Tag Archives: WWALS Watershed Coalition

Filthy Hightower Creek 2026-01-08 but clean upstream ILM Pond 2026-01-09

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Thanks to the landowners, on Friday John S. Quarterman tested ILM Pond at the top of Hightower Creek, west of I-75, and found its level well below its outflow pipes. Also, it tested pretty clean, despite the geese that land there. So that can’t be the source of contamination into Hightower Creek.

On Thursday, Suzy Hall tested Hightower Creek at St. Augustine Road and found it still dirty. Downstream, she also tested Sugar Creek at the WaterGoat and found it OK, not far upstream from the Withlacoochee River.

There’s no water in Hightower Creek all the way from ILM Pond under I-75. Until just below the Sam’s Club detention pond. So that seems like a good place to test next.

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

[Dirty Hightower Creek 2026-01-08, Clean ILM Pond 2026-01-09, Sugar Creek OK, Where is the source?]
Dirty Hightower Creek 2026-01-08, Clean ILM Pond 2026-01-09, Sugar Creek OK, Where is the source?

This is an update to the WWALS Friday Weekly Water Quality Report in which we found the Withlacoochee River clean, and the Santa Fe River.

The inch of rain Saturday last week had little effect, and the drizzle this Saturday probably even less.

No new sewage spills have been reported since then in Georgia or Florida.

The weather is supposed to be fine but cold today, so if you can find a river with enough water, and happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing.

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 →

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2026-01-11

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Here is the draft agenda and the zoom parameters for the WWALS Quarterly Board meeting Sunday evening, January 11, 2026.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting

When: 6:00 PM, Sunday, January 11, 2026

What: The usual board business.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1448563266894844/

[Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees]
Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees

Here is the agenda (see also PDF). Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-01-07

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Update 2026-01-12: Filthy Hightower Creek 2026-01-08 but clean upstream ILM Pond 2026-01-09.

The Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers tested clean for this Wednesday.

We have no new creek results since last week.

The inch of rain last Saturday seems to have little effect on the rivers, neither level nor water quality.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in Georgia or Florida.

The weather is supposed to be fine this weekend, so if you can find a river with enough water, and happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers; No new creek results, 2026-01-07]
Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers; No new creek results, 2026-01-07

Maybe you’d like to join us tomorrow for Ichetucknee Polar Plunge and Paddle to see SPZ 2026-01-10. Meet us at Ichetucknee State Park North Entrance: 9 AM to dip in the spring; 10 AM for the paddle.

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 →

SJRWMD hired a consultant to plan piping treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin (Water First North Florida) 2025-11-12

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The St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) hired a consultant in November to solidify the plan to pipe Jacksonville treated wastewater to recharge springs on the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.

Their documents show that Jacksonville uses about as much water as all of agriculture in the Suwannee River Basin.

How about Jacksonville get a grip on its water usage?

Wouldn’t that be better than having JAX upstream from the Suwannee River Basin?

[SJRWMD hired a consultant to plan piping treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin (Water First North Florida) 2025-11-12]
SJRWMD hired a consultant to plan piping treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin (Water First North Florida) 2025-11-12

Maybe you’d like to Ask Florida statehouse and Water Districts to explain JAX treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin or to stop it.
https://wwals.net/?p=69143

The trail from SRWMD’s lack of knowledge of the locations for this project led to SJRWMD’s board minutes.

There is still an opportunity to change course (see below about the SJRWMD November 12, 2025, board packet):

Projects identified in the Strategy do not become permit conditions by virtue of their inclusion in an approved Strategy. The projects described in this Strategy, or alternative projects that the Districts concur will provide an equivalent benefit, may be developed and incorporated as conditions on water use or consumptive use permits (WUP or CUP) through the permitting process and shall be updated with each approval of the NFRWSP.

That’s good, because the projects SJRWMD considered apparently did not include limiting water withdrawals or Dennis Price’s proposal to drill wells at the bottom of planted pine ditches.

They apparently did not include anything about limiting water withdrawals, not even by Jacksonville, which uses about as much water as Suwannee Basin agriculture.

