All 35 WWALS Counties and many of the WWALS Cities are listed here.

Update 3 October 2019 after Waterkeeper Alliance added the Santa Fe River Basin to Suwannee Riverkeeper territory on September 26, 2019.

Updated 14 February 2017 after addition of lower Suwannee River watershed along with license for Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®. Plus ZIP codes.

Updated 26 August 2015 after addition of Upper Suwannee River watershed.

Counties

The complete list of WWALS Counties in the Suwannee Riverkeeper territory is, with (recent population numbers):

Alphabetically:

• Georgia, 22 counties, 13 wholly or majority in the Basin, *others less than half in the Basin:
  Atkinson* (8,284), Ben Hill* (17,538), Berrien (19,041), Brantley* (18,417), Brooks (15,403), Charlton* (12,897), Clinch (6,718), Coffee* (43,170), Colquitt* (46,137), Cook (16,923), Crisp* (23,606), Dooly* (14,318), Echols (3,988), Irwin* (9,600), Lanier (10,400), Lowndes (114,552), Thomas* (44,724), Tift (41,064), Turner* (8,410), Wilcox* (9,068), Ware* (35,515), Worth* (21,741).
• Florida, 13 counties, 8 wholly or majority in the Basin, *others only partly in the Basin, **really only a sliver:
  Alachua* (266,944), Baker* (27,093), Bradford (27,038), Clay** (212,230), Columbia (68,901), Dixie* (15,907), Gilchrist (16,997), Lafayette (8,835), Levy* (36,613), Madison (18,907), Hamilton (14,708), Suwannee (43,656), Union (15,517).

Sorted by population:

• Georgia, 22 counties, 13 wholly or majority in the Basin, *others less than half in the Basin:
  Lowndes (114,552), Colquitt* (46,137), Thomas* (44,724), Coffee* (43,170), Tift (41,064), Ware* (35,515), Crisp* (23,606), Worth* (21,741). Berrien (19,041), Brantley* (18,417), Ben Hill* (17,538), Cook (16,923), Brooks (15,403), Dooly* (14,318), Charlton* (12,897), Lanier (10,400), Irwin* (9,600), Wilcox* (9,068), Turner* (8,410), Atkinson* (8,284), Clinch (6,718), Echols (3,988),
• Florida, 13 counties, 8 wholly or majority in the Basin, *others only partly in the Basin, **really only a sliver:
  Alachua* (266,944), Clay** (212,230), Columbia (68,901), Suwannee (43,656), Levy* (36,613). Baker** (27,093), Bradford (27,038), Madison (18,907), Gilchrist (16,997), Dixie* (15,907), Union (15,517). Hamilton (14,708), Lafayette (8,835),

Population Centers

While Alachua County, Florida, has by far the most population, with Clay County second, only slivers of those counties are in the Suwannee River Basin, specifically in the Santa Fe River Basin.

Of counties wholly in the Basin, Lowndes is by far the biggest county in WWALS watersheds, and Tift County, like Lowndes, is in all three of these WWALS watersheds: Withlacoochee, Little, and Alapaha.

Cook County, Georgia is bounded on the west by the Little River and on the east by the Withlacoochee River and its other tributary the New River. Hamilton County, Florida, is bounded on the west by the Withlacoochee River, and has the confluences of the Alapaha River and its two tributaries the Alapahoochee River and the Little Alapaha River.

Some Georgia counties, such as Thomas and Coffee, occur high up in the population chart, yet have only small parts in the WWALS watersheds. Coffee and Atkinson Counties have small parts on the Alapaha River and its tributary the Willacoochee River, as do Wilcox, Ben Hill, Clinch, and Echols. The Alapaha River runs through Lanier and Berrien Counties.

Columbia County is the most populous WWALS county in Florida that is wholly in Suwannee Riverkeeper territory. Like Suwannee County it has much of its land and population in the Upper Suwannee River watershed, and much of the rest in the Lower Suwannee River watershed. Hamilton and Madison Counties are both on the Suwannee, are separated by the Withlacoochee, and Hamilton contains the lower reaches of the Alapaha and Alapahoochee Rivers.

Suwannee County is bounded on three sides by the Suwannee River, and on a fourth by its tributary the Santa Fe River.

