Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp 2024-11-02 2024-11-16

Update 2024-11-15: Changed to November 16, 2024, due to schedule conflicts.

Join us, walking between the Little River Confluence and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect.

Hurricane Helene blew down many trees, so we should find plenty of deadfalls.

Nobody has to use a saw of any kind. You can help by photographing, pulling limbs out of the way, or just being there.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, November 2, 2024

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.
 
The water level is well below our recommended low level for paddling, but if you do want to put in a kayak or canoe, you might try sliding it down the sand slope under the GA 133 bridge.

GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536

[Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-11-02, after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp]
Walking Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-11-02, after Hurricane Helene, Troupville Boat Ramp

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Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21

Near Franks Creek and the Little River, not far from the Withlacoochee River.

SUWANNEE-SATILLA

REGIONAL WATER PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING

Announcement Date: October 22, 2024

[Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21 at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Georgia]
Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21 at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, Valdosta, Georgia

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND PARTIES:

The Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council

will hold a council meeting at the following date, time and location:

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Registration: 10:30 A.M. – 11:00 A.M.
Meeting: 11:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.

Note: This Meeting may be attended In-Person or Virtually via the MS Teams Link with Call-In Information Provided Below

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College (Berrien Hall Classroom 229)

4089 Val Tech Road Valdosta, GA 31602

If you are planning to attend the meeting Continue reading

Pictures: Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26

The water level was not too low on the Little River, but it was too low on the Withlacoochee River for the WWALS jon boat with outboard. So, there was no chainsawing.

We’ve been waiting for the Withlacoochee River to get down to a level where we can do a walking chainsaw cleanup. With no rain in sight, it will be plenty low next Saturday, so that will be the time.

[Water too low for jon boat outboard, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26]
Water too low for jon boat outboard, Withlacoochee River, Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26

Thanks to TJ Johnson for driving an hour from Live Oak to get there with chainsaws to lead this expedition, and for helping haul the jon boat back upstream on muscle and trolling motor batteries after the outboard did not restart after Trashy Shoals. Continue reading

New Troupville town historic marker on GA 133 just west of the Withlacoochee River 2024-10-23

It’s back: the Georgia Historical Society marker for the town of Troupville.

It’s on the north side of GA-133 (St. Augustine Road), west of I-75 exit 18, just east of the Withlacoochee River.

[Troupville Town Site Historical Marker 2024, Georgia Historical Society, Plus UDC marker]
Troupville Town Site Historical Marker 2024, Georgia Historical Society, Plus UDC marker

TROUPVILLE

The settlement of Troupville once existed near here, about four miles northwest of present-day Valdosta. The town was named Troupville in honor of George M. Troup, governor of Georgia from 1823 to 1827. In 1833, the county seat of Lowndes County moved from Franklinville to Troupville, which was incorporated in 1837 and continued as county seat until 1860. When the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad, running from Savannah toward Pensacola, surveyed for right-of-way in the area, the proposed route bypassed Troupville. Lowndes County established the new town of Valdosta on the new railroad line. Shortly after train operations began in 1860 the county seat transferred to Valdosta. Early residents of the town include the Ayer, Briggs, Ellis, Griffin, Hall, Howell, Jones, Morgan, Smith, and Treadwell families, many of whom are buried at the nearby Troupville Cemetery.

092-2

Re-erected by the Georgia Historical Society in 2024

1961

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Upstream Withlacoochee River from Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup after Hurricane Helene 2024-10-26

Update 2024-10-27: Pictures.

Kayaks and canoes and jon boats are invited to join the WWALS jon boat with 9.9hp outboard seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect. After Hurricane Helene, there are probably new ones. We will go as far up as we can and have time for with sawing, maybe to the GA 133 Bridge, the I-75 Bridge, or even Sugar Creek.

Nobody has to use a saw of any kind. You can collect trash, photograph, video, pull limbs out of the way, or just paddle.

First we will jaunt downstream past the cleaned-water Outflow of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant and Spring Branch to pick up a couple of PFAS water sample collection devices we planted on September 14. If they’re still there after the hurricane.

