Who knows the Ockolocoochee River? No, not the Ochlockonee River; that’s a bit to the west.
You do know the Ockolocoochee River as the Little River, of the Withlacoochee, of the Suwannee.
Here is news from 1889 that also includes the boat that didn’t survive from Troupville to Ellaville, which was apparently not a paddlewheel steamer. Continue reading
This is not a WWALS event, but it sounds fun and we support it. Of the many specific events by GA-DNR Wildlife Resources Division, one is at Paradise Public Fishing Area in our Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. That’s east of Tifton on US 82, near Enigma, in Berrien County, Georgia.
Since the voters approved it in 2006, Georgia has a right of hunting and fishing, in the state Bill of Rights, up there with freedom of speech:
Georgia Constitution, Article I, Section 1, Paragraph XXVIII, The tradition of fishing and hunting and the taking of fish and wildlife shall be preserved for the people and shall be managed by law and regulation for the public good.
Now we can add a Right to Clean Water so fish and wildlife (and people) will have a healthy environment in which to live.
Update 2021-12-19: WWALS will hold a webinar about Rights to Clean Water, Air, Land, and a healthy environment at 7PM, March 10, 2022. Stay tuned for details.
Update 2021-12-18: A new Florida Right to Clean Water statewide petition will be available February 2, 2022, with the aim of getting the amendment on the November 2024 ballot.
Water as a human right will be on the Florida statewide ballot this fall, if enough Floridians sign the petition.
Plus wetlands protection, iconic species protection including the manatee, a ban on new or expanded toll roads, and a ban on captive wildlife hunting. As the website FL5.ORG says: Keep Florida Alive, Sign all 5.
For each petition, that’s 222,898 signatures to get judicial and financial review, and 891,589 to get it on the ballot.
It’s doable: there are more than 21 million Floridians.
![[Sign all 5: Right to Clean Water, Ban new toll roads, and more]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-05-20--fl5/many.jpg)
Sign all 5: Right to Clean Water, Ban new toll roads, and more
This one is the key for the work of Suwannee Riverkeeper. It would make it a lot easier to stop pipelines, mines, and Nestlé and other water withdrawal boondoogles.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FULL TEXT Continue reading
Thanks again to the City of Adel for Resolution #18-02 that they passed on January 16, 2018, in support of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
Also in the big image above you see a new sign for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. More on that, later.
For now, note that the sign has the new City of Adel logo on it. That logo and the signed resolution are courtesy of City Clerk Rhonda P. Rowe.
The text of the resolution we published at the time.
Here is a signed and executed copy. Continue reading
U.S. Rep. Al Lawson Jr, Twitter, 2PM, 14 February 2020, @RepAlLawsonJr,
I sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers to express my concerns about Twin Pines Minerals, LLC’s plan to mine for titanium near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. These actions could have detrimental effects on the area’s biodiversity and natural resources.
AL LAWSON
5TH
DISTRICT,
FLORIDA
ASSISTANT
MAJORITY
WHIP
COMMITTEE ON
FINANCIAL SERVICES
COMMITTEE ON
AGRICULTURE
Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-0905
February 13, 2020
Col. Daniel Hibner
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Savannah District
100 W. Oglethorpe Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31401
Dear Hearing Officer:
I am writing to express my concerns about Twin Pines Minerals, LLC’s application for a clean water (CWA) permit to mine for titanium near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Osceola National Forest, and Osceola Wildlife Management Area. I urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to carefully consider the significant environmental, social, and economic costs that could occur if the permit is granted. It is crucial that the Corps require an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Furthermore, the Corps should reject the permit application if it appears the mine will harm the environment.
If approved, the project would destroy portions of Trail Ridge, which acts as Continue reading
Suzy Hall’s results from Monday samples at Knights Ferry and Nankin are now within Georgia state limits, lower than when I tested there three days earlier, indicating Valdosta’s record-largest sewage spills has indeed moved on to Florida.
Suzy’s E. coli results for Monday, December 30, 2019: Continue reading
Update 2020-01-01: Much cleaner at Knights Ferry and State Line in Georgia; Valdosta Sewage is in Florida 2019-12-30
Apparently the biggest slug of Valdosta sewage passed the state line on December 26, 2019.
Thanks to Chris Mericle for forwarding the December 25 and 26 data from the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD), which I think is getting from from the Florida Department of Health (FDOH). I’ve combined those data in a table with the numbers from December 24, and ordered them from north (upstream) to south (downstream).
Here are the preliminary Continue reading
Update 2019-12-30: Valdosta sewage in Florida 2019-12-26.
