Tag Archives: VWW

Earth Day online with Waterkeepers Florida 2020-04-22

Update 2020-04-23: Video of WKFL Toast to Earth Day and examples of #SuwanneeCleanup.

Join Suwannee Riverkeeper and all of Waterkeepers Florida tomorrow evening to toast clean water in the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day.

WWALS is also celebrating with a distributed cleanup. Go to any convenient river, creek, spring, or swamp, pick up trash, and post pictures or video with the hashtag #SuwanneeCleanup.

When: 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM, Earth Day, Wednesday, April 21, 2020

Where: Facebook livestream in the facebook event.
We will start a watch party.

Also on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/91684283854
Dial in: +1 929 205 6099 / Meeting ID: 916 8428 3854#

[WKFL Earth Day Toast]

Physical: State Line Boat Ramp, 6461 Madison Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31601
That’s where Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will be speaking.
You can come help clean up, provided you keep six feet apart.
Post pictures or video of yourself, and use #SuwanneeCleanup. Continue reading →

Better Saturday at Knights Ferry, Nankin, Withlacoochee River, but rain 2020-04-18

Update 2020-04-24: OK quality mid-week, but much rain yesterday, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-22.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall got 300 cfu/100 mL E. coli at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp Saturday, and 333 at Nankin Boat Ramp, both on the Withlacoochee River. That’s similar to Thursday at Knights Ferry, and better at Nankin; both not good, but not terrible. See also What do these numbers mean?

But watch out: it rained a quarter inch in Brooks County, Georgia, Sunday. WWALS continues testing and correlating results from various sources with rainfall.

You can help by donating for water quality collection supplies. Even those metal yellow Caution signs cost money. See below for those signs going up during the livestreamed virtual Earth Day cleanup at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp.

[Boaters, Suzy, signs, trash, Bobby]
Boaters, Suzy, signs, trash, Bobby

There were a bunch of boaters, all keeping their distance. They were already aware of the contamination, but did not plan to get in the river water.

Apparently most of the previous contamination had washed down the river, but how far? Continue reading →

Cleaner Withlacoochee, horrid Crooked Creek 2020-04-16

Update 2020-04-20: Better Saturday at Knights Ferry, Nankin, Withlacoochee River, but rain 2020-04-18.

I put back up a WWALS Caution sign at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp yesterday because of recent bacterial results on the Withlacoochee River; our signs are still up at Nankin and State Line. Thanks to WWALS testers and Madison Health, we have a pretty good picture of creeks and Withlacoochee River health yesterday, to add to what Valdosta got Wednesday. More WWALS testing this weekend. You can help.

And you can watch the livestream Saturday morning (probably today when you read this), April 18, 2020, starting at 8AM, as we demonstrate cleaning up and posting water trail signs at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp. Look for the livestream on the facebook event.

[Caution sign]
Caution sign

You can’t see E. coli, but you can see trash, such as this at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Thursday, April 16, 2020. That location had much less E. coli, 233 cfu/100 mL, than only two days before, as did State Line Boat Ramp and CR 150 (Sullivan Launch), but Nankin Boat Ramp had 800 and Florida 6 had 538, just above Madison Blue Spring. Okapilco Creek was OK at US 84, with 166, but Crooked Creek at Devane Road was horrid with TNTC, Too Numerous to Count. See also What do these numbers mean? Continue reading →

Bad quality north Lowndes to state line, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-15

If it was this bad at the state line yesterday, this contamination must be in Florida by now. So watch out Lowndes and Brooks Counties, Georgia, and Madison and Hamilton Counties, Florida.

I am going now to collect some samples, as are some other WWALS testers. You can help.

[Bad from US 41 to state line]
Bad from US 41 to state line
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida data, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.

So after contamination after last week’s rain, the Withlacoochee River was cleaner Sunday and even more so during the week. But that changed much for the worse with the rain yesterday. Continue reading →

Valdosta Sewer System Standard Operating Procedures 2020-03-05

Update 2020-05-01: Valdosta Pump Station Standard Operating Procedures 2020-04-20.

I got two completely different sets of SOPs when I asked Valdosta and GA-EPD for Standard Operating Procedures. Neither of them seem to say anything about the Pump Station that was offline in early December 2019, causing a record raw sewage spill.

[Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Process]
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Process

Towards the end of February, I asked the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) and the City of Valdosta for Valdosta’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as discussed in the January 8, 2020, public meeting about the December 2019 record raw sewage spill from a manhole downstream on Sugar Creek from the Remer Lane Pump Station, which had been left turned off. That was the meeting in which Valdosta City Manager Mark Barber told me to “ask EPD,” so I did, and I also asked Valdosta.

Received from GA-EPD:

That copy of the Consent Order is much longer (66 pages) and more recent (December 9, 2013) than the version (9 pages and September 23, 2013) on the City of Valdosta website and blogged by WWALS in 2018.

[GA-EPD cover letter]
GA-EPD cover letter

Received from the City of Valdosta were Standard Operating Procedures for

Those are all very interesting, but if they say anything about SOPs for the Remer Lane Pump Station (or the Gornto Road Pump Station), I can’t find it.

So I have sent each of Valdosta and GA-EPD another request, this time very specifically for Continue reading →

Cleaner at State Line, Withlacoochee River 2020-40-12

Much better water quality Sunday at State Line Boat Ramp than upstream the day before.

Sunday Suzy Hall got 333 cfu/100 mL E. coli at State Line Boat Ramp, which is merely not very good. That’s way better than the extremely bad result she got at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp Saturday, 15.55 river miles upstream on the the Withlacoochee River. WWALS continues to sample. You can help.

[Withlacoochee River]
All photos by Suzy Hall, Withlacoochee River

Suzy remarked: “Both days plenty of boats enjoying the weather. You see the WWALS sign remains, and looks like it probably needs to. Rain seems to wash uglies downstream.”

[WWALS Signs]
WWALS Signs

There wasn’t any more rain over the weekend, but Monday rain fell from half an inch at US 84 to more than an inch upstream. Continue reading →

Bad water quality at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-11

Update 2020-04-14: Cleaner at State Line, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-12.

The Withlacoochee River looks good, but it’s got E. coli, 17,833 cfu/100 mL at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, results for Saturday, April 11, 2020.

How bad? Horrible, since 410 is bad and 1,000 is alert level. See also what do these numbers mean. Suzy drew water downstream at Nankin State Line Boat Ramp Sunday, and I’m going to collect some elsewhere today. You can help.

[Shoals]
Photo: Suzy Hall, Withlacoochee River at Knights Ferry, Upstream Shoals

Suzy Hall said, “I really thought they were not going to be purple, but they are.” Continue reading →

Sewage spill, Cherry Creek, Valdosta, FOG 2020-04-09

Sewage ran down the ditch from Bemiss Road down Cherry Creek Church Road on Thursday, but there is good news about that.

[Pumping]
Pumping

This is why you don’t want to be flushing any old thing down the drain. Continue reading →

Clean in last results, but watch out after recent rains, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-08

Update 2020-04-13: Bad water quality at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-11.

Good news: the Withlacoochee River has been very clean recently.

But watch out: Wednesday’s rain may have washed contamination into the river.

[This Week]
This Week
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida data, see wwals.net/issues/testing/.

There was about half an inch of rain upstream Wednesday, plus a tornado just across Continue reading →

Cancelled: Florida Counties Task Force meeting with Valdosta City Council 2020-04-08

The meeting of the Valdosta City Council with the Florida Rivers Task Force scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled, according to Task Force Chair Rick Davis just now via telephone.

January announcment of April Task Force meeting

This meeting never actually appeared on Continue reading →