Tag Archives: WWALS

Pictures: Wild Azalea Festival, White Springs, FL 2019-03-16

A new festival to WWALS, and one of the smaller ones, but very friendly. The Mayor of White Springs came by to welcome us and then to invite us back, as did one of the city council members, at Wild Azalea Festival. Oh, and the musicians were astonishingly good. We invited them all to the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, August 24 in Valdosta; submissions open April 1, 2019.

Songwriting Contest, Talking

Note the Songwriting Contest flyers. Each one is backed by a flyer for the BIG Little River Paddle Race.

Hanging pictures, Setting up

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Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race 2019-04-27

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PDF)

One month before BIG Little River Paddle Race

Hahira, Georgia, March 27, 2019 — It’s one month until the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race (BLRPR) in Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia. You can just paddle along this scenic stretch of tea-colored river on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail among cypress, turtles, birds, and yes, alligators. (Don’t pet them and they won’t bother you.) This three-mile race also has fierce competitors, with last year’s winner finishing in barely more than half an hour. Plus lunch, a silent auction, and a kayak raffle, at this family fun sporting event in support of two local nonprofits.


Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of paddlers in BLRPR 2018

BLRPR mastermind Bret Wagenhorst, an eye doctor in Tifton, GA, and a charter board member of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), said, “You can win in any of a dozen categories: one- or two-person canoe or kayak, male or female or mixed, as well as oldest, youngest, and from farthest away.”

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Video: WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman on Charlie Walker Radio 2019-03-13

In eight minutes she talked about the BIG Little River Paddle Race, the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, on the air with Charlie Walker, KIX 99.5 Country Radio, plus Paddle Georgia, and all the other events and outings.

BIG Little River Paddle Race

“That’s our signature event,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, about the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race.

On the Air, Gretchen Quarterman

It’s our seventh year. It’s at Reed Bingham [State Park]. We paddle from Continue reading →

Banks Lake Full Pink Moon Paddle, 2019-04-19

Update 2019-04-19: Rescheduled to Saturday due to weather.

A leisurely sunset paddle to watch the sun set and the full moon rise over the Banks Lake, a mini-Okefenokee near Lakeland, Georgia.

When: Gather 7:00 PM, launch 7:30 PM, Friday, April 19, 2019

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp

Bring: the a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow stick, head lamp, or flashlight), and bring a rope for your boat. You must wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD). A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark. Dress for cold weather, the temperature drops quickly after the sun sets. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Zoom, Moonrise
Photo: Shirley Kokidko, Banks Lake Spring Equinox Full Moon Paddle, 2019-03-20.

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Pictures Banks Lake Spring Equinox Full Moon Paddle 2019-03-20

“I don’t know which was more beautiful, the sunset or the full moon rising,” wrote Shirley Kokidko, after the Spring Equinox Full Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, 2019-03-20. Join us next month for the Banks Lake Full Pink Moon Paddle, 2019-04-19.

Colors, Sunset

Colors, Sunset

Zoom, Moonrise

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Cone Bridge, Big Shoals Portage, to Suwannee Wayside Park, Suwannee River, 2019-05-04

Update 2019-04-18: Due to low water, changed to Cypress Creek South (CR 6) to Cone Bridge, Suwannee River, still May 4, 2019.

This 15.6 mile paddle includes a strenuous portage around Big Shoals, the biggest whitewater rapids in Florida and paddling over a smaller set of rapids at Little Shoals. Due to the portage which involves climbing up and down steep, sandy banks with kayaks, carrying kayaks 300 feet and lifting over downed trees, this trip is listed as difficult. You must be physically able to get back into your kayak on the slippery edge of this swift moving section of the Suwannee River. We help each other as much as possible, but ultimately you are responsible for your boat. We will take a break at the shoals and enjoy the outstanding view. No one is paddling over the shoals and this portage is the only way around.

When: Gather 8:30 AM, Launch 10 AM, Thursday, May 4, 2019

Put In: Cone Bridge Ramp, From Lake City, travel north on US 441 to NW Cone Bridge Road; turn left and follow road to ramp in Columbia County.

