Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

Datacenter Moratorium Proposed –Hamilton County BOCC 2026-07-08

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On July 22, 2026, a datacenter moratorium comes up for second reading at the Madison County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners, when they can also vote to pass it.

They already read it once on July 8, after working on it for some time before that.

[Datacenter Moratorium Proposed, Hamilton County BOCC, First Reading 2026-07-08, Second Reading & Vote 2026-07-22]
Datacenter Moratorium Proposed, Hamilton County BOCC, First Reading 2026-07-08, Second Reading & Vote 2026-07-22

The agenda and board packet for their Regular Meeting, July 8, 2026, contains a public notice, a recently-passed state datacenter law with highlights on parts applicable to local ordinances, a Business Impact Estimate for the proposed ordinance, a redline version of the ordinance showing changes since its previous draft, and the nine-page datacenter moratorium ordinance itself.

Every county should be as diligent and transparent, no matter in which state.

The east border of Madison County is the Withlacoochee River downstream from Georgia and upstream from the Suwannee River, with first-magnitue Madison Blue Spring in between. Madison County, like all counties in the Suwannee River Basin, is on top of the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink for every purpose.

The ordinance does not explicitly name any of the rivers or springs or the aquifer, but it does include these sections, which are relevant. Continue reading →

Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-11

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We got about half a Withlacoochee River mile downstream from Langdale Park Boat Ramp. We cleared passage through six deadfalls or other obstructions.

Plus a Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea, and we didn’t get pictures but saw a Great Blue Heron, some hawks, a few buzzards, and other birds we couldn’t identify.

We clear passage for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats, leaving plenty of habitat for wildlife.

https://wwals.net/?p=69810

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this expedition, and Andrew Reinlieb for helping.

[Pictures: Langdale Park, Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2026-06-11]
Pictures: Langdale Park, Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2026-06-11

There will be Public Hearing about a proposed communications tower in Langdale Park, at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, after which the Lowndes County Commission will decide.

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/?p=25896

The Valdosta @ US 41 read 4.12 feet (114.42 feet NAVD88), which is lower than our lowest boatable recommendation of 5.7 feet, 116′ NAVD. We picked a day with the lowest recent water level so we could get deadfalls that other wise would be underwater. Continue reading →

Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-11

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Update 2026-07-13: Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-07-11.

Come help us clear passage for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats on the Withlacoochee River.

You do not have to saw. You can pick up trash, photograph, pull aside sawed branches, or just paddle along. Bring a rope for the front of your boat, because with the water this low there will probably be dragging.

We hope to at least get as far as the logjam at the south end of the park, which is about 1.32 river miles, and then we paddle back up.

If we’re really lucky, we’ll get as far as Sugar Creek, which is twice as far. If so, we might take out there, or we might paddle back up.

If we get crazy with the heat, we might even go all the way down and up the Little River to Troupville Boat Ramp, which is 6.7 miles. This is unlikely.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, July 11, 2026

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, At the end of Hyta Mederer Drive, off of 3781 N. Valdosta Road, Valdosta, GA 31602, downstream from the North Valdosta Road (US 41) Bridge, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Saturday, July 11, 2026]
Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Saturday, July 11, 2026

Continue reading →

Madison Blue Spring browned out 2026-06-26

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People were asking me about that, so I called the park.

jsq: Why is the park closed?

Park: Because the spring is browned out.

jsq: Why is it browned out?

Park: Because big rains upstream wash mud down, more than the spring can pump out.

jsq: So it’s just a typical brownout after big rains upstream.

Park: Yes. Should be back open in about two weeks. Will be updated on the website.

[Madison Blue Spring browned out 2026-06-26, It's natural, Many times before]
Madison Blue Spring browned out 2026-06-26, It’s natural, Many times before

It was also browned out in May 2024.

https://www.facebook.com/EconfinaSprings/photos/florida-state-park-admission-is-free-this-weekend-%EF%B8%8F%EF%B8%8F-madison-blue-spring-current/782045814038133/

And no, Floridians, it’s not Valdosta wastewater this time.

https://wwals.net/issues/testing/

And yes, we know about the trash problem.

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/posts/pfbid0TnCsYbWPbXc9XqEJ6TFZPHKbxK5eW7tGq4dvysnrcQDFgrCqt2uDNuDBA2RGCg47l

https://wwals.net/?p=68941

What springs are not browned out?

Here are a couple:

Ichetucknee Springs

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/ichetucknee-springs-state-park

Peacock Springs

https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/wes-skiles-peacock-springs-state-park

Here are some pictures of Madison Blue Spring when it was not browned out.

In the first one, you can see the difference between the tea-colored Withlacoochee River water and the blue spring water. Continue reading →

Verizon tower in Langdale Park? @ GLPC 2026-06-29

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Verizon Wireless wants to put a 159-foot-tall communications tower in Langdale Park, a stone’s throw from the main trail kiosk, too close to White Trail A, and with no demonstration that no existing tower would do, not even an inventory of existing towers.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) will hear this case at 5:30 PM, Monday, June 29, 2026, and the Lowndes County Commission will decide at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

County staff wrote that the application satisfies the requirements of the county’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). Actually, it fails to do so in at least four ways.

