Credit for telling the public, but no credit for a very vague report, in the latest sewage spill in the City of Valdosta.
Every address on Plantation Drive is in the 3300 block, so that locates the spill only within 4,000 feet. Valdosta does know the name of that “local stream,” which is Stillhouse Branch, and where it goes, which is into the Withlacoochee River, upstream from US 41 and Langdale Park.
By “on a golf course” we can deduce the spill must have been Continue reading
Especially thanks to top tier sponsor Georgia Beer Company, and to all the rest, who are listed on this poster for the Contest this Saturday, 1-5 PM, at The Salty Snapper in Valdosta.
Tickets are still $10 online or $12 at the door. Seven headliners and finalists will play for three judges and you, with radio personality Chris Beckham as Master of Ceremonies, with prizes awarded, silent auction, kayak raffle, and food and drink.
Pre-sales will sit closer to the stage. The tables of eight right in front of the stage are sold out, but individual tickets are still available.
Everything else about the Contest is here: Continue reading
These are the seven Finalists who will play live at the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 1-5 PM, Saturday, August 24, 2019, for you and the Judges to hear, so the Judges can select the winners, at The Salty Snapper in Valdosta, GA.
“We got another awesome line up. Glad I’m not a judge,” said Sara Squires Jones, one of the Committee that selected the Finalists.
![[2019-06-23]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-24--suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest/committee-banner.jpg)
You’ll have to wait until the Contest to see the finalists,
so here’s a picture of the Committee that picked the Finalists: l-r, Tom H. Johnson Jr., Laura D’Alisera, Scotti Jay (Chair), Sara Squires Jay, Mary Carolyn Pindar, Eileen Box, John S. Quarterman
In the order we received their songs, with what they wrote about themselves: Continue reading
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Valdosta, GA, August 8, 2019 — Join us for a fun filled day of paddle racing and leisurely paddling on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River. Plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals! We will paddle from State Line Ramp in Georgia, with staggered starts for turnarounds in Florida at 1, 2, and 3 miles, then back to where we started. Tickets are $20 until October 15th, then $30.
“Sign up to race and get a beer for participating!” said Boomerang mastermind Bobby McKenzie. “Thanks to Georgia Beer Company!”
Vendors vested in conservation or stewardship of our waters already signed up include VSU CORE, Boy Scouts, and TNT Hot Dogs. Nonprofit vendors are free, and $20 fee for for-profit vendors.
“This is good ecotourism for Lowndes and Brooks Counties, Georgia, and Hamilton and Madison Counties, Florida,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Maybe we can get a little friendly state-line rivalry going on!”
McKenzie added, “Also another fun opportunity to wear your Halloween Costumes!”
Sponsors get their name and logo on a banner, in announcements, and in flyers, with various other perks at different levels of sponsorship.
Everything about WWALS Boomerang 2019 is here: Continue reading
Update 2019-08-27: Nestlé’s permit is incomplete, says SRWMD, but go ahead and comment anyway so the objections keep piling up.
Nestlé’s permit request to with draw even more massive amounts of water from Ginnie Springs on the Santa Fe River does not explicitly appear in next Tuesday’s SRWMD board packet.
Nonetheless, you can go ahead and ask SRWMD not to approve that permit: OSFR explains how.
Nestlé has long
sucked up water next to Madison Blue Spring
on the Suwannee Withlacoochee River, paying nothing per gallon,
and now Nestlé has bought the bottler at Ginnie Springs
on the Santa Fe River, Seven Springs Water Co., which is
applying for a new permit to pay nothing to withdraw even more water for nothing;
see Cindy Swirko, Gainesville Sun, 1 August 2019,
Permit sought for bottled water from Ginnie Springs.
Gilchrist County
already approved the permit, but the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) has not yet.
This is in Tuesday’s SRWMD packet: Continue reading
Why do we get to find out in the newspaper Tuesday about a Saturday sewage spill that just “occurred”, and didn’t even show up in GA-EPD’s online Sewage Spill Reports until after the newspaper was printed and distributed? Rest assured it’s not Valdosta’s responsibility, according to Valdosta.
