Thanks, GA-EPD, for another very useful online dataset: GOMAS, the Georgia Environmental Monitoring and Assessment System, with a plethora of water data.
![[Front page]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-05-16--gomas/gomas-front-page.jpg)
Front page of
GOMAS.
GOMAS seems to have all the water quality data reported by permitted wastewater facilities throughout the state, including some not required, apparently including at least some of Valdosta’s creek monitoring data.
GOMAS lets you find locations with data either Continue reading
Approved at the Sunday WWALS board meeting and filed last night via regulations.gov as PDF.
April 15, 2019
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPA Docket Center
Office of Water Docket
Mail Code 28221T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Re: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2018-0149,
Revised Definition of Waters of United States
To Whom it May Concern:
WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), also known as Suwannee Riverkeeper, submits the following comments on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) proposed rule entitled “Revised Definition of Waters of United States,” 84 Federal Register 4154-01 (February 14, 2019) (hereinafter “Proposed Rule”).
In addition to supporting the comments of Waterkeeper Alliance and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), WWALS adds these comments on groundwater.
The Proposed Rule’s categorical exclusion of groundwater makes no sense here above the Floridan Aquifer where surface water and groundwater constantly interchange, and pollutants travelling through groundwater are a frequent source of health, environmental, and economic problems.
This proposed exclusion of groundwater is called out repeatedly in the Proposed Rule, starting with this:
Continue readingUpdate 2019-03-17: Valdosta has agreed to meet with the dozen downstream Florida counties, elected officials to elected officials, 6PM, Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at Valdosta City Hall Annex, and “the public will have an opportunity to speak.”
A dozen downstream Florida counties want to meet with the Valdosta City Council, elected officials to elected officials, to present a resolution they passed urging the states of Florida and Georgia to do something about Valdosta’s sewage, and to discuss raising funds to help Valdosta fix its sewage infrastructure, so the Florida counties can restore their eco-tourism on the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Suwannee, and Santa Fe Rivers. Restoring eco-tourism came up again and again. It’s not just the actual sewage, which never gets to Taylor or Alachua Counties. It’s the stigma of sewage in the rivers. Fixing Valdosta’s spills and regular testing to find other sources are needed.
Valdosta said no. So delegates from all dozen counties are going to come to the March 21, 2019, Valdosta City Council Regular Session and speak in Citizens to Be Heard, three minutes each, some time after 5:30 PM that Thursday evening.
![[Movie: Approval of Resolution (115M)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-28--fl-rivers-task-force/MVI_0525.jpg)
Movie: Approval of Resolution (115M)
Task Force, clockwise from front:
Scott R. Koons (NCFRPC),
Ken Cornell (Alachua County),
Anthony Adams (Lafayette County),
Don Hale (Suwannee County),
Gene Higginbotham (Dixie County),
Kenrick Thomas (Gilchrist County),
Danny Riddick (Bradford County),
Thomas Demps (Taylor County),
Beth Burnam (Hamilton County),
Rick Davis (Chair, Madison County)
Apparently Valdosta told them that Valdosta doesn’t do workshops or joint meetings, which is curious, since Valdosta’s city council members a month earlier met with council members from all the other Lowndes County cities and the Lowndes County Commissioners about their Service Delivery Strategy, which includes wastewater. Last year, members of Valdosta Mayor and Council met with elected officials Continue reading
Received Thursday. The Rivers Task Force of the dozen downstream Florida counties will be voting next Thursday on a resolution asking the State of Florida (FDEP, SRWMD, etc.) to do something about Valdosta’s sewage spills.
![[4PM Thu 28 Feb 2019, Holiday Inn, Lake City, FL]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-28--river-task-force/compositenotice.jpg)
4PM Thu 28 Feb 2019, Holiday Inn, Lake City, FL
When: 4PM, Thursday, February 28, 2019
Where: Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, 213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard, Lake City, Florida
What: A meeting of the Middle and Lower Suwannee River and Withlacoochee River Task Force
Directions: From the intersection of Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 90 (exit 427) in the City of Lake City turn, East onto U.S. Highway 90, travel approximately 450 feet to SW Commerce Blvd, turn right (South) onto SW Commerce Blvd, travel approximately 720 feet and the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites is on the left.
The agenda, after the customary introductory items, has only a resolution and Next Steps.
Not on the agenda, but mentioned in the minutes of the previous meeting:
The Task Force agreed that the next steps should be to request a meeting with the Governor and Commissioner of Agriculture. Chair Davis informed the Task Force that the next meeting will be held on Continue reading
Two weeks ago, WWALS member Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson asked the state of Florida what baseline water quality testing had been done downstream of Valdota, and:
Please begin water samplings for the isotope for sucralose, fecal coliform testing and any other water testing establishing what or who is culpable of contamination in our protected, Outstanding Florida Waterways.
Yesterday she got an answer. She agrees with my assessment of the data supplied: “Sparse locations and only monthly, but better than nothing.”
