Tag Archives: WWALS

Before the day 1 route of Paddle Georgia 2019-06-14

Down at the Little River Confluence, Troupville Boat Ramp, and downstream to Spook Bridge. Before #PaddleGA2019.

[Downstream Withlacoochee River, 10:48:15, 30.846955, -83.347810]
Downstream Withlacoochee River, 10:48:15, 30.8469550, -83.3478100

While WWALS was welcoming Paddle Georgia boats and boaters, Emma Wheeler of WCTV came to visit, greeted by Shirley Kokidko of WWALS. Continue reading

Paddle Georgia on Scott James Radio 8AM 2019-06-14

All about Paddle Georgia #PaddleGA2019, PaddleGA2019 (back on the original route, starting at Troupville!) on the radio 8:00 AM tomorrow, Friday, June 14, 2019, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman with Scott James on his Talk 92.1 drive-time radio show, out of Valdosta, Georgia.

We’ll be working out the final details for Scott James broadcasting from the Suwannee Riverkeeper Aircraft Carrier Saturday morning, as Paddle Georgia’s 300 paddlers set out downstream from Troupville Boat Ramp, just west of Valdosta.

Also Saturday morning, 8AM to 10AM, Helen Tapp and WWALS will be set up at the Little River Confluence, with water trail and other information. That’s on land Helen and her cousins are trying to get funded to turn into a park.

Scott James Talk 92.1 drive-time radio show
Photo: John S. Quarterman, Scott James radio 2019-02-22.

Friday WWALS will be planting signs at Troupville Boat Ramp for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), and at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line.

Tickets are still available for the Journey’s End Feast, Friday, June 21st, in Dowling Park, Florida, on the Suwannee River. That Feast is catered by WWALS by The Salty Snapper of Valdosta, Georgia.

The Salty Snapper will also be the venue for the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Saturday August 24.

When: Approximately 8:00 AM, Friday, June 14, 2019

Where: You can listen on the air, or through the radio show’s own website, or through several online listening services.

Event: facebook.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Tickets for Paddle Georgia Journey End Feast, June 21, 2019

Update 2019-06-19: Ticket sales are closed. See you there!

Even if you aren’t paddling on the Withlacoochee and Suwannee with Paddle Georgia, you can still enjoy the end of trip feast with this dinner ticket, if you buy within a week.

Live entertainment by First Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest Winner Laura D’Alisera and catering of catfish (with vegetarian option) by The Salty Snapper of Valdosta.

Dinner is served at 6PM but entertainment will be before and after the meal.

Spend a relaxing evening with good food and entertainment and support your local rivers. The venue is right next to the Suwannee River, in Dowling Park, Suwannee County, Florida.

Tickets: $25 each, online

When: Get your tickets online by noon, Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Dinner: 5:30 PM, Friday, June 21, 2019

Where: Advent Christian Village,
10680 Dowling Park Dr, Live Oak, FL 32060

Event: facebook, meetup

Remember to get your tickets by noon, Wednesday, June 19, so we can get a final count to the caterer, The Salty Snapper.

And coming up Continue reading

Sabal Trail shakey gas flow and Phase II 2019-06-11

Apparently some people in Albany, GA and Dunnellon, FL were surprised when Sabal Trail a week ago sent FERC “Notice of Commencement of Construction – Phase II Sabal Trail Project Facilities”, which means for the compressor stations in those two locations. But that notice was merely that “bona fide construction activities commenced on May 29, 2019.” FERC rubberstamped Phase II back in January, and Sabal Trail has been reporting on site clearing, gravelling, etc. for months.

[Aerial]
Albany Compressor Station site Aerial from 2019-01-17 STT filing

Meanwhile, Sabal Trail still can’t keep the gas flowing through its stranded asset pipelines. There never was any “need” for that gas in Florida, where Florida Power & Light (FPL)’s customers are stuck with the $4 billion construction bill. While FPL’s parent NextEra Energy never mentions Sabal Trail any more. NextEra brags instead about being a world leader in solar and wind energy.

[All (2017-06-14--2019-06-11)]
All (2017-06-14 — 2019-06-11)

When John Peconom of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) inked that rubberstamp back in January, the schedule was Continue reading

Videos: Naylor Boat Ramp should be finished in two weeks @ LCC 2019-06-10

The Naylor Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River should be finished in about two weeks, said Lowndes County Manager Joe Pritchard in yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

Below are videos of that meeting by Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE). Continue reading

Renewable solar and wind power now, not coal, gas, or nuclear –WWALS to GA PSC 2019-06-10

Drawing from eight years of speaking at Southern Company Stockholder meetings, and from that Homerville, Georgia explosion that destroyed Coffee Corner and sent three women to the hospital with third-degree burns, here’s a summary of the comments we filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission today. If you can’t go to the GA-PSC hearings tomorrow and the next day about the Georgia Power Integrated Resource Plan, you can also send a comment letter asking the PSC to stop Georgia Power locking in fossil fuels and make them get on with sun and wind pwoer on a smart grid.

[AGL fines, more solar, coal ash disposal, and mercury]

  1. Yes, fine AGL more than $2 million for that Homerville, GA explosion.
  2. Require Georgia power to buy 12 gigawatts (GW) of solar power, not 1 GW.
  3. Make Georgia Power pay to dispose of the coal ash it produced, properly on its own property.
  4. How about make the companies that put mercury in the air to come down in our rivers pay for the costs to recreational fishing.
  5. Stop throwing money down the Plant Vogtle nuclear hole.
  6. Demand Georgia Power get on with wind power.

This about sums it up: Continue reading

Low water reroute of Paddle Georgia 2019-06-05

The same day as Jay Ricks, Paddle Georgia #PaddleGA2019, PaddleGA2019, sent an exploratory expedition, with WWALS board member Bobby McKenzie acting as local guide.

Canoe, Shoals

PADDLE GEORGIA 2019 LOW WATER UPDATE!!!!!

Due to low water levels on the upper Withlacoochee, the Georgia River Network staff and Paddle Georgia safety advisory committee has concluded that if water levels do not rise significantly, we will be forced to abandon our original Paddle Georgia route entirely.

This will mean all paddlers will travel on our “alternate route” which will involve repeating our original Day 4 and Day 5 routes during the week and paddling only a portion of our Day 3 route.

We have made this decision in an effort to Continue reading

Pictures: Troupville to US 84 –Jay Ricks 2019-06-05

Local resident Jay Ricks paddled the Withlacoochee River Wednesday, from Troupville Boat Ramp (which locals call the prison boat ramp, due to the state prison across the highway), to US 84.

[Rather low]
Rather low

This was the same day as the Paddle Georgia exploratory expedition.

Jay saw this odd sight at Troupville Boat Ramp: Continue reading

Fecal coliform worse than E. coli, Valdosta testing 2019-05-07

While the numbers were way down at US 84 on May 7, bacterial counts were up upstream on the Withlacoochee River, and on Mud Swamp Creek; up more in Fecal coliform than E. coli. These readings seem to indicate nonpoint sources.

Withlacoochee

[Fecal coliform Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin]
Fecal coliform Graph, Withlacoochee River Basin

The high readings are all from stations upstream of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the low reading at US 84 is downstream of the WWTP. Continue reading

Raise no limits, sample more water, publish timely –WWALS to FDEP Triennial Review 2019-05-31

Dear FDEP, please raise no pollutant limits, do more water quality monitoring, and publish all testing results in days, not months.

[More water quality monitoring]
More water quality monitoring

Continue reading