Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers 2025-10-02

Update 2025-10-10: Clean Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers; mostly clean Withlacoochee River 2025-10-09.

WWALS testers found the Alapaha, Suwannee, and Santa Fe Rivers clean within the past seven days, and the Withlacoochee River clean upstream and downstream.

But according to Valdosta Utilities Sugar Creek was again filthy, and the Withlacoochee had too much E. coli downstream of Sugar Creek at GA 133. And One Mile Branch was above the 410 one-time-test limit at Wainwright Drive, but not downstream at West Gordon Street. There hasn’t been much rain. Are there still one or more undiscovered sewage leaks in the City of Valdosta?

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

Storms are predicted this weekend, but mostly in the afternoon.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, But if you can beat the rain, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Clean Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, Clean Withlacoochee up and down, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-10-02]
Clean Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, Clean Withlacoochee up and down, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-10-02

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 →

Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism meeting in Valdosta 2025-10-15

Update 2025-10-18: Video: Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism meeting in Valdosta 2025-10-15.

Update 2025-10-14: Updated agenda and list of Georgia State Senators on the Study Committee.

Update 2025-10-03: Clarification:
This event is primarily for the invited people in the tourism industry.
Please note the breakfast has only enough for the invitees.
You can also watch the speakers in the livestream, so you don’t have to come to see what they say.

Suwannee Riverkeeper is supposed to speak for five minutes to a Georgia Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism.

Suwannee Riverkeeper is supposed to speak for five minutes to a Georgia Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism.

That will be at 9 AM, Wednesday, October 15, 2025,
at the Rainwater Conference Center, 1 Meeting Place Valdosta GA 31601-7710.
That’s between I-75 Exits 16 and 18.

[Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism, Rainwater Conference Center, Valdosta, GA, 2025-10-15]
Senate Study Committee on Making Georgia the No. 1 State for Tourism, Rainwater Conference Center, Valdosta, GA, 2025-10-15

The five Georgia state Senators on the Study Committee are:

  • Senator Drew Echols (R–Gainesville, District 49), Chairman,
  • Sen. Sonya Halpern (D–Atlanta, District 39),
  • Sen. Frank Ginn (R–Danielsville, District 47),
  • Sen. Russ Goodman (R–Cogdell, District 8),
  • Sen. Emanuel Jones (D–Decatur, District 10).

The local powers that be are not advertising this meeting, but the Georgia Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus is:
https://www.gacvb.com/senate-study-committee

There doesn’t seem to be any facebook event by the state, county, or city, so here’s one by WWALS:
https://www.facebook.com/events/796397306306784/

I’m listed under Arts & Education Tourism, so I might as well mention the WWALS River Revue and Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, as well as the education component of the future Troupville Nature Park and River Camp.

This committee was completed by Senate Resolution 323, which includes:

WHEREAS, Georgia has beautiful vistas and natural resources meant to be seen and savored, including mountains, canyons, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, and beaches; and

Well, let’s talk about the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle and the Alapahoochee River chainsaw cleanup with the surprise dead gator. Plus the Banks Lake Full Moon paddles, and the Suwannee River and Okefenokee Swamp campouts and paddles in November and December.

Also: Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Camps on-land tour 2025-09-27

Many thanks to Edwin McCook, formerly of SRWMD, who invented the Suwannee River Camps, and Nic Brown, who is in charge of them at Florida Parks, as well as Shell Simmons for assisting.

Even more thanks to Lowndes County, Georgia, Chairman Bill Slaughter and Paul Batts of Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA) and his wife Melanie for attending.

[Suwannee River Camps, on-land tour 2025-09-27, Dowling Park River Camp, Adams Tract River Camp]
Suwannee River Camps, on-land tour 2025-09-27, Dowling Park River Camp, Adams Tract River Camp

The visitors got to hear from the experts how Florida does it. Many topics were discussed, from access to finances. Continue reading →

Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers 2025-05-25

Update 2025-10-03: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers 2025-10-02.

WWALS testers found the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers clean this week.