![[DEAR bacterial monthly sampling stations]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-21--mmj-fl-gov-bacterial/stations-map.jpg)
DEAR bacterial monthly sampling stations
However, how can the state of Florida be “committed to monitoring and stopping this recurring problem.” when they “do not allow for enforcement actions directed at the source of sanitary sewer overflows, nor for routine water quality surveillance for sources of river water contamination”?
Now it’s true that last restriction was only cited as applying to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH), not the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration (DEAR), and not to the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD). But which of this alphabet soup of agencies should be doing “routine water quality surveillance for sources of river water contamination”?
The beginning of the final paragraph of the response does not indicate any intention Continue reading
Valdosta Utilities naturally painted as rosy a picture as possible, and newspapers have limited space, so here is the rest of the story about Valdosta wastewater at the Suwannee River Water Management District board meeting last Tuesday. SRWMD Chair Virginia H. Johns understands the stigma, and Board Member Virginia Sanchez spelled it out:
“You don’t want to swim in a little sewage versus a lot of sewage either. Both of them are bad. A spill is bad.”
Featured in this post, drawing from the WWALS videos of all the relevant speakers, are Valdosta Utilities Director Darryl Muse, who talked about the catch basin Valdosta is digging, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, who filled in many pieces omitted by Valdosta and FDEP, and Hamilton County resident Jim McBrayer, who got the attention of the SRWMD board by saying there was E. coli in his well and SRWMD should know where it came from, plus especially the very participatory SRWMD board, who made it pretty clear to FDEP they wanted data by their next meeting, and they wanted Valdosta to move along in fixing their problems in less than a hundred years.
Let’s not forget Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who pointed out something Valdosta doesn’t want to hear: it’s the stigma of sewage spills that is the big problem they are causing. For sure we need to find out what the specific health and other effects are of Valdosta sewage and other contamination on river water and nearby wells. But the stigma of Valdosta sewage goes far beyond that.
Last night Georgia legislators from all over the state, including numerous committee chairs, feasted on quail supplied by Lowndes County and Valdosta in the annual Bird Supper, a six-decade tradition of local lobbying in the Georgia state capitol.
I thanked Jeff Jones (District 167) for his new coal ash bills, and reminded other legislators to vote for them this year, like they did his earlier ones last year: Continue reading
Update 2019-02-18: The rest of the Valdosta wastewater story at SRWMD 2019-02-12.
The most direct interaction by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Board that I’ve ever seen, yesterday, when Valdosta Utilities Director Darryl Muse came to explain what Valdosta has done and is doing to stop its sewage spills. Neither the board nor the audience seemed satisfied.
![[Movie: Darryl Muse, Utilities Director, Valdosta (1458M)]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-12--srwmd/7Muse.jpg)
Movie: Darryl Muse, Utilities Director, Valdosta (1458M)
Stay tuned for another post about some of what was said. Meanwhile, below are links to each WWALS video of each speaker or agenda item, with a few notes. These WWALS videos are under a Creative Commons Attribution license, which means you can use them, provide you cite the source, which is WWALS. There are a few more pictures on the WWALS website. See also the agenda. For background and data, see: Continue reading
2019-002-13: WWALS videos.
Received just now, the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) agenda for next Tuesday includes:
7.B. Cooperating Agencies and Organizations — City of Valdosta Utilities Department Presentation
When: 9 AM, Tuesday, February 23, 2019
Where: 9225 Co Rd 49, Live Oak, FL 32060
What: SRWMD Board Packet.
Good news: the GA-EPD Sewage Spill Reports do not have any spills reported from Valdosta or anywhere else in the Suwannee River Basin during the rains of last weekend.
Plenty of water was coming out of the pipe from Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) into the Withlacoochee River yesterday, but it smelled merely mildly like Continue reading
Online today and in the paper Gainesville Sun this coming Sunday. To paddle the most-affected stretch of the Withlacoochee River, join us this Saturday morning.
A December upsurge of raw sewage spills from the city of Valdosta, Georgia, has a dozen downstream counties organized into a task force, demanding action from Florida state legislators. But what action?
I recommend first getting a grip on the extent of the problem, keeping that picture up to date and then funding fixes.
![[Water]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-01-06--wwals-troupville-testing/20190106_152703.jpg)
Photo: John S. Quarterman of Sara Jay, Water Temperature, TGroupville Boat Ramp, Little River, 2019-01-06
Valdosta spilled not just twice, but two dozen times in December, totaling more than 6 million gallons of raw sewage. Spills also happened in Tifton, Quitman and Lowndes County, Georgia.
We know this because Continue reading
![[2019-04-15--WWALS-to-EPA-0001]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-04-15--epa-rule-deadline/2019-04-15--WWALS-to-EPA-0001.jpg)
![[Resolution and Next Steps]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-28--river-task-force/agenda.jpg)
![[7.B. Valdosta Utilities]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-02-12--srwmd-board-packet/onagenda.jpg)