[Verizon tower in Langdale Park? Next to White Trail? @ GLPC 2026-06-29]
Verizon tower in Langdale Park? Next to White Trail? @ GLPC 2026-06-29

The GLPC agenda sheet for “8. TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run, 3781 North Valdosta Road, Map and Parcel 0076C-025” says in part: Continue reading →

Pictures: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20

More than 20 boatloads of new paddlers went on Reed Bingham State Park Lake, in Juneteenth, June 20, 2026, by Macedonia Community Foundation and WWALS.

Thanks to Fannie Marie Gibbs for the idea. She was indisposed and could not come. Her grandchildren Andre and Aisha Gibbs and friends and relatives brought the food and the games for children.

WWALS supplied the boats and the stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat: Andrew Reinlieb, Gretchen Quarterman, Scotti Jay, and John S. Quarterman, plus Kimberly Godden Tanner signing people in.

[Juneteenth with new boaters, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20, And food!]
Juneteenth with new boaters, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20, And food!

Here are some video snippets:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/902855629498139/

https://youtu.be/_APnkogCgcg

People seemed to like it. I took the first boatload out soon after the 11 AM start time, and more boatloads of new paddlers were still going well after the nominal 3 PM end time, even after 4 PM.

Georgia State Parks raised the parking rate from to $10. Sorry about that. Other than that, there was no charge.

June 19, 2027, is on a Saturday, so that’s the most likely next time for this Juneteenth celebration.

If you want to know about Juneteenth the event, try this:

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/moments/juneteenth Continue reading →

Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07

We put in at Troupville Boat Ramp and chainsawed a few big deadfalls and some small ones up past Sugar Creek.

[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Up past Sugar Creek 2026-06-07, From Troupville Boat Ramp, And back again]
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Up past Sugar Creek 2026-06-07, From Troupville Boat Ramp, And back again

Thanks to Phil Hubbard for leading this expedition and doing most of the chainsawing.

Thanks to Daniel Reinlieb for riding along, sawing, bailing, and picking up trash.

Here are some video snippets:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/959705457046263/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZxzra9IFZP/

https://youtu.be/eIwdkvY8t6w Continue reading →

Rezoning application for potential datacenter, Coleman Road, Lowndes County 2025-06-30

I keep getting asked for the rezoning application for the potential datacenter site on Coleman Road in Lowndes County.

Please note that there is no application yet for a datacenter in Lowndes County.

The rezoning application for the potential site is in the board packets for the June 30, 2025, Planning Commission meeting and the July 7-8, 2025, Lowndes County Commission meetings.

[Rezoning application for potential datacenter site, Coleman Road North to Withlacoochee River, Lowndes County 2025-06-30, 2025-07-08]
Rezoning application for potential datacenter site, Coleman Road North to Withlacoochee River, Lowndes County 2025-06-30, 2025-07-08

The Planning Commission board packet materials, 2025-06-30

These were obtained from Lowndes County in response to an open records request from Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE):

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/2025/06/packet-two-lowndes-county-rezoning-materials-glpc-2025-06-30.html

In case it’s not obvious, see this file:

https://wwals.net/pictures/2025-06-30-coleman-road-lowndes-county-rezoning-datacenter-site/REZ-2025-11-GLPC-Packet.pdf

Images of each page are below.

They include the relevant pages about the target zoning, M-1 (Light Manufacturing), from the Lowndes County Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). Continue reading →

Dirty Withlacoochee River upstream, clean downstream 2026-05-14

Update 2026-05-17: Withlacoochee filthy upstream; Santa Fe River clean 2026-05-14.

WWALS got bad results upstream on the Withlacoochee River for Wednesday and Thursday at Langdale Park and Staten Road, even though Valdosta Utilities got OK results for Monday downstream at GA 133 and US 84.

WWALS got clean results for Thursday in Florida on the Withlacoochee near the Suwannee.

That pattern looks like first flush, when a big rain washes the woods wildlife have been using as a latrine.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but Tifton had one in Georgia; see below.

I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River upstream of the Little River Confluence.

And considering Colquitt and Brooks Counties, Georgia, got a lot of rain that could wash contamination into Okapilco Creek, I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River in Georgia.

So at your own risk, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, where-ever you can find enough water, and if you can avoid the rains predicted for Sunday.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Dirty Withlacoochee River upstream, clean downstream, 2026-05-14, After recent rains, Paddle at your own risk]
Dirty Withlacoochee River upstream, clean downstream, 2026-05-14, After recent rains, Paddle at your own risk

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07

Update 2026-06-06: OK, we’re putting in at Troupville Boat Ramp and motoring upstream. You are welcome to join us. Will be easiest if you have a motor.

Join us to continue clearing passage on the Withlacoochee River for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats, leaving plenty of wildlife habitat.

You can come photograph, pull limbs out of the way, pick up trash, or just paddle along. Or chainsaw, if you have one and you really know how to use it.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 4 PM, Sunday, June 7, 2026

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 2026-06-07, Langdale Park, Sugar Creek, or Troupville, per water level]
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07, Langdale Park, Sugar Creek, or Troupville, per water level

Continue reading →