Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

SRWMD negotiating to buy Tanner Springs, Withlacoochee River, Hamilton County, FL 2023-06-13

The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Board will decide whether to negotiate to buy Tanner Springs. This is a second magnitude spring on the left (west) bank of the Withlacoochee River a third of a mile downstream from Madison Boat Ramp and two and a third miles downstream from Madison Blue Spring. It is also known as HAM612981.

[SRWMD Location Map, WWALS Photograph]
SRWMD Location Map, WWALS Photograph

The 40-acre parcel has a 2023 market value of $86,000 and taxable value of $10,284. It was bought October 31, 2013, for $100 by Lena Faye C. Dixon, who wants to sell it to SRWMD.

GoTo Webinar Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3020434738864536413

Public Comment Form Link:
www.MySuwanneeRiver.com/Comments

Open to Public, June 13, 2023, 9:00 a.m., District Headquarters, Live Oak, Florida.

The board packet is on the WWALS website.

There are more images from the board packet below.

Continue reading →

Pictures: Valdosta trash tour with Valdosta Daily Times reporter 2023-02-28

Update 2023-06-14: Videos: Valdosta trash tour again 2023-05-23.

Malia Thomas, reporter for the Valdosta Daily Times, came to see some Valdosta trash locations.

[Trash locations]
Trash locations

You may remember Malia from reporting such as:

Here is a WWALS video playlist from some of the locations we toured. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River, bad Sheboggy on Alapaha River 2023-06-01

Update 2023-06-09: Clean Rivers 2023-06-08.

The Withlacoochee River tested good for Thursday, and the Little River good enough. Rain is predicted, but if you can get in before that, happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.

Or join us tomorrow evening at the Banks Lake Full Strawberry Moon Paddle.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-01]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-01

However, the Alapaha River at Sheboggy Boat Ramp tested bad for Monday. With worse a mile or so upstream below the City of Alapaha sewage settling ponds.

No new sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and for last Friday downstream. Continue reading →

Jennings Bluff Tract State Geological Site, Cedar Keys Formation, and Madison Blue Spring –FGS News and Research 2023-05-01

The May 2023 issue of FGS News and Research by the Florida Geological Survey has several articles relevant to the Suwannee River Basin.

[FGS N&R Madison Blue Spring]
FGS N&R Madison Blue Spring

On the Alapaha River Water Trail, Jennings Bluff Tract in Hamilton County Named as the Seventh State Geological Site covers what we reported from the site at the announcement. See also Continue reading →

New Executive Director, One Valdosta Lowndes 2023-05-23

The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce, host of One Valdosta-Lowndes (OVL), invited WWALS to a reception for the new OVL Executive Director, Mary Beth Brownlee.

[OVL E.D. Mary Beth Brownlee]
OVL E.D. Mary Beth Brownlee

Mary Beth Brownlee was previously with Association County Commissioners of Georgia.

I congratulated her on her new appointment.

She agreed that Troupville River Camp is top of OVL’s project list. Continue reading →

Moody AFB EIS for Comprehensive Airspace Initiative 2023-05-16

WWALS got a paper letter dated May 16, 2023, which says, “The [Department of the Air Force (DAF)] is publishing a Notice of Availablitlity (NOA) in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Comprehensive Airspace Initiative at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The publication of the NOA on 19 May 2023 begins a 30-day waiting period that closes on 18 June 2023.”

[Proposed Action & Alternatives, Moody AFB EIS]
Proposed Action & Alternatives, Moody AFB EIS

Apparently you can still send in comments during that 30-day period, but since there has been a long previous public comment period, it does not seem likely many further changes will be made.

All the documents are available from:
https://moodyafbairspaceeis.com/

They are also available Continue reading →

Okapilco Creek Bridge closed between Pavo and Barney, GA 2023-04-07

It’s actually two bridges closed: over what GDOT calls Brice Pond Tributary Bridge and over Okapilco Creek.

There are detours shorter between Pavo and Barney than GDOT indicates.

Which is fortunate, since the closure is very long: from 7 AM April 11, 2023 to 4 PM July 31, 2024, according to GDOT 511.

[Creeks and Bridges]
Creeks and Bridges

Press Alert, Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), April 7, 2023, Brooks County… Two Bridges on SR 122 Closed Beginning Next Week, Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-05-25

Update 2023-06-02: Clean Withlacoochee River, bad Sheboggy on Alapaha River 2023-06-01.

All clear for the Withlacoochee River for the weekend.

Happy swimming, boating, and fishing!

[Chart, River, Swim Guide 2023-05-25]
Chart, River, Swim Guide 2023-05-25

No rain is predicted for the weekend.

No new sewage spills have been reported. in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Or join us at the Florida Folk Festival, at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, Florida, on the banks of the Suwannee River.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Continue reading →

PFAS fixes to wastewater treatment could keep drug residue out of rivers 2021-08-11

The PFAS problem may cause wastewater treatment that cleans up another bad problem: pharmaceuticals.

Tara Lohan, The Revelator (Center for Biological Diversity), August 11, 2021, What Happens to Wildlife Swimming in a Sea of Our Drug Residues?

Wastewater exposes plants and wildlife to hundreds of chemical compounds. Researchers are learning about potential side effects and solutions.

Effects range from obvious physical defects to behavior change. For example, bold crawfish are not safe crawfish.

[Valdosta WWTP clean outfall, 2023-03-04, 30.8361045, -83.3595411]
Valdosta WWTP clean outfall, 2023-03-04, 30.8361045, -83.3595411

But a different type of contaminant may lead to fixes. Continue reading →

Lowndes County wins Georgia award for litter program 2023-05-15

Update 2023-08-30: Lowndes County Litter Crew, JLH Beach, Folsom Bridge Landing, Little River @ GA 122 2023-08-23.

WWALS congratulates Lowndes County on winning a statewide award for their litter crew. We can attest that boat ramps and other public access points to rivers in Lowndes County are much cleaner since the county litter crew has been picking up there weekly, both on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail and the Alapaha River Water Trail.

We’d also like to thank Lowndes County Public Works for a longstanding agreement that they pick up bagged trash that WWALS leaves at river access points.

[Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp: Lowndes County Litter Control 2021-06-10 (Photo: Bobby McKenzie) and WWALS cleanup 2022-12-17 (Photo: Gretchen Quarterman)]
Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp: Lowndes County Litter Control 2021-06-10 (Photo: Bobby McKenzie) and WWALS cleanup 2022-12-17 (Photo: Gretchen Quarterman)

Malia Thomas, Valdosta Daily Times, May 15, 2023 Lowndes County honored with 2023 Georgia County Excellence Award for litter program,

VALDOSTA — Lowndes County has been recognized with a 2023 Georgia County Excellence Award for its litter program.

Continue reading →