River relatively clean. I wouldn’t recommend kayaks or canoes unless there’s more than one of you and you really know what you’re doing.
Paddling or fishing or swimming (if you like cold) would be better on other rivers this weekend. At least the weather prediction is sunny and warmer than it has been recently.
WWALS Internet and Tester Samantha Carr sampled the Little River at US 82 west of Tifton on Monday. We’re going with Suzy Hall’s interpretation of Samantha’s slides: 8+7+13 * 100 / 3 = 933 cfu/100 mL. That’s higher than the 410 one-time test limit. Continue reading
Hahira, Georgia, February 19, 2025 — Back again on the first Saturday in September, it’s the WWALS River Revue, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia. Featuring food and drink, speakers and new songs about waterways in the Suwannee River Basin. Plus a silent auction and plaques and prizes for the songwriting winners.
WWALS President Sara Jay Jones said, “it will be even more fun this year!”
There will be food and drink while you listen to speakers about the Suwannee River Basin.
You can bid on items in the silent auction.
Tickets are $65 each.For how to sponsor or provide an item for the silent auction, follow the QRcode or go to wwals.net and scroll down to WWALS River Revue.
WWALS Board member Scotti Jay Jones said, “Don’t forget the music!”
A headliner will play, followed by finalists in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. Song submissions will open April First (no fooling). Three judges will decide who wins in several categories of songs about waterways in the Basin or Estuary.
Organizing Committee member Janet Martin said, “Maybe you’d like to join the organizing committee!”
Continue readingUpdate 2025-02-21: Valdosta Sewage Spill Reports: Jackson Drive, not Street, and Sugar Creek 2025-02-17.
Valdosta’s Sugar Creek tested even worse Friday after the Thursday rains, as expected.
The Withlacoochee River downstream at State Line tested pretty clean, with the volume of river water diluting the creek contamination. Also, apparently nothing washed from Quitman out of Okapilco Creek, or it was diluted or had not yet reached the GA-FL line.
![[Filthy Sugar Creek, Friday, February 14, 2025, Clean Withlacoochee River at State Line]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-02-14--wq/many.jpg)
Filthy Sugar Creek, Friday, February 14, 2025, Clean Withlacoochee River at State Line
WWALS tester Suzy Hall for Friday got 1,800 cfu/100 mL E. coli at the WaterGoat below Berta’s Kitchen parking lot. That’s well above the 1,000 alert limit, and almost four times her Wednesday result of 466, which was above the one-time test limit of 410.
So something is still washing out of Sugar Creek during rains such as the inch or more that fell on Valdosta Thursday. Probably it is just residual sewage sludge from the months-long Sugar Creek sewage spill. The Valdosta Utilities bypass is still in place, and we can hope that was the only leak on Sugar Creek.
More rain is falling today (Sunday), so best to continue avoiding Sugar Creek.
Join us Sunday, February 23, for another chainsaw cleanup,
assuming the Withlacoochee River has gone back down enough by then:
https://wwals.net/?p=66972
Update 2025-02-16: Filthy Sugar Creek, Clean Withlacoochee River at State Line 2025-02-14.
Sugar Creek wasn’t as horrible this week as last, but it still tested too high in E. coli at Gornto Road and downstream for Wednesday.
That was before an inch or two of rain Thursday, which most likely washed more contamination into Sugar Creek and on into the Withlacoochee River.
![[Dirty Sugar Creek & Clean Withlacoochee 2025-02-12, Clean Alapaha River 2025-02-13, Before the rains]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-02-13--wq/many.jpg)
Dirty Sugar Creek & Clean Withlacoochee 2025-02-12, Clean Alapaha River 2025-02-13, Before the rains
But Valdosta Utilities got good results for the Withlacoochee River both upstream and downstream of Sugar Creek.
And WWALS got excellent results for the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach.
One new sewage spill was reported in the last week in
Georgia,
by Ashburn, into Hat Creek upstream on the Alapaha River.
See other post:
https://wwals.net/?p=66982
None were reported in Florida.
Saturday is supposed to be partly sunny, with thunderstorms Sunday.
So other than near Sugar Creek, happy fishing, swimming, paddling, and boating this weekend, before the rain!
We did cancel the chainsaw cleanup tomorrow, due to high water level and Sugar Creek contamination.
But there’s another one on Sunday, February 23:
https://wwals.net/?p=66972
![[Bad Little River 2025-02-17, Bad Withlacoochee River 2025-02-19, Ashburn Spill 2025-02-14, Chemours Mine Spill 2025-02-16]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-02-19--wq/many.jpg)
![[WWALS River Revue 2025 logo]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-06--songwriting/WWALS-River-Revue-2025.jpg)