Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Litte River Water Trail

Filthy Creeks and Withlacoochee River 2025-08-29

All too high: One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, and the Withlacoochee River, upstream and down.

The worst result in Valdosta Utilities’ Friday water quality results was at North Valdosta Road (US 41), upstream from most of Valdosta.

All were above the 1,000 cfu/100 mL alert limit.

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week for the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

There’s a 30% chance of rain today, then mostly sunny Monday and Tuesday.

Friday I said I wasn’t doing daily water quality reports after good Thursday results, but we’d best not ignore these

This is a prime example of why frequent water quality testing, especially by the City of Valdosta, is very useful. Nobody would have known about this contamination without these tests.

I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River for a few days at least, for paddling, fishing, swimming, or boating. Try the Alapaha or the Suwannee River upstream from the Withlacoochee, or farther downstream, or the Santa Fe or Ichetucknee.

[Filthy Creeks and Withlacoochee River after rain, 2025-08-29]
Filthy Creeks and Withlacoochee River after rain, 2025-08-29

Or join us Monday, September 1, 2025, for Little River Labor Day Paddle, Reed Bingham St Pk West Ramp 2025-09-01.

Thanks to Valdosta Utilities for posting their test results on their website, even on a holiday Saturday. So far as I know, Valdosta is the only wastewater permit holder in Georgia that puts its water quality results on its own web pages.
https://www.valdostacity.com/utilities/river-stream-water-quality-data/august-2025-sanitary-sewer-spills Continue reading

WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2025-08-07

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, August 7, 2025.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about the WWALS River Revue with the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025, plus chainsaw cleanups, the Okefenokee Swamp, Springs and Rivers, and water quality testing.

[Spotlight Radio 2025-08-07: WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
Spotlight Radio 2025-08-07: WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/760143599756568/

For more WWALS outings and events, see:
https://wwals.net/outings

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

On The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, WWALS River Revue, and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025-03-06

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, March 6, 2025.
https://talk921.com

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about

[Mayor and Chairman's Paddle, WWALS River Revue, etc. on The Spotlight Show, Talk921.com, Thursday, March 6, 2025, 6-7 PM]
Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, WWALS River Revue, etc. on The Spotlight Show, Talk921.com, Thursday, March 6, 2025, 6-7 PM

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1164828191815898

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and Augusteenth on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2024-08-29

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about the WWALS River Revue with the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, coming up in a week. Also Augusteenth: Juneteenth boating again at Reed Bingham State Park this Saturday. Plus chainsaw cleanups, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Ichetucknee Springs and River, and the water quality testing.

[WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024]
WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, August 29, 2024

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Paddles, Chainsaws, and Okefenokee Swamp on The Spotlight Show, Talk92.1 FM 2024-02-01

Join us on The Spotlight Show on talk921.com at 6 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and “Diamond” Jim Halter will talk about chainsaw cleanups, the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Ichetucknee Springs and River, and the 2024 WWALS River Revue coming up this September.

[Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024]
Suwannee Riverkeeper on The Spotlight Show, 6-7 PM, Thursday, February 1, 2024

https://www.facebook.com/events/792834679536648/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Pictures: Nankin to Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River cleanup and paddle 2019-11-16

A gate, a tire, and bags of trash cleaned up at Nankin Boat Ramp, on the Withlacoochee River, and at Four Freedoms Trail, on our November 16, 2019 Withlacoochee River cleanup and paddle. Plus plenty of shoals, a sunken boat, a creek, McIntyre Spring, cypress knees, and skinned shins, all ending up at the old railroad trestle.

[Three in a row]
Three in a row

Our destination was the old railroad trestle, just past which is the takeout onto the Four Freedoms Trail in Madison County, Florida.

[We made it]
We made it

Parallel trash retrieval missions for a gate and for a tire at Nankin Boat Ramp, under the bridge for Clyattville-Nankin Road. Continue reading

Nankin to Four Freedoms Trail, Withlacoochee River, Cleanup and Paddle 2019-11-16

Update 2019-11-22: Some pictures.

Join us to clean up trash at Nankin Boat Ramp in Lowndes County, Georgia. Bring a boat and join us paddling down the Withlacoochee River, continuing cleanuing up. We will stop at second-magnitude McIntyre Spring in Brooks County, Georgia, which should be flowing fine about now. Thanks to special permission from Madison County, Florida, we will take a few vehicles down to the river at the end of the Four Freedoms Trail to collect an abandoned canoe and other items, and we will take out there.

When: Gather 9:00 AM, launch 10 AM, Saturday, November 16, 2019

Put In: Nankin Boat Ramp, 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.675192, -83.394143

Take Out: Four Freedoms Trail, NE Peppermint Trail, Pinetta, FL, Madison County.

Bring: the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup, especially this one.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

[Upstream, 2019:10:17 15:59:44, 30.6294432, -83.3186451]
Photo: John S Quarterman, Upstream under the abandoned railroad trestle, at the end of Four Freedoms Trail, 2019:10:17 15:59:44, 30.6294432, -83.3186451

Continue reading

Withlacoochee River at GA 122

This is a panorama; click on it to see the full picture.

See also Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail and the pictures I took at Skipper Bridge a few minutes later. There’s a guage at Skipper Bridge, which read 17.66 feet, well above flood level.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Pictures: Withlacoochee River and Sabal Trail @ US 84 2015-08-28

A paddle so brief we went past and had to float back WWALS at the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline crossing 30.7955398, -83.4526749 down the Withlacoochee River to where the Sabal Trail pipeline proposes to cross.

Winnie Wright of WCTV interviewed us at the US 84 bridge median while we were preparing to put in; don’t know if it aired.

Update 2015-08-28: WCTV story online.

See previous post for pictures of the put-in. It has everything: steep rocks, thorny Smilax vines, poison ivy, and wasp stings! Yes, this is Continue reading