Upstream of the Withlacoochee River, WWALS got surprisingly high E. coli results on Cat Creek and Beatty Branch for Thursday samples. Beatty Branch water at Cat Creek Road smelled like cattle manure. More tests will be necessary to see where that is coming from.

WWALS found Sugar Creek OK. But Valdosta once again got much higher results for Sugar Creek, Meanwhile, Valdosta and WWALS results upstream at US 41 and Langdale Park were pretty close together. And this week’s WWALS Sugar Creek results are similar to last week’s WWALS results. We’ve never seen this kind of discrepancy between Valdosta and WWALS results before.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee GA 133 was OK by Valdosta, which is strange considering Valdosta’s Sugar Creek results.

Valdosta had a tiny 2,000-gallon sewage spill onto dry land Monday at its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). No other new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Downstream from the WWTP at US 84 was OK by Valdosta. A WWALS test was even better farther downstream on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

There was no rain for a week before these samples, but it rained later Thursday, and more rain is predicted this weekend. So more contamination may wash into the waterways.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, But if you can beat the rain, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream]
Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream

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 →

Foraged Wreath Make and Take 2025-12-13

Join floral artist Amanda Hall-Phillips for a hands-on wreath-making workshop using natural, foraged greenery—think cedar, pine, eucalyptus, seed pods, cones, vines, and other beautiful finds from our own woods and waterways. You’ll learn how to identify local plants, build a lush, oversized wreath, and style it for the season.

It’s fun and educational. For example, the venue is in the watershed of Sugar Creek, which has had many sewage spills on the way to the Withlacoochee River.

And you’re helping all that WWALS does, including water quality testing!

When: Gather 10 AM, launch NA, end 12 PM, Saturday, December 13, 2025

Put In: Wood Valley Community Center Pavilion, 1907 Gornto Road, Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.849573, -83.323239

[Foraged Wreath Make and Take, Fundraiser 2025-12-13, Amanda Hall-Phillips, Wood Valley Community Center]
Foraged Wreath Make and Take, Fundraiser 2025-12-13, Amanda Hall-Phillips, Wood Valley Community Center

Continue reading →

Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, with a Bluegrass song, Ellaville. 2025-09-06

Thanks to Bacon James, for writing a song and playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.

And thanks for digging into Suwannee and Withlacoochee River history about Ellavile, the town where George F. Drew had his sawmill, with a boom across the mouth of the Withlacoochee River, to catch logs floated down the river.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

“I’m Bacon James—singer-songwriter and frequent supporter of environmental causes and organizations. I love being in nature, playing and writing music, and generally trying to be too clever for my own good.”

[Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, Bluegrass song, Ellaville, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025]
Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, Bluegrass song, Ellaville, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025

“I wrote Ellaville after visiting the site during one of my recent trips to the Suwannee and subsequently digging into the history of the town and what occurred there. I loved the idea of a bustling little mill town on the river and was so fascinated by the story of how the town boomed and then fell. I thought of all the hardships of the folks I’ve met, and how I have so many close friends now that are currently unemployed and struggling. Dreams found, lives built and then dashed. Nature constantly exploited by those in power, ostensibly retaliating against those by which it had been wronged. Are we learning? Are we growing? Were there lessons the river was trying to impart about humanity, and have we heard them? That’s what this song explores.”

Here’s he is singing his song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37APDWhJBLQ Continue reading →

Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing –WWALS to Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18

Update 2025-10-07: Public Hearing, Bradford Road subdivision @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-10-16.

I handed this letter to the Berrien Planning Commissioners and the Zoning Administrator before I spoke to them at the recent Public Hearing. They tabled this item for another month, awaiting more documents from the applicant, Cole Livingston, for his proposal to subdivide for ten houses in an agricultural character area on Bradford and Strawder Roads and Old Valdosta Highway, in Berrien County, Georgia, draining to Gin Branch Creek and the Withlacoochee River.

[Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing, WWALS 2025-09-18, to Berrien Planning Commission]
Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing, WWALS 2025-09-18, to Berrien Planning Commission

September 18, 2025

To: Teresa Willis
Berrien County Zoning Administrator
229-686-2149
twillis@berriencountyga.gov
201 N. Davis Street Room 122
Nashville GA 31639

Re: Subdividing M&P 061-14-000, 061-16-002, Old Valdosta Rd. & Bradford Rd.

