Tag Archives: VWW

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-05-04

Update 2023-05-12: Clean Withlacoochee River, but raining now 2023-05-11.

WWALS tests were clean for Thursday on the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers.

No rain is predicted.

The only sewage spill reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida was a small one in High Springs, Florida, that probably did not affect the Santa Fe River.

Happy boating, fishing, and swimming this weekend.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-05-04]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-05-04

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for last Friday upstream and down. They show bad at GA 133 and US 84, and we have no new results for those sites. Continue reading →

Nankin filthy, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-27

Update 2023-05-04: High Springs small sewage spill, Santa Fe River 2023-05-04.

Nankin Boat Ramp came back really filthy. Everything else was clean, in the WWALS tests for Thursday on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.

It rained a lot on Thursday, so more contamination has probably washed into the rivers, while that Nankin contamination washed downstream into Florida.

For paddling this weekend, I’d go far upstream or try the Suwannee or Ichetucknee Rivers; also for swimming or fishing.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-04-27]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-04-27

By bad at Nankin we mean really bad. As in Too Numerous to Count (TNTC), which is usually more than 25,000 cfu/100 mL of E. coli, where 1,000 is the alert limit. You really don’t want that on you.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are Continue reading →

Clean WIthlacoochee River 2023-04-20

Update 2023-04-29: Nankin filthy, Withlacoochee River 2023-04-27.

WWALS tests were clean for Thursday on the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.

Rain is predicted, but not much.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday week before last downstream. They generally Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-03-30

Update 2023-04-07: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-04-06.

Best to paddle, swim, and fish tomorrow morning. Rains are predicted tomorrow.

But until then, all the water quality tests we have are good, for the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in the past week.

But High Springs had a 150-gallon spill. That small an amount and apparently inland should have no effect on the Santa Fe River or its springs.

Thanks to WWALS tester Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper will talk trash with Valdosta Mayor Scott James, Radio 92.1 FM 2023-03-24

Update 2023-03-24: Videos: Trash, Okefenokee, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting, WWALS Gala on Scott James radio 92.1.FM 2023-03-24.

Friday morning at 8:30 AM, Suwannee Riverkeeper will talk trash with Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson on his radio show, Talk 92.1 FM.
https://talk921.com/

WWALS and the City of Valdosta are doing a cleanup Saturday at Two Mile Branch; meet at 507 Mack Drive and park on Howell Brook Drive. The city is finally moving a bit on trash traps, but there is much more to do, including having the City Marshalls inform businesses of the city trash ordinances, including potential fines and other penalties.

[Radio, Two Mile Branch]
Radio, Two Mile Branch

We’ll also talk about Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-03-16

Update 2023-03-24: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-03-22.

The Withlacoochee and Little Rivers tested clean from Thursday samples.

Beware rain is expected tomorrow evening.

So if you want to boat, fish, or swim this weekend, Saturday morning would be best.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-03-16]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-03-16

Tifton spilled 30,000 gallons of sewage Saturday, March 11, 2023, into a creek that runs into the New River, then the Withlacoochee. That was probably diluted before it got far downstream. Or was it? Valdosta got very high E. coli that Monday, March 13th. There was much rain in between, so something else may have also been washed into the river. See other post. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-03-09

Update 2023-03-17: Clean Rivers 2023-03-16.

Update 2023-03-17: Tifton Evergreen Drive Sewage Spill 2023-03-11.

It rained this evening, but probably not enough to wash much contamination into the rivers, which were very clean before, according to WWALS water quality tests. So I would paddle, fish, or swim this weekend.

Actually, I’ll be at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta Saturday and Sunday.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week. However, Tifton got around to reporting today a spill from a month ago. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-03-02

Update 2023-03-10: Clean Rivers 2023-03-09.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!

That’s what all the recent water quality testing data says. There’s been no rain lately, other than a few scattered showers today, so nothing should have washed into the rivers.

Come on down to Troupville Boat Ramp tomorrow for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle!

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida since the last of Valdosta’s five February spills totalling almost a million gallons.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-03-02]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-03-02

Thanks to Continue reading →

Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Sewage spills, Trash, Okefenokee Swamp over stripmine @ Radio 2023-02-28

All about the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle this Saturday at Troupville Boat Ramp just west of Valdosta, down to Spook Bridge on the Withlacoochee River: Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper talked about that on his 92.1 FM radio show Tuesday.

Plus trash, sewage, and you can help stop a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Bypass, Talk92.1 FM, Two Mile Branch, Lee Street Trash Trap, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson]
Bypass, Talk92.1 FM, Two Mile Branch, Lee Street Trash Trap, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson

Thanks to the Mayor for being a good sport about being grilled about the numerous recent Valdosta sewage spills, totalling almost a million gallons. You can see the bypass pump from his driveway. Continue reading →

Valdosta February 2023 sewage spills, plus Ashburn 2023-03-01

2023-03-02: Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Sewage spills, Trash, Okefenokee Swamp over stripmine @ Radio 2023-02-28.

Valdosta, population 55,567, spilled almost a million (966,970) gallons of sewage in February 2023: that’s 17 gallons for each citizen.

Are we back to the bad old days before the GA-EPD Enforcement Order of 2020? This is the worst period since the notorious December 2019 spill that provoked that Order.

Anybody who sees dead fish in Knights Creek, please let us know.

[Bypass pipe north from US 84, Warning sign on E. Park Av. at Knights Creek, ARWT map to Alapaha River, Sewer bypass under CSX RR at US 84]
Bypass pipe north from US 84, Warning sign on E. Park Av. at Knights Creek, ARWT map to Alapaha River, Sewer bypass under CSX RR at US 84

Ashburn, GA, spilled about a third as much in late January and early February. Given its population is a tenth that of Valdosta’s, Ashburn was worse per capita.

Neither were good for people or wildlife. Zero gallons of sewage spilled should be the goal.

Here are Valdosta’s five February sewage spills: Continue reading →