Tag Archives: Valdosta GA

Clean Franks Creek 2025-02-26 and Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-02-27

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]
Clean Franks Creek, 2025-02-26, Clean Alapaha & Withlacoochee, Rivers 2025-02-27

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Azalea Festival, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-08

Update 2025-03-09: Pictures: Azalea Festival 2025-03-08.

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

GPS: 30.846771, -83.285066

[Azalea Festival, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-08-9]
Azalea Festival, One Mile Branch, Drexel Park, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-08-9

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Ashburn Spill 2025-02-14, Chemours Mine Spill 2025-02-16, Bad Little River 2025-02-17, Bad Withlacoochee River 2025-02-19

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.

[Bad Little River 2025-02-17, Bad Withlacoochee River 2025-02-19, Ashburn Spill 2025-02-14, Chemours Mine Spill 2025-02-16]
Bad Little River 2025-02-17, Bad Withlacoochee River 2025-02-19, Ashburn Spill 2025-02-14, Chemours Mine Spill 2025-02-16

Little River

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 →

Food and drink, speakers and song: WWALS River Revue 2025

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 River Revue 2025 logo]
WWALS River Revue 2025 logo

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.
https://app.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2025

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 reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek, Clean Withlacoochee River at State Line 2025-02-14

Update 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]
Filthy Sugar Creek, Friday, February 14, 2025, Clean Withlacoochee River at State Line

Sugar Creek

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

Continue reading →

Dirty Sugar Creek, clean Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers 2025-02-13

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]
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

Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River and New River clean, Sugar Creek Dirty 2025-02-06

Update 2025-02-14: Five days of changes in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2025-02-14.

A step backwards: Sugar Creek tested too high in E. coli at Gornto Road for Wednesday.

It’s not as high as in many weeks, but still above the alert limit. And there had been no rain to wash anything into the creek.

So, what’s going on? Is there another leak? Or a glitch in the sewage spill bypass?

[New River clean 2025-02-02, Withlacoochee Clean 2025-02-06, Sugar Creek, Dirty 2025-02-05]
New River clean 2025-02-02, Withlacoochee Clean 2025-02-06, Sugar Creek, Dirty 2025-02-05

WWALS and Valdosta Utilities got good results for the Withlacoochee River both upstream and downstream of Sugar Creek.

And WWALS got OK results for the New River downstream (south) of Tifton at GA 125 in Berrien County.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the last week in Georgia or Florida.

No rain is predicted for the next five days, with warm sunny weather this weekend.

So happy fishing, swimming, paddling, and boating this weekend!

Or join us at Troupville Boat Ramp for a Withlacoochee River chainsaw cleanup on Saturday, January 8:
https://wwals.net/?p=66873

Or another one on Sunday, January 9:
https://wwals.net/?p=66892 Continue reading →

Cancelled: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River upstream from Troupville 2025-02-15

Update 2025-04-01: Try again: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River upstream from Troupville 2025-03-04.

Update 2025-02-14: Outing cancelled due to high water and Sugar Creek contamination. Join us instead for Withlacoochee River Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup 2025-02-23.
https://wwals.net/?p=66972

Join us between the Little River Confluence and Sugar Creek on the Withlacoochee River seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect.

Thanks to TJ Johnson for coming up from Live Oak, Florida, to lead this one.

If we’re lucky and we’ve finished this stretch in previous chainsaw cleanups, we’ll switch to Langdale Park downstream.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, February 15, 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.

GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536

[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, upstream from Troupville, Saturday, February 15, 2025]
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, upstream from Troupville, Saturday, February 15, 2025

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6th Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle Set for March 15, 2025 –City of Valdosta PR 2025-01-28

City of Valdosta press release:

The City of Valdosta and Lowndes County are excited to announce the 6th Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, a collaborative event promoting clean waterways and outdoor activity. This year’s paddle will take place on Saturday, March 15, 2025, beginning at Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

[6th Annual Mayor Chairmans Paddle]
6th Annual Mayor Chairmans Paddle

Participants are encouraged to gather at the boat ramp at 8 a.m., with the paddle officially starting at 10 a.m. The event offers two options for paddlers: a two-hour trip to Berta’s Kitchen or Sugar Creek or a full four-hour journey ending at the Troupville Boat Ramp. Along the route, paddlers will travel under the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge, past the Wood Valley Subdivision, Sheri Run, and under the I-75 and GA 133 highway bridges.

This annual event highlights the community’s commitment to environmental stewardship and the importance of maintaining clean and healthy waterways.

Continue reading →

Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle: Langdale Park to Troupville, Withlacoochee River 2025-03-15

Update 2025-03-10: Rescheduled due to low water to March 22, Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle: Troupville to Spook Bridge, Withlacoochee River 2025-03-22.

Join us for a leisurely paddle on the Withlacoochee River: three miles to Sugar Creek with early takeout, and another four miles to Troupville Boat Ramp, around all the river frontage of the land recently purchased by Lowndes County for Troupville River Camp and Nature Park.

Paddle with Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter. Shuttle vans provided by Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA). Thanks to a generous grant from Georgia Power, this outing is free for everyone.

Boats: Bring your own if you have it.
VSU CORE Outdoors will bring some boats for free.
To reserve a boat, please use this eventbrite ticket:
https://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=1272573675119

When: Gather 8 AM, launch 10 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, March 15, 2025

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Langdale Park to Troupville 2025-03-15, Early Takeout Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee and Little Rivers]
Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Langdale Park to Troupville 2025-03-15, Early Takeout Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee and Little Rivers

Safety: Be on time. If you miss the safety briefing, you cannot paddle with us.
Each person in a boat, no matter how young or old, must wear a PFD. Continue reading →