Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

6th Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle Set for March 15, 2025 –City of Valdosta PR 2025-01-28

City of Valdosta press release:

The City of Valdosta and Lowndes County are excited to announce the 6th Annual Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, a collaborative event promoting clean waterways and outdoor activity. This year’s paddle will take place on Saturday, March 15, 2025, beginning at Langdale Park Boat Ramp.

[6th Annual Mayor Chairmans Paddle]
6th Annual Mayor Chairmans Paddle

Participants are encouraged to gather at the boat ramp at 8 a.m., with the paddle officially starting at 10 a.m. The event offers two options for paddlers: a two-hour trip to Berta’s Kitchen or Sugar Creek or a full four-hour journey ending at the Troupville Boat Ramp. Along the route, paddlers will travel under the Norfolk Southern Railroad Bridge, past the Wood Valley Subdivision, Sheri Run, and under the I-75 and GA 133 highway bridges.

This annual event highlights the community’s commitment to environmental stewardship and the importance of maintaining clean and healthy waterways.

Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River upstream from Troupville Chainsaw Cleanup 2025-02-08

Update 2025-02-08: Pictures: Troupville upstream Withlacoochee chainsaw cleanup 2025-02-08.

Join us between the Little River Confluence and GA 133 on the Withlacoochee River seeking deadfalls to chainsaw and trash to collect.

You can collect trash, take pictures, or just paddle along.

If you do have a chainsaw and know how to use it, bring it along. Or a sawzall or a handsaw: especially good for underwater small limbs.

We will be using the WWALS jon boat with 9.9hp outboard, bought with a generous grant from Wild Green Future.

Kayaks and canoes are welcome. You can also participate by walking along the riverbank. If you have a jon boat and outboard, you can bring that.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 2 PM, Saturday, February 8, 2025

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

[Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2025-02-08, Troupville Boat Ramp, You do not have to saw]
Withlacoochee River Chainsaw Cleanup 2025-02-08, Troupville Boat Ramp, You do not have to saw

Continue reading →

Cleaner but still dirty Sugar Creek 2025-01-24

Update 2025-01-31: Clean New, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers; Sugar Creek finally OK 2025-01-29.

As Valdosta Utilities Director Jason Barnes promised Friday, results from the Valdosta water quality samples that day are on the city’s website.

There’s good news and bad news.

[Cleaner but still dirty, Sugar Creek 2025-01-24, Baytree Road bad, Gornto Road worse]
Cleaner but still dirty, Sugar Creek 2025-01-24, Baytree Road bad, Gornto Road worse

The good news is: E. coli counts at Gornto Road are down to 2,500 from 8,900 cfu/100 mL a week before. Continue reading →

Pictures: Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Wainwright Drive, Valdosta GA 2025-01-25

Update 2025-03-08: Another Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Valdosta, GA 2025-03-16.

Thanks to the four Alpha Phi Alpha of VSU.

[Cleanup, One Mile Branch, Azalea City Trail 2025-01-25, Wainwright Drive, Alpha Phi Alpha, VSU]
Cleanup, One Mile Branch, Azalea City Trail 2025-01-25, Wainwright Drive, Alpha Phi Alpha, VSU

Thanks to Scotti Jay Jones and Sara Squires Jones for organizing this cleanup near the notorious Wainwright Drive manhole on One Mile Branch, along the Azalea City Trail in Valdosta, Georgia.

Donovan Henderson of Alpha Phi Alpha found the Zacadoo’s cup. Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17; Clean Withlacoochee River and Franks Creek 2025-01-19; Clean New River 2025-01-20

Update 2025-01-26: Cleaner but still dirty Sugar Creek 2025-01-24.

Due to the ice storm, nobody sampled this week since Monday: not WWALS and not Valdosta.

So here is what data we do have from Friday about Sugar Creek (filthy), Sunday about Franks Creek and the Withlacoochee River (good), and Monday about the New River in Tifton (good).

Valdosta Utilities drew samples today from Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River, and their results should be up tomorrow on their 2025 Sugar Creek Spill Testing web page. More about Sugar Creek below.

Most of the river gauges we follow couldn’t handle the sleet, snow, or rain Wednesday, so we don’t know how much preciptation fell. From the few that did register, probably up to an inch or more.

Which means more contamination probably washed into the waterways.

Since the weather prediction is freezing at night and cold during the day this weekend, I wouldn’t be paddling. If you must go out in a power boat while the rivers are up a bit, best not to get the water on you.

