Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Pictures: Chainsaw Cleanup Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16

Update 2023-05-19: Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, 2023-06-24.

There must be a better way to order pizza.

[Start, chainsaws, pizza, sandbars]
Start, chainsaws, pizza, sandbars

The good news: we did get pizza delivered on the river during the Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2022-10-16. We cleared many logjams. Some of them we had sawed at higher water levels several times before. It seemed like we were a relix rock band doing a greatest hit tour. And at twelve hours we beat our record of taking longer than expected.

Our advice if you want to try paddling this stretch with the water this low (3.6′ or 113.8′ NAVD88) on the US 41 (North Valdosta Road) USGS Gauge?

Don’t.

Not unless you want to drag your boat much of the way. Also, stock up on magnesium and vitamin C for the muscle cramps. Continue reading →

Good water quality 2022-10-13

Update 2022-10-21: Clean water quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha, Rivers 2022-10-20.

Update 2022-10-18: Forever chemicals contaminate Withlacoochee River in Georgia and Florida 2022-10-18.

Looks good for fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

WWALS downstream water quality results for Thursday on the Withlacoochee were good. WWALS upstream tests were OK. Monday Valdosta upstream results were OK. No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

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

Valdosta detected something for Wednesday and Friday last week at US 41 and GA 133, when there was no rain. That could have been more contamination coming from Cat Creek and Beatty Branch. Whatever the source, why with no rain?

If we get more rain, WWALS will test upstream and see what we can catch. Continue reading →

One week: WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2022-10-22

One week from now, come paddle from Georgia into Florida and back, Saturday, October 22, 2022. It’s a fun fall event for the whole family, on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River, with one small shoal to make it more interesting. Plus the fastest time gets faster every year.

Today and tomorrow are the last days for the early bird ticket price. That and everything else Boomerang here:
wwals.net/pictures/boomerang2022

Thanks, new sponsors, Ace Electric and promoleaf, plus State Line River Outfitters will supply boats, along with VSU CORE. Thanks again to earlier sponsors, Packaging Corporation of America and Wisenbaker’s Garage. You or your organization can still sponsor to support the advocacy and activities of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity.

[Flyer]
Flyer
PDF

Pick up trash before the race and get a Rivers Alive t-shirt. And there are Boomerang tumblers to all the paddlers, Suwannee Riverkeeper Suwannee Bass t-shirts to top winners, and $100 prize for First Place. Or just come for a fresh air morning on a fabulous river.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

WWALS at Brooks County Skillet Fest, 2022-10-15

Update 2023-10-17: Pictures.

Food and fun in a park. Maybe you’d like to help at the WWALS booth.

[WWALS Booth, Skillet Fest]
WWALS Booth, Skillet Fest

When: 9 AM, Saturday, October 15, 2022

Put In: Brooks County Courthouse, 100 Screven Street, Quitman, Georgia 31643

GPS: 30.785667, -83.559660 Continue reading →

Pictures: Brooks County Skillet Festival 2021-10-15

Always fun at the Courthouse in Quitman, at the Brooks County Skillet Festival.

We’ll be back there Saturday, October 15, 2022. Maybe you’d like to help at the WWALS booth.

[WWALS Booth]
WWALS Booth

The Little River and the Withlacoochee River form the eastern boundary of Brooks County, in the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. Continue reading →

Clean rivers 2022-10-06

Update 2022-10-14: Good water quality 2022-10-13.

So far as we know, from WWALS test results for Thursday, happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend.

No new sewer spills have been reported in Georgia or Florida in the Suwannee River Basin.

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are from Friday a week ago. And those illustrate a problem; see below.

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

WWALS tester Elizabeth Brunner got good results at her usual GA 122 sites: Folsom Bridge on the Little River, Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, and Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River.

The rivers are so low she got a picture of the pilings of Old Hagan Bridge. Continue reading →

Sponsors: WWALS Boomerang paddle race 2022-10-22

Thanks, sponsors, Packaging Corporation of America and Wisenbaker’s Garage.

[Flyer]
Flyer
PDF

You or your organization can become a sponsor for the WWALS Boomerang paddle race on the idyllic blackwater Withlacoochee River, Saturday, October 22, 2022, from State Line Boat Ramp into Florida and back upstream into Georgia.

If you clean up before you paddle, you will get a Rivers Alive t-shirt. Continue reading →

Good Water Quality, Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha Rivers 2022-09-29

Update 2022-10-08: Clean rivers 2022-10-06.

Withlacoochee, Little, and Alapaha Rivers declared safe from Hurricane Ian. Maybe as clean as we’ve ever seen!

Happy boating, fishing, and swimming this weekend! Join us tomorrow on the Alapaha River plus hike to the Dead River Sink.

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

This is despite yet another small Valdosta sewage spill, this time last Friday on Lake Sheri, which drains into the Withlacoochee River just upstream from I-75.

Friday, September 23, 2022, was also the day WWALS tester Scotti Jay discovered a fish kill in One Mile Branch starting on the VSU campus.

Valdosta has not reported any test results for that day; I don’t know why. Valdosta results for Monday, September 26th are normal. Those are the most recent results Valdosta has published. Continue reading →

Valdosta sewage spill into Lake Sheri, Withlacoochee River 2022-09-23

Update 2023-11-09: GA-EPD Consent Order on Valdosta for One Mile Branch fish kill and sewage spills 2023-09-15.

Valdosta had yet another small sewage spill, this time on Friday, September 23, 2022, into Lake Sheri, which drains into the Withlacoochee River just upstream from I-75.

[Report and map: Valdosta Lake Sheri sewage spill 2022-09-23]
Report and map: Valdosta Lake Sheri sewage spill 2022-09-23

Most likely that spill was too small to affect the river, but those poor people who live on Lake Sheri, which already had three sewage spills upstream this summer.

The GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report for Monday, September 26, 2022 shows that 1,250 raw sewage spill as Continue reading →

Valdosta added net to trash trap, Lee St. Detention Pond 2022-09-28

Good news! Valdosta Engineering has added a net to the home-made Valdosta City trash trap in the Lee Street detention pond on One Mile Branch, upstream of Ashley Street, Drexel Park, VSU, Sugar Creek, and the Withlacoochee River.

[Before and after]
Before and after

Bobby McKenzie opened an issue in Valdosta’s Click ‘n’ Fix smartphone app on September 11, 2022. Valdosta officials closeed it twice, but he persisted, reminding them that a year ago in July 2021, at the invitation of WWALS, trash trap company Osprey met with WWALS and Valdosta Stormwater Manager Angela Bray and then-City Engineer Pat Collins, presenting their Litter Gitter, which has a net in addition to a boom. Bobby also sketched the idea on an image of the current Lee St. trap.

Apparently current City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd got the picture, because yesterday Bobby sent a picture of that trash trap with a net on top of it.

Valdosta so far has not said in the Click ‘n’ Fix thread that they have done that, but I’m going ahead and announcing this good news.

Thank you, City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd, for the net on Valdosta’s Lee Street detention pond trash trap!

And thanks to Bobby McKenzie for his persistence.

Yes, I know Continue reading →