Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Withlacoochee River at Camp Tygart 2013-07-08

Kind of high (movie):

Picture and video by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS),
Berrien County, Georgia, 8 July 2013.

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Withlacoochee River from Nankin Landing to GA 31: WWALS June Outing 2013-06-22

A few pictures from today’s WWALS Outing on the Withlacoochee River from Clyattville-Nankin Road to GA 31, with 12 people in 8 boats (4 kayaks, 4 canoes).

Gage height, US 84 Quitman: 3.25 feet (86.75 feet NAVD 1988).

Withlacoochee River at Clyattville-Nankin Landing:

Heather sets out:

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Withlacoochee River Outing: Clyattville-Nankin Road to GA 31

The June WWALS outing is from Clyattville-Nankin Road to Horn Bridge on Madison Highway (GA 31) on the Withlacoochee River. Meet at the Clyattville-Nankin Road putin at 9AM, put in at 10AM, Saturday, 22 June 2013. Join the facebook event if you like. See you there!

Update 20 June 2013: How are we getting back to our vehicles with this trip? We’ll deposit all the boats at the put-in (Clyattville-Nankin Road), take most of the vehicles down to the take-out (Horn Bridge on Madison Highway aka GA 31), carpool in a few vehicles back to the put-in, and float down the river.

Tom Baird described this nine-mile two-hour trip as:

The section includes where Clyatt Mill Creek enters, a truly fun set of rapids (two drops) at the Ga – Fla border, a very nice Second Magnitude Spring (that I have yet to find the correct name), the remains of the enormous abandoned trestle over the river of the Georgia & Florida Railroad, or Ole God Forsaken as it was nicknamed, the ghost town of Olympia on the Georgia side, and several Indian quarry sites. It is along this section that the river cuts deeply enough that the banks switch from sand banks to limerock cliffs. Paddle distance is about 9 miles, so a little over two hours paddling time. There are plenty of places to stop and look around.

There are shoals right at the state line, so beware, esp. if you’re in a canoe. The book Canoeing and Kayaking Georgia, by Susanne Welander, Bob Sehlinger, and Don Otey (2004) says: Continue reading →

Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition @ VLCIA 2013-04-16

Water issues strongly affect economic development, so I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition at the 16 April 2013 Board Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority.

The VDT declined to speak, so I did. After apologizing for no okra today, I commended the Authority for talking about the missing agenda items and for mentioning due diligence and flood control.

Mostly I talked about the new WWALS Watershed Coalition, www.wwals.net, incorporated in June 2012, which is about watershed issues such as flooding, water quality, and invasive species related to the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, and Little River System. I mentioned arsenic in some local well water, which the Department of Health has finally said should be tested, three years after Janet McMahan discovered it was a problem. I invited VLCIA board and staff to two upcoming WWALS events:

20 April 2013 Withlacoochee Paddle, which has since happened, and unfortunately none of them paddled.
11 May 2013 Janisse Ray reads at a fundraiser at Black Shank Pavillion in Tifton.

WWALS board meetings are every second Wednesday of the month, usually at the IHOP in Adel because it’s centrally located. WWALS is communicating with Valdosta and various organizations about flooding and other watershed-wide issues, which in my opinion have to do with things like too much clearcutting without consideration for where the water goes, too much development without consideration for what the impervious surface would do, (to my surprise, the Executive Director and several board members nodded along with that) so it was good to hear them mention flood containment.

Here’s the video:

Arsenic, Outings, and Flooding: WWALS Watershed Coalition
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland, Chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett, Andrea Schruijer, Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton, Attorney, Tom Davis, CPA, Allan Ricketts, Project Manager,S. Meghan Duke, Public Relations & Marketing Manager, Lu Williams, Operations Manager,
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 16 April 2013.

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Withlacoochee River at Franklinville 16 April 2013 2013-04-20

Come paddle the Withlacoochee River from GA 122 to Franklinville, 10 AM 20 April 2013, in the monthly WWALS outing.

Update 2016-02-01: Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman.

Franklinville Road Bridge (closed):

Withlacoochee River:

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Reservoirs for control of stormwater –Tim Carroll

Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll spoke about the need for watershed-wide planning to reduce flooding and provide water for agriculture with distributed flood containment reservoirs. He referred to the materials he sent in advance as well as to some additional data about water quality measurements upstream and downstream of selected points. And he sent an update the next day.

Tim Carroll noted that one thing that was clear from the Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson’s 2010 presentation to the Suwannee-Satilla Water Council about the 2009 flood was that the drainage basin study proposed by that Council (which completed its report and disbanded) still needs to be completed. For that purpose, Hanson had just sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting assistance. Apparently they have partial answer, and they’re also talking the state.

Carroll said that with the renewed attention to flooding problems Continue reading →

Tim Carroll of Valdosta at WWALS board meeting tonight

Valdosta City Council member Tim Carroll will speak tonight at the monthly WWALS Watershed Coalition board meeting at 7:30 PM at the IHOP in Adel (exit 39 from I-75, 1200 W 4th St, Adel, GA, 229-896-2662); the public is invited. In advance he sent the appended letter from the City of Valdosta to the Army Corps of Engineers requesting assistance related to flooding and droughts.

March 11, 2013

William Bailey
Chief of Planning Division
US Army Corps of Engineers – Savannah District Office
100 W. Oglethorpe Avenue
Savannah, Georgia 31401
Dear Mr. Bailey,

Over the last several years, the City of Valdosta and neighboring communities have been severely impacted by the increase of flood events that have occurred throughout our region and particularly the drainage basin we are located in. The city recognizes the various levels of responsibility throughout government agencies for flood management and flood control and is interested in furthering the discussions to understand the changes that are occurring and to ensure the protection of our communities from future flood events.

In February 2009, the city began updating its 1996 Master Stormwater Management Plan. In April, just two months later, our county along with 46 counties in south Georgia, experienced historic flooding and were declared disaster areas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported

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Flooding in Brooks and Lowndes County –jkluke

CNN iReports lets citizens send in videos. One jkluke has posted four videos of flooding on the Withlacoochee River.

28 February 2013: Brooks County Ga Flooding
His canoe gunwales reached about the top of his cabin deck.
28 February 2013: River Flooding
Standing on his cabin deck, you can see the river rushing by.
3:45 PM 1 March 2013: Flooding in south Georgia
He reported the river was cresting, about 2 inches below his cabin deck, and he recommended against anybody canoing in the river due to its speed.
1 March 2013: Flooding in Brooks and lowndes county Georgia
He reported the cresting level was about 2.5 to 3 feet below the 2009 high.

Here’s that last video embedded:

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PS: Owed to John C. Griffin.