GPS: 30.445156, -82.670845

Take Out: Suwannee Wayside Ramp, From White Springs, travel south on US 41 to the river; the ramp is on the south side in the town park. Hamilton County.

Bring: a rope to drag your boat, the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit.

Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, Cone Bridge Boat Ramp, 2015-11-22
Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, Cone Bridge Boat Ramp, 2015-11-22

This paddle is on the Suwannee River Wilderness Trail (SRWT). Continue reading →

Public Meetings, Revisions, GA Nonpoint Source Management Plan 2019-03-29

Update 2019-05-01: The WWALS comment letter.

As usual, the closest public meeting to the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin is two hours away, this time in Dawson, Georgia. Received Monday via email. The documents attached are on the WWALS website.

When: Friday, March 29, 2019 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Where: 152 N. Main Street, Dawson, GA

Event: facebook, meetup

[Meeting locations]
Meeting locations
google map

EPD Watershed Protection Branch

Notice of Public Meetings for the Revisions to Georgia’s
Statewide Nonpoint Source Management Plan Continue reading →

Pictures: Azalea Festival, Valdosta, GA 2019-03-09-10

It was a fine time with 30,000 friends at Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Georgia.

See also Onemile Branch Cleanup, Drexel Park, during Azalea Festival 2019-03-10.

Saturday

Gretchen Quarterman and Julie Magruder, Booth

Gretchen Quarterman and Julie Magruder, Booth

Paddle Georgia, PR

Paddle Georgia, PR

Profile, Raffle Kayak

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Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest Committee Meeting 2019-03-24

Come on over to Live Oak this Sunday to help organize the Second Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest! Thanks again to radio host Chris Beckham for agreeing to M.C. the Contest, which will be August 24, 2019, at The Salty Snapper in Valdosta, with submissions opening the first of April.

When: 6PM, Sunday, March 24, 2019

Where: Sakura Japanese Sushi and Grill, 1548 Ohio Avenue South, Live Oak, FL 32064-4514

Event: facebook, meetup

Tom H. Johnson Jr., Laura D'Alisera, Eileen Box, John S. Quarterman, Scotti Jay, Sara Jay; Photo: Mary Catherine Pindar, 2019-02-17
Tom H. Johnson Jr., Laura D’Alisera, Eileen Box, John S. Quarterman, Scotti Jay, Sara Jay; Photo: Mary Catherine Pindar, 2019-02-17

We made quite a bit of progress at last month’s meeting, including setting the date of the Contest, and we put out a press release.

Now we need to Continue reading →

Valdosta Sewage Spills Workshop at Florida Senate 2019-03-20

A Florida Senate Committee has scheduled a Workshop on Valdosta Sewage Spills.

Table, Committee

The same session this Wednesday afternoon will hear three water bills, SB 1100 about funding water well testing, which is relevant to the recent detection of E. coli in for example Hamilton County wells, SB 1758, which includes some changes to Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) requirements and requirements for wastewater treatment plants to notify customers of unlawful discharges, and SB 1552 about Red Tide mitigation.

Event: facebook, meetup

Florida Senator Bill Montford, District 3 When I went by Senator Bill Montford’s office last Wednesday, his staffer said they would be scheduling this workshop, with public input. They have done so. Senator Montford is the Chair of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. His District 3 includes Hamilton, Madison, and Taylor Counties, all of which are members of the twelve-county Florida Rivers Task Force and signatories on its Resolution asking for assistance from Florida and Georgia about Valdosta sewage spills. The Withlacoochee River, into which much of Valdosta’s raw sewage spills have gone, is the border between Madison and Hamilton Counties, and the Alapaha River, into which basin other Valdosta spills have gone, runs through Hamilton County. Taylor County is not on either of those rivers nor on the Suwannee River, yet its economy is affected by the stigma of Valdosta’s sewage spills.

The Florida Senate, COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICE,

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Senator Montford, Chair
Senator Albritton, Vice Chair

MEETING DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 2019

TIME: 4:00—6:00 p.m.

PLACE: Mallory Horne Committee Room, 37 Senate Building [404 S. Monroe, Tallahassee, FL 32399]

AMENDMENT DEADLINE: Continue reading →