Tag Archives: Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail

Forever chemicals contaminate Withlacoochee River in Georgia and Florida 2022-10-18

Update 2022-12-24: PFAS contamination may be much more widespread than previously known 2022-10-12.

Hahira, GA, October 18, 2022 — A first-of-its kind study by Waterkeeper Alliance found 83% of the waters tested across the country, and 100% of tested waterways in Georgia and Florida, were contaminated by dangerous PFAS chemicals.

“The PFAS levels we found in the Withlacoochee River were lower than most sites in the U.S., but there should not have been any,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “WWALS is working on ways to do more tests to narrow down likely sources and to see how rain events affect the results.”

[Figure 11: bigger circles indicate more contamination]
Figure 11: bigger circles indicate more contamination

The good news: PFAS levels in four test sites on the Withlacoochee River were among the lowest in the study. Still, there are currently no universal, science-based limits on the various PFAS chemicals and their presence is cause for further investigation. For many PFAS chemicals, the EPA has not set a health advisory limit that would give the public a baseline to determine what amount of PFAS is unhealthy in drinking water. In most cases, the EPA is not doing adequate monitoring for these chemicals, which is why these findings are so relevant and important.

The bad news: Continue reading →

Sunday Trash reporting cleanup, One Mile Branch, Valdosta’s Lee Street detention pond, 2022-10-23

Second chance to learn Click ‘n’ Fix reporting and seeclickfix.com followup at multiple locations in Valdosta. Come to Valdosta’s Lee Street Detention Pond at 2 PM this Sunday, October 23, 2022. Pick up trash and get a Rivers Alive t-shirt!

More people involved will improve public health, quality of life, and eco-tourism, while providing community involvement.

We invite all Valdosta City officials, especially Stormwater Division and Public Works, to come instruct us in how it should be done.

We will start at Valdosta’s Lee Street detention pond (highlighted in the map), where the city recently installed a trash trap it made and later added a net. Since Valdosta from time to time cleans that pond out, there should not be much trash in there.

So we will forage farther afield. In addition to trash, we’re looking for trash cans in parking lots: if they’re not there, they should be according to Valdosta’s own ordinances, so you can report them missing.

[Trash trap, map, Lee St. Detention Pond, Valdosta, GA]
Trash trap, map, Lee St. Detention Pond, Valdosta, GA

Continue reading →

Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16

Update 2023-05-19: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2023-06-24.

There must be a better way to order pizza.

[Start, chainsaws, pizza, sandbars]
Start, chainsaws, pizza, sandbars

The good news: we did get pizza delivered on the river during the Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16. We cleared many logjams. Some of them we had sawed at higher water levels several times before. It seemed like we were a relix rock band doing a greatest hit tour. And at twelve hours we beat our record of taking longer than expected.

Our advice if you want to try paddling this stretch with the water this low (3.6′ or 113.8′ NAVD88) on the US 41 (North Valdosta Road) USGS Gauge?

Don’t.

Not unless you want to drag your boat much of the way. Also, stock up on magnesium and vitamin C for the muscle cramps. Continue reading →

One week: WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2022-10-22

One week from now, come paddle from Georgia into Florida and back, Saturday, October 22, 2022. It’s a fun fall event for the whole family, on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River, with one small shoal to make it more interesting. Plus the fastest time gets faster every year.

Today and tomorrow are the last days for the early bird ticket price. That and everything else Boomerang here:
wwals.net/pictures/boomerang2022

Thanks, new sponsors, Ace Electric and promoleaf, plus State Line River Outfitters will supply boats, along with VSU CORE. Thanks again to earlier sponsors, Packaging Corporation of America and Wisenbaker’s Garage. You or your organization can still sponsor to support the advocacy and activities of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity.

[Flyer]
Flyer
PDF

Pick up trash before the race and get a Rivers Alive t-shirt. And there are Boomerang tumblers to all the paddlers, Suwannee Riverkeeper Suwannee Bass t-shirts to top winners, and $100 prize for First Place. Or just come for a fresh air morning on a fabulous river.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

WWALS at Brooks County Skillet Fest, 2022-10-15

Update 2023-10-17: Pictures.

Food and fun in a park. Maybe you’d like to help at the WWALS booth.

[WWALS Booth, Skillet Fest]
WWALS Booth, Skillet Fest

When: 9 AM, Saturday, October 15, 2022

Put In: Brooks County Courthouse, 100 Screven Street, Quitman, Georgia 31643

GPS: 30.785667, -83.559660 Continue reading →

Pictures: Brooks County Skillet Festival 2021-10-15

Always fun at the Courthouse in Quitman, at the Brooks County Skillet Festival.

We’ll be back there Saturday, October 15, 2022. Maybe you’d like to help at the WWALS booth.

[WWALS Booth]
WWALS Booth

The Little River and the Withlacoochee River form the eastern boundary of Brooks County, in the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. Continue reading →

Clean rivers 2022-10-06

Update 2022-10-14: Good water quality 2022-10-13.

So far as we know, from WWALS test results for Thursday, happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

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

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are from Friday a week ago. And those illustrate a problem; see below.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide

WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner got good results at her usual GA 122 sites: Folsom Bridge on the Little River, Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, and Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River.

The rivers are so low she got a picture of the pilings of Old Hagan Bridge. Continue reading →

Pictures: Hahira Honeybee Festival and Parade 2022-10-01

Thanks to the dozen WWALS volunteers who helped at the WWALS booth and in the parade at the Hahira Honeybee Festival, September 30 and October 1, 2022.

[Parade and Booth 2022-10-01]
Parade and Booth 2022-10-01

That’s Scotti Jay in the truck and Sara Jay on the raffle kayak in the parade. Continue reading →

Sponsors: WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2022-10-22

Thanks, sponsors, Packaging Corporation of America and Wisenbaker’s Garage.

[Flyer]
Flyer
PDF

You or your organization can become a sponsor for the WWALS Boomerang paddle race on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River, Saturday, October 22, 2022, from State Line Boat Ramp into Florida and back upstream into Georgia.

If you clean up before you paddle, you will get a Rivers Alive t-shirt. Continue reading →

Valdosta sewage spill into Lake Sheri, Withlacoochee River 2022-09-23

Update 2023-11-09: GA-EPD Consent Order on Valdosta for One Mile Branch fish kill and sewage spills 2023-09-15.

Valdosta had yet another small sewage spill, this time on Friday, September 23, 2022, into Lake Sheri, which drains into the Withlacoochee River just upstream from I-75.

[Report and map: Valdosta Lake Sheri sewage spill 2022-09-23]
Report and map: Valdosta Lake Sheri sewage spill 2022-09-23

Most likely that spill was too small to affect the river, but those poor people who live on Lake Sheri, which already had three sewage spills upstream this summer.

The GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report for Monday, September 26, 2022 shows that 1,250 raw sewage spill as Continue reading →