SJRWMD (and SRWMD as junior partner) appear to only be considering massive pipe engineering projects.

And I see nothing in these SJRWMD documents about how they plan to get rid of toxic chemicals that are not normally removed by wastewater treatement, such as PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and artificial sweeteners.

The SJRWMD Board in November 2025 authorized “a contract not-to-exceed $2,170,000 with the Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.” to do an initial design. Continue reading →

Water Shortage Advisory Order on agenda @ SRWMD 2026-01-13

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A Drought Warning is finally on the agenda for the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).

But only a Phase I Warning, which is purely voluntary and non-regulatory. A Phase II severe water shortage advisory would contain “Voluntary and Regulatory measures to reduce demand” such as are “never fun” (see below).

They meet at 9 AM, Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at their headquarters, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060.

[Water Shortage Advisory Order, on agenda @ SRWMD 2026-01-13, Phase I: Non regulatory, Prepare for Phase II]
Water Shortage Advisory Order, on agenda @ SRWMD 2026-01-13, Phase I: Non regulatory, Prepare for Phase II

Back in November I asked “Why hasn’t SRWMD declared a drought yet?”

In November, SRWMD had a Drought Workshop and WWALS published their presentation slides. I noted: “Thanks to SRWMD Board members Charles Keith, Larry Sessions, and William Lloyd, they did talk about possibly instituing limits on water withdrawals, considering that the past 10 years have been the hottest on record.”

Also, “SRWMD Executive Director Hugh Thomas did note that the water withdrawal permits SRWMD issues have standard conditions that can require limits on water withdrawals. But ‘it’s never fun to engage with the permittee and say, hey, you’re going to have to cut back because we’re in a water shortage period.‘“

And a month later maybe they’re finally going to at least issue a warning.

The key agenda item is “12. Water Shortage Advisory Order Number 26-001”

Also notice item “11. Hydrologic Conditions Report” If there’s a big rain before Tuesday and that Report shows easing, SRWMD might have an excuse not to issue the Order. You can see previous such Reports here:
https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/Archive.aspx?ADID=1730

Here’s a WWALS writeup on the most recent published Report, from November 30, 2025.
https://wwals.net/?p=69034

And pay attention to agenda item “10. Water Resources Division Updates” Continue reading →

Pictures: First Day Paddle at Banks Lake 2026-01-01

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Our first paddle of 2026 was during the day on beautiful Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA, on New Years Day.

A hardy band of five paddlers, some very experienced, some very novice, paddled into the eastern sun glare, then west to the bat tree. We saw Sand Hill Cranes and an osprey nest, but no bats.

[First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree]
First Day Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-01-01, Sand Hill Cranes, See-through bat tree

Here are some video clips:

https://www.facebook.com/Wwalswatershed/videos/867635092790046/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTNpYodiJhP/

https://youtu.be/glaea7oHi9g

This was Shirley Kokidko’s experiment in a day paddle on Banks Lake. This is the third time we’ve done this, after 2023-09-04, when I found this bat tree, and 2025-08-23.

Plus the outboard birding 2025-12-04, in which the birders noticed feathers falling from a nest in the bat tree.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

Lake City Wastewater Treatment Plant 2025-12-20

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Passing by on another errand, I took these pictures of a City of Lake City Wastewater Treatment Plant.

It’s apparently St. Margaret WTP, 527 SW St. Margarets Street, 32025.

The good news is it seems to have no violations for anything in recent years and no enforcement actions.

[Lake City, Florida, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Distribution & Collections, Columbia County, FL 2025-12-20]
Lake City, Florida, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Distribution & Collections, Columbia County, FL 2025-12-20

Blondie Dog helped sniff out the little creek that runs by, heading east towards Alligator Lake, which appears to drain into Clay Hole Creek. It’s in the Alligator Lake HUC 12-031102060601, which is in the Santa Fe River Basin.

That’s NPDES Permit Number FLA113956, according to FDEP. .

EPA ECHO thinks it’s NPDES Permit FLR05F468, at 750 St. Margarets Road, Lake City, FL 32025, 30.170877, -82.646918. That’s just the location of the entrance gate.