Dear Berrien County Zoning Administrator and Planning Commission,

Please recommend denial of the proposed subdividing, because:

  1. House lots would produce more runoff, which would run onto neighboring properties, as attested by several neighbors at the previous Public Hearing on August 21, 2025. See attached LIDAR map and attached wetland and flood zone map.
  2. Runoff would carry trash and other contamination into Gin Branch Creek that runs north across Bradford Road and west into the Withlacoochee River. See attached map of Gin Branch Creek.
  3. Under Bradford Road and along Gin Branch Creek is an aquifer recharge zone, into the groundwater from which we all drink. We do not need to risk more contaminants possibly getting into that. See attached aquifer recharge map.
  4. Increased traffic and runoff would erode Bradford and Strawder Roads, requiring more work by the county to fix them.
  5. The houses would not be accessory to farm operations as in the Berrien County Comprehensive Plan Strategy for an Agriculture Character Area, which says: Continue reading →

Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide –Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18

Update 2025-09-22: Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing –WWALS to Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18.

The information Lisa Sumner presented to the Greater Berrien Planning Commission Thursday on behalf of Wayne Nash is on the WWALS website. This was in opposition to the proposed subdivision on Bradford and Strawder Roads and Old Valdosta Road in Berrien County, Georgia, draining into Gin Branch Creek to the Withlacoochee River, through an aquifer recharge zone above the Floridan Aquifer.

Images of each page are below.

[Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide --Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18 @ Berrien Planning Commission]
Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide –Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18 @ Berrien Planning Commission

I’ve also enlarged Wayne Nash’s groundwater withdrawal permit, which shows “Well Design Pumping Capacity 600 gallons per minute.” Continue reading →

Filthy creeks, Clean downstream Withlacoochee River 2025-09-17

Update 2025-09-26: Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers 2025-09-25.

Valdosta Utilities for Thursday got sky-high E. coli on One Mile Branch, Hightiwer Creek, and especially Sugar Creek at Gornto Road, as well as too high at GA 133.

This time upstream at US 41 was good, as was downstream at US 84, and even better in a WWALS test farther downstream on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

For the second time recently, a WWALS test on Sugar Creek does not agree with Valdosta results. We will have to do more testing to sort that out.

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

It hasn’t rained in days, and no rain is predicted for the next five days.

So avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, and happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Filthy Creeks 2025-09-18, Clean downstream Withlacoochee River]
Filthy Creeks 2025-09-18, Clean downstream Withlacoochee River

Or join us tomorrow for Rivers Alive Trash Pick Up, Alapaha River, Mayday Landing 2025-09-20.
https://wwals.net/?p=68386

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 →

Videos: Bradford Road subdividing @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18

Update 2025-10-07: Public Hearing, Bradford Road subdivision @ Berrien Planning Commission 2025-10-16.

Update 2025-09-22: Water issues, Bradford Road subdividing –WWALS to Berrien Planning Commission 2025-09-18.

Update 2025-09-20: Road costs, well risks, taxpayers should decide –Lisa Sumner for Wayne Nash 2025-09-18.

Once again, the Greater Berrien Planning Commission tabled the proposed Cole Livingston subdividing on Bradford and Strawder Roads and Old Valdosta Highway. Once again, it was because of missing materials from the applicant. They did not, however, mention the missing Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan that caused the previous tabling.

[Tabled again, Bradford Road subdividing, @ Berrien Planning Commission, 2025-09-17]
Tabled again, Bradford Road subdividing, @ Berrien Planning Commission, 2025-09-17

They did allow quite a few people to speak, even though they tabled this item.

Before all that, they tabled the minutes from the August 21 meeting due to transcription errors.

And they unanimously recommended approval for another item, a McCorvey duplex on Dawn Street, rezoning from R15 to R6.

If they stick to the third Thursday of the month, the next Public Hearing on the Livingston item will be Thursday, October 16, 2025.

Below are videos of each agenda item or speaker, followed by a WWALS video playlist.

See also Continue reading →