If you’re paddling, you can just turn left at the Little River Confluence and go on up the Withlacoochee River.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, October 26, 2024

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

[Upstream Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26, From Troupville Boat Ramp, After Hurricane Helene]
Upstream Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2024-10-26, From Troupville Boat Ramp, After Hurricane Helene

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WWALS Booth at Brooks County Skillet Festival 2024-10-19

It was busy and fun, one of the few festivals that did not cancel after Hurricane Helene: the Brooks County Skillet Festival in Quitman, Georgia, on Okapilco Creek, which runs into the Withlacoochee River.

[WWALS Booth at Brooks County Skillet Festival 2024-10-19 Praying Mantis. Stop the Mine (Okefenokee).]
WWALS Booth at Brooks County Skillet Festival 2024-10-19 Praying Mantis. Stop the Mine (Okefenokee).

Featuring Gretchen’s Praying Mantis.

Thanks to Michael Bachrach and Gee Edwards for helping.

Honorable Mention to Cindy Vedas for attempting to get there.

Special Award to Elleanor Williams for being the new poster child for Stop the Mine too close to the Okefenokee Swamp.
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

For more events and outings, see:
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Hurricane Helene Sewage Spills 2024-09-27

Update 2024-10-06: Corrected location of Valdosta Ponderosa Lift Station (1001 Ponderosa Drive).

Update 2024-10-04: Clean Withlacoochee River after Hurricane Helene, but much flooding and storm damage 2024-10-02.

Tifton spilled 1.375 million gallons of raw sewage during Hurricane Helene, 950,000 into a creek that goes to the Little River, and the rest into creeks that go to the New River above the Withlacoochee River.

Sycamore spilled 350 gallons above Hat Creek, above the Alapaha River.

According to Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes, Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons due to a tree falling on a lift station, above Knights Creek, which goes to Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. He said he has reported it to GA-EPD. Perhaps it will appear Monday in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

[Tifton spilled 1.375,000 gallons, Sycamore 350, during Hurricane Helene. Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons, tree on lift station.]
Tifton spilled 1.375,000 gallons, Sycamore 350, during Hurricane Helene. Valdosta spilled 9,000 gallons, tree on lift station.

I would avoid the directly-affected creeks. But these are all so far upstream of their rivers that the rivers were probably not much affected.

But you might check with Reed-Bingham State Park for their latest lake contamina tion report before swimming there. Continue reading

Rack Cards, ARWT and WLRWT 2024-09-30

After we asked several weeks for input on water trail signs and rack cards, the WWALS Outings Committee provided many opinions.

[Rack Cards for the Alapaha River Water Trail and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail 2024-09-30]
Rack Cards for the Alapaha River Water Trail and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail 2024-09-30

Here are the images that went to press Monday, September 30, 2024. That’s 10,000 copies each for the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT) and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

They’re the same size as the WWALS z-fold brochures for the same water trails. But rack cards are a single sheet, front and back. They are much less expensive to print, so more appropriate for Interstate highway welcome centers and such.

They each have a QR code and a URL for finding more information.

I especially like the ARWT front. Continue reading

Protected: PFAS Sampling Deployment, Withlacoochee River 2024-09-14, Mud Swamp Creek 2024-09-15

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Solar in Brooks County Town Hall 2024-09-12

Tomorrow (Thursday) at 6 PM at the Brooks County Courthouse is a Town Hall for the county to hear from citizens about solar power.

According to a Brooks County Attorney, “At this time there are no active applications for solar in Brooks County. There is a moratorium on solar applications until February of 2025 (unless extended).”

Which of course does not mean there are no applications ready to go in February 2025.

[Solar in Brooks County, Town Hall 6 PM 2024-09-12, Brooks County Courthouse, 100 E. Screven St., Quitman, GA]
Solar in Brooks County, Town Hall 6 PM 2024-09-12, Brooks County Courthouse, 100 E. Screven St., Quitman, GA

Jason Kemp sent two responses yesterday to our open records request for presentation materials for the town hall and any board packet materials for preceding solar proposals in Brooks County. Continue reading