Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Clean Rivers 2023-03-09

Update 2023-03-17: Clean Rivers 2023-03-16.

Update 2023-03-17: Tifton Evergreen Drive Sewage Spill 2023-03-11.

It rained this evening, but probably not enough to wash much contamination into the rivers, which were very clean before, according to WWALS water quality tests. So I would paddle, fish, or swim this weekend.

Actually, I’ll be at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta Saturday and Sunday.

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

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week. However, Tifton got around to reporting today a spill from a month ago. Continue reading →

Cleanup: Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive, Valdosta, GA 2022-03-25

Update 2023-07-12: Pictures: Two Mile Branch Berkley Drive Cleanup 2023-03-25.

Update 2023-03-29: Valdosta Creek Trash Tour 2023-03-29.

Valdosta, Georgia, March 9, 2023 — Come help get trash out of the woods by Two Mile Branch, upstream and downstream from Berkley Drive, in this joint cleanup by WWALS and the City of Valdosta.

[Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive cleanup]

Valdosta City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd said, Continue reading →

Pictures: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle 2023-03-04

Update 2023-03-13: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle in Valdosta Daily Times and WWALS video of what the Mayor and Chairman said.

Everybody had a good time at the Fourth Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. The water level was just right for the shoals to be ripples and the weather was perfect: not cold, not hot, nice and shady.

Phil Hubbard led this one of many WWALS paddle outings. Three people fell in and one paddle got lost, but everybody recovered and nobody went home mad.

[Mayor, WWALS, Chairman; banners; boaters; outfall; Spook Bridge]
Mayor, WWALS, Chairman; banners; boaters; outfall; Spook Bridge

WWALS is proud to bring together Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter and Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson at the site of the county’s recent acquisition of 71 acres from Helen Tapp to add to the 49 acres Parks and Rec already owns to eventually form Troupville Nature Park. Continue reading →

Pictures: Lee Street Trash Trap

Revisiting Two Mile Branch on February 27th, I asked Valdosta City Engineer Ben O’Dowd whether the Lee Street trash trap he was considering as a model to go at Berkley Drive was his design. He said no, that was all Stormwater Division.

Imagine if Mayor and Council allocated funds to put more of these in creeks across the city. Lots of trash would be kept out of the Withlacoochee and other Rivers. And also out of creeks within the city that attract children to play, and in which wildlife currently eat styrofoam that cannot digest.

Upstream education and enforcement is still needed for Valdosta’s ordinances that require property owners not to let trash escape and to have a so many trash cans strategically placed per number of parking spaces. Maybe soon the city will set an example as the Mayor has long promised by putting trash cans in its own parking lots, starting with across from City Hall.

[Lee Street trash trap, side view, City Engineer and Stormwater Manager, door]
Lee Street trash trap, side view, City Engineer and Stormwater Manager, door

Stormwater Manager Angela Bray said she suggested the design, and her people took it from there and built the Lee Street trash trap. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-03-02

Update 2023-03-10: Clean Rivers 2023-03-09.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!

That’s what all the recent water quality testing data says. There’s been no rain lately, other than a few scattered showers today, so nothing should have washed into the rivers.

Come on down to Troupville Boat Ramp tomorrow for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle!

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida since the last of Valdosta’s five February spills totalling almost a million gallons.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-03-02]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-03-02

Thanks to Continue reading →

Early takeout for Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle: DeLoach Private Boat Ramp

Update 2023-03-03: Clean Rivers 2023-03-02.

For those who want to take out early from the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle tomorrow, thanks to Paul Deloach we have access to his private boat ramp, after 2.6 river miles. That’s little more than an hour paddling.

[Parking, Paul Deloach Boat Ramp]
Parking, Paul Deloach Boat Ramp

As you can see, there’s plenty of parking.

So come on down to Troupville Boat Ramp as early as 8 AM, deposit your boat, or get one from State Line River Outfitters, drive to this takeout or to Spook Bridge, and the Boys & Girls Club will shuttle you back to Troupeville Boat Ramp to paddle. Don’t worry about how to drive to the takeouts: we’ll explain that tomorrow morning, and there will be convoys.

