Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Withlacoochee River dirty upstream 2026-05-18 clean downstream and Santa Fe River clean 2026-05-20

Update 2026-05-29: Clean Batterbee Branch, Santa Fe River, Withlacoochee downstream, Filthy Withlacoochee upstream 2026-05-27.

The Withlacoochee River once again tested bad at GA 133 in Valdosta Utilities results, but good at US 84, both for Monday.

WWALS got even better results for Wednesday downstream in Florida, four miles upstream from the Suwannee River.

WWALS also got excellent results for the Santa Fe River, also for Wednesday.

No new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia, although we now have an amount for last week’s Tifton spill; see below.

I’d still avoid the Withlacoochee River upstream of the Little River Confluence.

So at your own risk, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, where-ever you can find enough water, and if you can avoid the rains predicted this weekend.

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

[Withlacoochee River dirty upstream 2026-05-18, clean downstream and clean Santa Fe River 2026-05-20]
Withlacoochee River dirty upstream 2026-05-18, clean downstream and clean Santa Fe River 2026-05-20

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 →

Datacenters and wastewater pipeline speakers at WWALS River Revue 2026-09-12

Hahira, Georgia, May 18, 2026 — Two experts from Georgia and Florida on current water topics will speak at WWALS River Revue, the sit-down fundraising dinner for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc., plus the music of a headliner and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and a silent auction.

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026

[Speakers, WWALS River Revue, September 12, 2026, Amy Sharma on Datacenters, Rick Davis on WFNF]
Speakers, WWALS River Revue, September 12, 2026, Amy Sharma on Datacenters, Rick Davis on WFNF

Continue reading →

Withlacoochee filthy upstream; Santa Fe River clean 2026-05-14

Update 2026-05-22: Withlacoochee River dirty upstream 2026-05-18 clean downstream and Santa Fe River clean 2026-05-20.

More results have come in since Friday’s report.

WWALS got even worse results upstream on the Withlacoochee River for Thursday at Franklinville Road, which is upstream from Cat Creek and Valdosta.

That looks even more like first flush, when a big rain washes the woods wildlife have been using as a latrine.

Meanwhile, WWALS got clean results for Thursday on the Santa Fe River.

I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River upstream of the Little River Confluence.

And considering Colquitt and Brooks Counties, Georgia, got a lot of rain that could wash contamination into Okapilco Creek, I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River in Georgia.

So at your own risk, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, where-ever you can find enough water, and if you can avoid the rains predicted for Sunday.

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

[Withlacoochee filthy upstream, Above Valdosta & Cat Creek, Santa Fe River clean, 2026-05-14]
Withlacoochee filthy upstream, Above Valdosta & Cat Creek, Santa Fe River clean, 2026-05-14

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 →

Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Pumping –Dr. Bob Knight 2026-05-09

Published with permission, here is what Dr. Bob Knight ferreted out from USGS and the WMDs about groundwater pumping.

You’d think they would publish this information, but since they didn’t, WWALS is.

These slides (PowerPoint or PDF) don’t say anything about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the WMD and JEA plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin, but this is the groundwater background to WFNF.

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Pumping Is Getting Worse --Dr. Bob Knight 2026-05-09]
Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Pumping Is Getting Worse –Dr. Bob Knight 2026-05-09

He sent these slides to various environmentalists on May 9, 2026, with this note. I asked him later in person if he minded WWALS publishing. He said go ahead.

All

Attached is an updated summary of Florida groundwater wells, permits, and reported extraction quantities from the Floridan aquifer. All data were provided by the water management districts and the USGS. But the summaries of those reams of data are my work and may not be complete and accurate in all cases. Surprisingly, the WMDs have differing data bases and few detailed summaries of these data. For now, I believe these may be the best data summaries out there. Historically (up to 2015) Richard Marella formerly with USGS reported a lot of Floridan aquifer detailed/summary data every five years. That important contribution ended in 2015 and there is no sign that it will be picked back up by the state or the USGS.

The inconvenient truth is that all groundwater extractions reduce spring flows and that data analysis indicates that the ratio is almost one to one. Measured spring flow reductions closely mirror these reported pumping totals and differ widely from groundwater flow model estimates.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Bob

Continue reading →

Dirty Withlacoochee River upstream, clean downstream 2026-05-14

Update 2026-05-17: Withlacoochee filthy upstream; Santa Fe River clean 2026-05-14.

WWALS got bad results upstream on the Withlacoochee River for Wednesday and Thursday at Langdale Park and Staten Road, even though Valdosta Utilities got OK results for Monday downstream at GA 133 and US 84.

WWALS got clean results for Thursday in Florida on the Withlacoochee near the Suwannee.

That pattern looks like first flush, when a big rain washes the woods wildlife have been using as a latrine.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but Tifton had one in Georgia; see below.

I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River upstream of the Little River Confluence.

And considering Colquitt and Brooks Counties, Georgia, got a lot of rain that could wash contamination into Okapilco Creek, I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River in Georgia.

So at your own risk, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, where-ever you can find enough water, and if you can avoid the rains predicted for Sunday.

