Tag Archives: WWALS

Thanks to WWALS members!

Thanks to all WWALS members on this Thanksgiving Day!

Thanks for coming on outings, for helping build the water trails, for following the Valdosta wastewater situation, for tracking down recent corporate agricultural land purchases, and for helping fight an unnecessary pipeline and promote clean energy!

Lots of outings are coming up, starting with a hike that needs no boats, at Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area between Valdosta and Lakeland. Then a brief paddle on the Little River and a much longer one on the Alapaha River, plus the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail logo contest Continue reading →

Silver Springs, FL, benefit for Florida Springs Institute

WWALS is a member of the Florida Springs Council (FSC), which is headquartered at Florida Springs Institute (FSI).

The Florida Springs Institute is hosting its end-of-year benefit at Silver Springs this year on December 11 from 6-9 p.m.

and we would like to extend an invitation to all FSC organizations and their members to join us for this fun-filled event. Our keynote speaker for the evening is the former SJRWMD and SWFWMD Executive Director and current author of the blog, SWFWMD Matters (http://swfwmdmatters.blogspot.com/), Emilio “Sonny” Vergara. Tickets for the event are $75 and include admission to Silver Springs State Park and the Silver River Museum, food and drinks, and an opportunity to meet and hear from well-known springs advocates. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle for a Silver River boat tour for 20 people! All proceeds will benefit the work of FSI, a nonprofit organization.

Silver Springs is a famous example of water problems throughout Florida and south Georgia. Greg Allen, NPR, 13 April 2013, Now Endangered, Florida’s Silver Springs Once Lured Tourists, Continue reading →

WWALS Outings and Events late 2015 – early 2016

Update 2016-04-03: Extra Withlacoochee outing by popular demand.

Coming up soon!

See the WWALS calendar for any more events already scheduled.

All these outings are in Georgia. Which is a switch, since Continue reading →

Pictures: FL 6 to Cone Bridge, Suwannee River –Gretchen Quarterman 2015-11-22

A nice cloudy day on the iconic Suwannee River, with a ghost bridge. Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman on the November 22nd 2015 WWALS Outing from Florida 6 to Cone Bridge Road.

Lunch banner

Click on any picture for a bigger one. Continue reading →

Draft TMDL for Suwannee River Basin

Downstream from Valdosta and Tifton on the Withlacoochee River, and downstream from Fitzgerald on the Willacoochee River: room for improvement in fecal coliform, Figure 2. Impaired Stream Segments in Suwannee River Basin said the Georgia Environmental Protection Division in a draft report issued Friday. The comment deadline is January 20th, 2016. On a quick read, the various wastewater treatment plants do not seem to be the main source of the contamination. Other likely culprits include leaking septic tanks, concentrated livestock operations, and landfills and land application sites, both closed and operating. Also notice the proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline would cross most if not all of these TMDL locations in Lowndes County. Would drilling under the Withlacoochee River and open cuts in these areas help the TMDL problem?

Here’s the NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF PROPOSED TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS FOR WATERS AND POLLUTANTS OF CONCERN IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA November 20, 2015, which includes: Continue reading →

Bellville Bridge, Withlacoochee River, Madison to Hamilton County, Florida, put in for WWALS outing 2015-10-24

We saw the ruins in October; here’s a picture when it was still standing.

Side view, 1987
Picture from Hamilton County, by Marsanne Petty, on page 13 (Richard McCulley); found by Chris Mericle.

The caption reads: Continue reading →

Not one hand was raised for Sabal Trail before Suwannee BOCC voted against it –Suwannee Democrat

Sabal Trail’s excuse was they didn’t know in advance, even though their attorneys sent a letter beforehand, and they didn’t show up in Albany, GA, either, with weeks of notice. Spectra Energy’s Andrea Grover told the newspaper some other things that also don’t match the public record.

Carl McKinney, Suwannee Democrat, 20 November 2015, Dozens gather in Live Oak to oppose gas pipeline, compress station,

Not one hand raised among the dozens in the room when a county commissioner asked who came to support the proposed Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline which would run through three states and dissect Suwannee County if approved.

Tuesday evening, every parking space at the county’s judicial annex building was full as O’Brien residents, people from Live Oak and activists and experts from as far as New Orleans gathered at the county commission meeting to voice their opposition to the project.

The commission was voting on Continue reading →

Video of citizens and Commission against Sabal Trail in Suwannee County, FL 2015-11-17

The Commissioners unanimously voted for that resolution to ask Sabal Trail to move the Hildreth compressor station, as you can see on Suwannee County’s own video of that meeting.

First, several people spoke against the compressor station, including:

Old wooden Cone Bridge over the Suwannee River, takeout for WWALS outing 2015-11-22

We’ll float down the Suwannee River to this spot Sunday afternoon: come join us!

Old Cone Bridge, 1963, Suwannee River
Picture from Hamilton County, by Marsanne Petty, on page 12; found by Chris Mericle.

Continue reading →

WWALS informal outing on the Suwannee –Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman 2015-11-15

A nice Sunday afternoon from Suwannee Campsites to Suwannee River State Park. group photo with WWALS banner

WWALS held an informal outing for visitor Johanna deGraffenreid, Coastal Campaign Manager for Gulf Restoration Network, where she’s so newly hired she doesn’t have a picture on their staff page yet. You’ll be able to see her in action when Continue reading →