For everything else about the paddle, see:
https://wwals.net/?p=60845

There are some more pictures below.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Continue reading →

Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Sewage spills, Trash, Okefenokee Swamp over stripmine @ Radio 2023-02-28

All about the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle this Saturday at Troupville Boat Ramp just west of Valdosta, down to Spook Bridge on the Withlacoochee River: Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper talked about that on his 92.1 FM radio show Tuesday.

Plus trash, sewage, and you can help stop a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp.

[Bypass, Talk92.1 FM, Two Mile Branch, Lee Street Trash Trap, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson]
Bypass, Talk92.1 FM, Two Mile Branch, Lee Street Trash Trap, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson

Thanks to the Mayor for being a good sport about being grilled about the numerous recent Valdosta sewage spills, totalling almost a million gallons. You can see the bypass pump from his driveway. Continue reading →

Boats provided by State Line River Outfitters at Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle 2023-03-04

Update 2023-03-03: Early takeout for Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle: DeLoach Private Boat Ramp 2023-03-03.

Update 2023-03-02: Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Sewage spills, Trash, Okefenokee Swamp over stripmine @ Radio 2023-02-28.

If you don’t have a boat, come on down anyway to Troupville Boat Ramp this Saturday, for the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle!
https://wwals.net/?p=60845

Will Hart of State Line River Outfitters has agreed to supply boats. Will will be out of town, but Bird Chamberlain will bring a couple of canoes and half a dozen kayaks, in addition to the WWALS canoes.

We even have a volunteer or two to paddle people in a canoe who are too young or whatever to paddle themselves.

[State Line River Outfitters, Will Hart, Bird Chamberlain, Russell Allen McBride, Blondie Quarterman]
State Line River Outfitters, Will Hart, Bird Chamberlain, Russell Allen McBride, Blondie Quarterman

State Line River Outfitters sponsored Bird when he paddled in the WWALS Boomerang Paddle Race last year: and won! Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper on Scott James Radio 92.1 FM 2023-02-28

Update 2023-03-02: Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Sewage spills, Trash, Okefenokee Swamp over stripmine @ Radio 2023-02-28.

Suwannee Riverkeeper will talk about the Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle coming up this Saturday, saving the Okefenokee Swamp from a strip mine, trash, sewage, parks, and rivers on Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio this morning, Tuesday, 8:30 AM.

[Radio, Paddle]
Radio, Paddle

https://talk921.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1471470606719880

Topics discussed will probably include: Continue reading →

Upper and Middle Suwannee River MFL Peer Review Meeting 2023-03-15

Update 2023-03-28: Videos: Upper and Middle Suwannee River MFL Peer Review Meeting 2023-03-15.

Thanks to WWALS Board member Dennis Price, P.G. of Hamilton County, Florida, for spotting this meeting about minimum flows and levels on the Suwannee River, including underground water down to the Floridan Aquifer.

Please come to the meeting at SRWMD HQ in Live Oak at 9AM Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

Or send comment to MFL@srwmd.org by April 30, 2023.

[Meeting Notice and MFLs]
Meeting Notice and MFLs

SRWMD, Alerts & Notices, February 22, 2023 9:00 AM Upper and Middle Suwannee River MFL Peer Review Meeting

A public meeting to start the peer review process for the Upper and Middle Suwannee River Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) has been scheduled. An overview of these proposed MFLs will be presented by the District to the peer reviewers and the public. These MFLs are specifically for the Upper and Middle Suwannee River segments. The District will continue to work on the MFLs for priority springs along the river based on the District’s MFL priority list schedule.

The draft Upper and Middle Suwannee River MFL technical documents are posted to the District’s website for review. See the links and provided information below.

Public comment is being accepted on MFL methods and analyses presented in the technical documents until April 30, 2023. Please email all comments to MFL@srwmd.org.

The public meeting is being held on March 15 at 10am at the District’s headquarters in Live Oak, FL.

Access the links below for more information.
Middle Suwannee River & Springs MFLs
Upper Suwannee River & Springs MFLs

The only springs mentioned by name in the two MFLs web pages are Continue reading →