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

[Dirty Withlacoochee River upstream, clean downstream, 2026-05-14, After recent rains, Paddle at your own risk]
Dirty Withlacoochee River upstream, clean downstream, 2026-05-14, After recent rains, Paddle at your own risk

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 →

Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07

Update 2026-06-06: OK, we’re putting in at Troupville Boat Ramp and motoring upstream. You are welcome to join us. Will be easiest if you have a motor.

Join us to continue clearing passage on the Withlacoochee River for kayaks, canoes, and jon boats, leaving plenty of wildlife habitat.

You can come photograph, pull limbs out of the way, pick up trash, or just paddle along. Or chainsaw, if you have one and you really know how to use it.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 4 PM, Sunday, June 7, 2026

Put In: Troupville Boat Ramp, 19664 Valdosta Hwy, Valdosta, GA 31602. I-75 exit 18, west on GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) away from the Valdosta Mall, at the traffic light for Val Tech Road, turn left down to the boat ramp, in Lowndes County.

GPS: 30.851842, -83.346536

[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07, Langdale Park, Sugar Creek, or Troupville, per water level]
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-07, Langdale Park, Sugar Creek, or Troupville, per water level

Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06

Update 2026-05-10: Clean Alapaha River 2026-05-08.

Even after the rains last Saturday, Valdosta Utilities got a pretty good E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, and a good result at US 84 that same day.

WWALS got an even better result downstream in Florida.

WWALS results for Sugar Creek for Sunday were also OK.

There was more rain yesterday, but less than last Saturday. Still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, if you can find any water.

More rain is predicted Saturday through Monday.

If there is rain, maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires. Remember not to light anything outdoors.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06, after rains, more rain coming]
Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06, after rains, more rain coming

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 →

WWALS River Revue with Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2026-09-12

Join us at the 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, for the WWALS River Revue sit-down dinner with speakers from Georgia and Florida, music from Finalists in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and Headliner Joe First, last year’s winner. Plus a silent auction, online and in person.

If you like what we’re doing, with water quality testing and water trails and river and lake outings and hikes and cleanups and chainsaw cleanups, come on down and support WWALS and have some fun! We support rights to clean water and solar power in appropriate places, and we oppose unnecessary mines and datacenters, detention centers, and Jacksonville treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin (Water First North Florida or WFNF).

[WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026]
WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026

Tickets: $65 each:

https://app.betterunite.com/wwals-wwalsriverrevue2026

MC Tim Carroll, a former trumpet player and Valdosta City Council District 5, will introduce the speakers, the Headliner, and the Judges, Anna Stange (Madison, FL), Tony Buzzella (Lake City, FL), and Norm McDonald (Live Oak, FL).

Songwriters, don’t wait until August 12 to send in your song! It can be about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin or Estuary, or underground water such as the Floridan Aquifer. Continue reading →

Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

All three of St. Marys, Satilla, and Suwannee Riverkeeper will be at the May 5 6, 2026, meeting of Georgia’s Suwannee Satilla Regional Water Planning Council (SSRWPC), 10 AM-2:30 PM at Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Datacenters are on the agenda as a Discussion item. It’s not clear whether participants other than the Council will be allowed to discuss. But they will notice anybody who shows up. And there is Public Comment near the end.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06]
Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

SSRWPC includes part of the St. Marys River Basin, as well as the Satilla and Suwannee Basins, including of course the Alapaha, Willacoochee, Withlacoochee, Little, and New Rivers, with much concern about groundwater including the Floridan Aquifer.

According to their WATER & WASTEWATER FORECASTING TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM of March 2024, population growth projections have been decreased, causing water use and wastewater use also to be less.

Datacenters could reverse that trend.

FYI, Mark Masters is Executive Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC) at Albany State University and Laura Rack also works there “in a joint role with the River Basin Center at the University of Georgia.”

Caitlin Sweeney is listed by the Jones Center at Ichauway, also in the Flint River Basin, although the agenda says she is with GWPPC.

Here is the agenda:

Agenda
Georgia Suwannee-Satilla
Water Council Meeting
May 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Okefenokee Swamp Park — Waycross, GA

Objectives: Continue reading →

The AI Layoff Trap –Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas 2026-03-02

After years of labor unions advocating for an 8-hour day and a 5-day week, Henry Ford finally saw his own self-interest and Ford Motor Company on September 25, 1926, made it company policy.

Why? Workers with free time and money to spend bought cars: long-term profit!

A century later, many companies are doing the opposite: laying off workers and replacing them with so-called AI: short-term profiteering. This trend only increases, because if competitors are doing it, every company has incentive to do it.

But companies are sabotaging themselves. Fired workers cannot easily find new jobs, so they can’t afford to buy. An economy with no purchasing is in trouble.

[The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 --Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it]
The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 –Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it

There are other issues, such as firing experienced people means companies lose their ability to do new things or to deal with unexpected challenges, and fewer jobs mean people trying to join the job market find nothing, so there’s little new talent incoming and few left to train them. But the chase for short-term profits overrides all that.

Plus the proliferation of hyper-scale datacenters catering to this so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI), using much cooling water, either directly, or through new power plants. See:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

New research models this corporate behavior and finds that most proposed solutions do not stop it. Continue reading →