Maybe the two inches of rain last weekend are finally flushing the Withlacoochee River and diluting Valdosta’s record-largest sewage spill. E. coli counts from Friday’s testing are down from previous tests. Looks like the contamination is probably mostly in Florida now, so dilution would be good.
![[SL, Nankin, KF, SB, US84, HB, Control, 19:48:15]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-27--wq-hagen-bridge-to-state-line/20191227_194815.jpg)
SL, Nankin, KF, SB, US84, HB, Control, 19:48:15
If E. coli counts continue to drop, and river levels stay up, we will paddle from Troupville Boat Ramp to Spook Bridge on January 18, 2020. You are invited to join us.
Only Knights Ferry Boat Ramp still showed an E. coli count at a worrisome level. Here are the results, followed by some commentary on each site.
| Hagan Bridge at GA 122 | 133 cfu/100 mL |
| U.S. 84 Bridge | 0 cfu/100 mL |
| Spook Bridge | 33 cfu/100 mL |
| Knights Ferry Boat Ramp | 300 cfu/100 mL |
| Nankin Boat Ramp | 133 cfu/100 mL |
| State Line Boat Ramp | 100 cfu/100 mL |
![[Hagan Bridge to State Line]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-27--wq-hagen-bridge-to-state-line/google-map.jpg)
Hagan Bridge to State Line on the
WWALS
map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).
This is not the whole story, because I did not collect test water at the Little River Confluence with the Withlacoochee River, at GA 133, nor at Sugar Creek. A neighboring landowner tells me the Withlacoochee River just below Sugar Creek still smells like sewage. If there are still pockets of sewage there, they could flush loose in later rains and run downstream. We will investigate.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, Georgia, December 19, 2019 — Compelled by the severity of Valdosta’s record raw sewage spill and the expenses and stigma incurred nearby and downstream, Suwannee Riverkeeper for WWALS Watershed Coalition has sent a letter requesting ten enforcment actions to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). WWALS member Deanna Mericle of Hamilton County, Florida, summed it up: “As a person living downstream on the Withlacoochee River in Florida, I feel shat upon by Valdosta over and over. I cannot drink the water from my well. I worry about the health of the river itself and the animals that live in it and drink from it. We in Florida were patient while Valdosta was improving their wastewater plant, which apparently was not adequate since we still have spills when it rains heavily. But this time it was not a rain event. It was gross negligence. I am out of patience. I believe it is time for legal action.”
The Suwannee Riverkeeper letter notes GA-EPD already has a legal action against Valdosta, a Consent Order. WWALS asks GA-EPD to use its enforcement power to require notification, water quality testing, education, and plans and procedures not only for preventing such spills but also for tracking them as they travel down our creeks and rivers and for remediation of effects on wells and reputation.
![[2019-12-17--WWALS-GA-EPD-Valdosta-sewage-0001]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-17--wwals-ga-epd-valdosta-sewage/2019-12-17--WWALS-GA-EPD-Valdosta-sewage-0001.jpg)
2019-12-17–WWALS-GA-EPD-Valdosta-sewage-0001
“Valdosta says it does what GA-EPD tells it to do, so we’re asking GA-EPD to tell them,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Today we’re forwarding the letter to Continue reading
“Just imagine driving up to an entrance to the swamp and seeing nothing but a barren, parched, and arid dead zone,” wrote a local citizen in the Charlton County Chronicle.
You can still comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or write your own letter to the editor.
![[WC6165, 22:38:58]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-24--jim-tatum-southwings-okefenokee-tpm/WC6165.jpg)
Chemours North Maxville Mine, Baker County, Florida.
Photo: Jim Tatum for WWALS on Southwings flight, pilot Allen Nodorft 2019-08-24.
Do not allow Twin Pines to wreak havoc on Okefenokee
Dear Editor, Continue reading
![[Withlacoochee River labeled Suwanee R. in 1823 Irwin and 1834 Lowndes County maps; current WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/1889-01-29--troupville/many.jpg)
![[Logo, Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-24--nhfdayga-dnr/many.jpg)
![[Resolution and WLRWT Sign]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-01-16--adel-resolution-wlrwt/many.jpg)
![[U.S. Rep. Al Lawson to USACE]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-02-13--al-lawson-usace-tpm/Lawson-to-EPA-letter.jpg)
![[Look what we bagged!]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-30--kf-sl-wq-suzy-hall/20191230_155727_resized.jpg)
![[Testing locations]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-16--vld-sewage-release/12-16-2019-SitRep--Valdosta-Sewage-Release_html_b3d0ecfa68756e3d.jpg)