It’s across from Distributions & Collections, GIS Division, which is at 692 SW St. Margarets Street. Continue reading →

Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2026-02-01

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Come see the beauty of a sunset and full moon rising across the lake, at Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuge, our watery living room just west of Lakeland, Georgia. There may be Sand Hill Cranes, or bats.

When: Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:05 PM, sunset 6:09 PM, end 7 PM, Sunday, February 1, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA 2026-02-01, Will Hart, Maybe bats]
Full Snow Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Lakeland, GA 2026-02-01, Will Hart, Maybe bats

Continue reading →

Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01

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Update 2026-01-09: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-01-07.

It sure looks like there is some sort of leak upstream of Norman Drive on Hightower Creek.

WWALS tester Suzy Hall got 833 cfu/100 mL for Thursday, only slightly lower than her 866 half a mile downstream at St. Augustine Road. Both results are above the one-time test limit of 410. Both WWALS and Valdosta Utilities have been getting too-high results at St. Augustine Road for many weeks.

And Valdosta Utilities got 880 at GA 133 for Wednesday on the Withlacoochee River.

That could be the contamination Suzy saw Tuesday washing downstream. If so, where is the water coming from to wash it down? There was no rain until today.

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

[Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01, And Withlacoochee River at GA 133 2025-12-31]
Hightower Creek dirty upstream at Norman Drive 2026-01-01, And Withlacoochee River at GA 133 2025-12-31

Suzy’s Norman Drive number is way worse than when I sampled the same location a year ago, December 12 02, 2024. That was part of a ten-site effort with Suzy Hall all the way down Hightower Creek and Sugar Creek to just above the Withlacoochee River. That project localized a likely sewer leak within 2,000 feet.

And a month later, the City of Valdosta found that major sewage spill in Sugar Creek that had been spilling for months.

Will Valdosta Utilities find this sewer system leak?

Fortunately, Valdosta Utilities got an OK 200 downstream at US 84 on the Withlacoochee River for Wednesday.

Today’s rain is supposed to be gone by tomorrow.

So if you can find a river with enough water, and you don’t mind cold and rain, happy paddling, motoring, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join us, weather permitting for Full Wolf Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, Gather 5 PM, launch 5:30 PM, moonrise 6:07 PM, sunset 5:55 PM, end 7 PM, Saturday, January 3, 2026.

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 →

Ask Florida statehouse and Water Districts to explain JAX treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin or to stop it, 2026-01-02

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Do you think a billion dollars to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin is a bad idea?

If so, please ask your statehouse delegation and Water Management District Board to explain why limiting water withdrawals would not be a better idea, or to stop this project.

Everybody is downstream from somebody else. But we don’t need the Suwannee River Basin to be downstream from Jacksonville. Sure, we’re poorer than Jacksonville, but we’re not their sacrifice zone.

Two Water Management Districts say this Water First North Florida project would replenish levels and flows in the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers, including the Ichetucknee Headspring, by sending water into the Upper Floridan Aquifer through wetlands.

How can this expensive and risky project be the best way to conserve levels and flows in these Outstanding Florida Waters, which are supposed to be worthy of special protection because of their natural attributes?

How can risking the source of our drinking water be a good idea?

[Why is piping treated JAX wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin, better than limiting water withdrawals? Ask FL statehouse and WMD boards]
Why is piping treated JAX wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin, better than limiting water withdrawals? Ask FL statehouse and WMD boards

Here’s how to find your legislators:

https://pluralpolicy.com/find-your-legislator/

Also ask SRWMD to hold a Public Hearing explaining why this project is better and safer than limiting water withdrawals.

Let’s see the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Including evidence about how much JEA’s Buckman Wastewater Treatment Facility actually removes PFAS forever chemicals, drugs, and artificial sweeteners. Plus single points of failure such as sole-source contractors.

Suwannee River Management District
9225 CR 49
Live Oak, FL 32060
Phone: 386.362.1001
Toll Free: 1.800.226.1066
Hugh Thomas, Executive Director
Hugh.Thomas@SRWMD.org

Also ask your SRWMD Board members:
https://mysuwanneeriver.com/134/Current-Board-Members

The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) seems to know surprisingly little Continue reading →