Or join us tomorrow for an on-land cleanup on One Mile Branch at Wainwright Driver in Valdosta, on the Azalea City Trail.
https://wwals.net/?p=66659

[Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17, Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-01-19, Clean Franks Creek 2025-01-19, Clean New River 2025-01-20]
Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17, Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-01-19, Clean Franks Creek 2025-01-19, Clean New River 2025-01-20

Sugar Creek

Continue reading →

Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle: Langdale Park to Troupville, Withlacoochee River 2025-03-15

Update 2025-03-10: Rescheduled due to low water to March 22, Chairman and Mayor’s Paddle: Troupville to Spook Bridge, Withlacoochee River 2025-03-22.

Join us for a leisurely paddle on the Withlacoochee River: three miles to Sugar Creek with early takeout, and another four miles to Troupville Boat Ramp, around all the river frontage of the land recently purchased by Lowndes County for Troupville River Camp and Nature Park.

Paddle with Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter. Shuttle vans provided by Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority (VLPRA). Thanks to a generous grant from Georgia Power, this outing is free for everyone.

Boats: Bring your own if you have it.
VSU CORE Outdoors will bring some boats for free.
To reserve a boat, please use this eventbrite ticket:
https://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=1272573675119

When: Gather 8 AM, launch 10 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, March 15, 2025

Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602.

GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395

[Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Langdale Park to Troupville 2025-03-15, Early Takeout Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee and Little Rivers]
Mayor and Chairmans Paddle, Langdale Park to Troupville 2025-03-15, Early Takeout Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee and Little Rivers

Safety: Be on time. If you miss the safety briefing, you cannot paddle with us.
Each person in a boat, no matter how young or old, must wear a PFD. Continue reading →

Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16

Update 2025-01-24: Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-17; Clean Withlacoochee River and Franks Creek 2025-01-19; Clean New River 2025-01-20.

Thursday WWALS water quality samples showed the Alapaha River clean at Lakeland and Naylor.

But Valdosta Thursday samples showed Sugar Creek worse again at Gornto Road.

As noted yesterday, the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers also seem clean, although I’d avoid the Withlacoochee near Sugar Creek, and Sugar Creek itself.

We hear there is a Sugar Creek bypass, but that creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

If you like rain (Saturday) or cold (Sunday), this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16, Rain coming Saturday, Cold all next week]
Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16, Rain coming Saturday, Cold all next week

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Kimberly Godden Tanner for Thursday got zero (0) E. coli at Lakeland Boat Ramp. Can’t get cleaner than that. Continue reading →

OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15

Upate 2025-01-18: Alapaha River clean, Sugar Creek worse 2025-01-16.

For Wednesday water quality samples, The Little River at US 82 west of Tifton, Georgia, tested OK, as did the Withlacoochee River at GA 133, US 84, and Holly Point four miles from the Suwannee.

The New River on 18th Street in Tifton tested too high in E. coli.

We hear there is a Sugar Creek bypass, but that creek is still filthy from the sewer line break upstream of Gornto Road on down to the Withlacoochee River.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, but in Georgia one new Valdosta spill showed up, although it apparently did not get into waterways.

This weekend, I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near downstream from it. If you like rain (Saturday) or cold (Sunday), this weekend may be good to paddle, motor, swim, or fish, elsewhere, such as the Little, Alapaha, Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, or Suwannee Rivers.

[OK Little, Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek, 2025-01-15]
OK Little, Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek, 2025-01-15

New River

Continue reading →

Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11

Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

GA-EPD has updated the Valdosta Sugar Creek spill to 15,000 gallons. That’s more than 10,000 gallons, which is a major spill. Valdosta’s state-required reporting after it shows Sugar Creek still filthy for Saturday.

[Sugar Creek still filthy in Valdosta testing 2025-01-11, follow-up after Major Sewage Spill]
Sugar Creek still filthy in Valdosta testing 2025-01-11, follow-up after Major Sewage Spill

Valdosta’s new web page on 2025 Sugar Creek Spill Testing shows 5,300 Fecal coliform and 5,500 cfu/100 mL E. coli at Gornto Road for Saturday. That’s 5.5 times the 1,000 alert limit. Continue reading →

Samantha Carr, WWALS Intern and water quality tester 2025-01-10

Update 2025-01-17: OK Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, Dirty New River, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-01-15.

Update 2025-01-13: Sugar Creek still filthy Saturday in Valdosta test results 2025-01-11.

WWALS has a new intern, who will also do water quality testing in Tifton, Georgia, on the New and Little Rivers.

[New WWALS Intern, Samantha Carr, Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton, Georgia]
New WWALS Intern, Samantha Carr, Southern Regional Technical College, Tifton, Georgia

New WWALS Intern Samantha Carr passed the Georgia Adopt-A-Stream (AAS) Chemical and Bacterial training. Continue reading →