![[Pipe under bridge by apartments]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-03--vld-onemile-branch-sewer-spill/67696345_2766494133365915_1683739819844304896_n.jpg)
Pipe under bridge by apartments
Katelyn Umholtz, Valdosta Daily Times, 5 August 2019, Sewer spill occurs near Drexel Park, Continue reading
The winner is: Josh Maichele of Boston, Georgia.
![[Josh Maichele, Gretchen Quarterman, brother]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-07-15--kayak-raffle-winner/20190715_170506.jpg)
Photo: John S. Quarterman, Josh Maichele, Gretchen Quarterman, brother
That’s in the Piscola Creek watershed. He came over to the other side of the Withlacoochee River to collect his prize. Continue reading
Some features were surprising at Dowling Park River Camp, during #PaddleGA2019.
The bathrooms are on wheels! Continue reading
Spooks! Daredevil dry-land kayaker! Bridge climber! Gnarly jerky and the golf cart! Also the Withlacoochee River at Spook Bridge, Knight’s Ferry Boat Ramp, Nankin Boat Ramp, each with road and kiosk signs for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, plus briefly Port-A-Potties at all those places and halfway back up towards Troupville Boat Ramp, and a gopher tortoise, all during Day 2 of #PaddleGA2019.
There were boats. Continue reading
Update 2019-07-24: Free to everyone!
Come help WWALS clean up at Franklinville Landing at Tyler Bridge on Franklinville Road on the Withlacoochee River, and on adjoining private land, courtesy of the landowner. Per our usual arrangement, Lowndes County Public Works will come get the trash after we bag it and set it on the public road right of way. We will also visit the nearby monument to Franklinville, which was the county seat of Lowndes County before Valdosta and before Troupville.
When: 9 AM, Saturday, August 3, 2019
Gather at:
Franklinville Landing, 6560 Franklinville Road, Hahira, GA 31632. in Lowndes County.
Be sure to get to Franklinville Road from the west, from Skipper Bridge Road; you can’t get to the clean up site from Cat Creek Road.
From Valdosta, go north on N. Oak Street Extension, which becomes Cherry Creek Road and then Staten Road. After you cross the Withlacoochee River on Staten Road, turn right on the next paved road, which is McMillan Road. Turn left onto Skipper Bridge Road. After 2.4 miles, turn right onto Franklinville Road, which is a dirt road. Continue to Tyler Bridge, which is closed, so you can’t miss it because you can’t go any further.
From Hahira, go east on GA 122, after 4.2 miles turn right onto Skipper Bridge Road, and after 0.9 miles turn left onto dirt Franklinville Road.
Take Out: Same.
Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. No boat required, although you can bring one to paddle up and down if you want to.
Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members everyone!
We recommend you support the work of WWALS by
becoming a WWALS member today!
For those interested, afterwards go to Langdale Park Boat Ramp for an additional cleanup. That is downstream on the Withlacoochee River, also on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
![[Downstream from bridge, 13:38:58, 30.981386, -83.267655]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2018-02-11--hagan-bridge-franklinville/20180211_133858.jpg)
Downstream from bridge, 13:38:58,,
2018-02-11
30.9813860, -83.2676550,
![[Plantation Drive]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-21--valdosta-plantation-drive-spill/tax-assessor-map.jpg)
![[Thanks Sponsors]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-24--suwannee-riverkeeper-songwriting-contest/Songwriting2019Sponsors-0001.jpg)
![[Simple Flyer]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-26--boomerang/WWALS-Boomerang-Flyer-Simple-2019-0001.jpg)
![[Location Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-13--srwmd-packet/0819-0022.jpg)
![[From below]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-06-20--dowling-park-river-camp/20190620_163824.jpg)
![[Joe Cook and Harold Harbert]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-06-16--paddle-ga-day-2/20190616_094032.jpg)