The Santa Fe River and its tributaries including the Ichetucknee River and the New River are included in WWALS watersheds, along with Columbia, Union, and Bradford Counties, and bits of Baker and Clay, as well as High Springs and most of the city of Alachua in Alachua County.

Down to the Gulf, Lafayette, Gilchrist, Dixie, and Levy all have the lower Suwannee as one of their borders, while Dixie contains the town of Suwannee at its mouth, along with Horseshoe Bay, which is one end of the Suwannee Estuary, with Cedar Key in Levy County as the other end.

The total population of WWALS watersheds is difficult to estimate because so many counties are split among watersheds, but is probably not much more than 300,000 500,000. This is not large compared to some of the larger river watersheds, however, it is larger than others.

Withlacoochee River

In Georgia, the Withlacoochee River forms part of the border between Berrien and Cook Counties (the other half is the New River), as well as between Brooks and Lowndes Counties (the other half is the Little River). In Florida, the Withlacoochee River is the border between Madison and Hamilton Counties, before it flows into the Suwannee River. See the WWALS September 2014 outing: Springs, shoals, and pipeline: Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers 21 Sep 2014

The Withlacoochee’s largest tributary, the Little River, forms the border between Colquitt and Cook Counties, and the northern half of the border between Brooks and Lowndes Counties.

Colquitt and Brooks Counties in Georgia have many creeks that flow into the Withlacoochee River, especially Okapilco Creek. Thomas County has the headwaters of Piscola Creek, which flows through Brooks County to the Withlacoochee.

Alapaha River

The Alapaha River forms part of the boundary between Berrien and Atkinson Counties, then runs through Lanier and Echols Counties, while it is part of the eastern border of Lowndes County with Lanier and Echols, before flowing through Hamilton County, Florida to the Suwannee River. This is the core of the Alapaha River Water Trail. See also the Alapaha River @ US 84: endpoint of Sunday’s WWALS Outing 24 August 2014.

The Alapaha River begins in Dooly County, then flows through Wilcox on the way to Irwin. Crisp County has Deep Creek, which forms the boundary of Ben Hill and Turner Counties before it joins the Alapaha in Irwin. Turner also has Hat Creek, which forms part of its border with Tift County, as well as between Tift and Irwin, before joining the Alapaha River in Irwin.

Probably a separate page will appear later on the many WWALS creeks.

Ben Hill County has the headwaters of the Willacoochee River. which flows through Irwin County, forms the boundary between Coffee County and Berrien County, then the northern part of the border between Atkinson County and Berrien County, before joining the Alapaha River in Berrien County, after which the Alapaha River is the rest of the border between Atkinson and Berrien Counties.

The Alapaha River’s other river tributary, the Alapahoochee River, forms at the conjunction of Grand Bay Creek and Mud Swamp Creek at the border of Lowndes and Echols Counties, briefly forms part of the border of those two counties, then flows through Echols into Hamilton County, Florida, where it joins the Alapaha River. And let’s not forget the Alapaha’s other other river tributary, the Little Alapaha River, arising in Echols County, Georgia, flowing through Hamilton County, Florida to join the Alapaha, but usually not reaching that confluence before it falls into sinkholes.

Upper Suwannee River

The Upper Suwannee River watershed extends from the Okefenokee Swamp and Suwanoochee Creek in south Georgia through north Florida to the confluence of the Withlacoochee River. The total population of the three Suwannee Valley Transit Authority (SVTA) counties of Columbia, Suwannee, and Hamilton is about 125,631, which is not a lot less than the four counties of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) counties of Lowndes, Brooks, Echols, and Lanier, at 142,897.

Santa Fe River

[Need to add.]

Lower Suwannee River

The lower Suwannee River HUC 03110205 includes much of the rest of Columbia and Suwannee Counties (except the parts in the Santa Fe River watershed), plus Lafayette, Dixie, and the west parts of Levy and Gilchrist Counties, with combined somewhere around 80,000 people.

Cities

Larger WWALS cities and towns include, with (recent population numbers); *only partly in the Basin, alphabetically:

• Georgia: Adel (5,270), Argyle (213), Ashburn (3,897), Barwick (378), Cecil (278), Chula (unknown), Dasher (956), DuPont (123), Fargo (324), Fitzgerald (9,048), Hahira (2,846), Homerville (2,452), Lakeland (3,391), Lake Park (750), Moultrie* (14,506), Morven (532), Nashville (4,986), Naylor (122), Norman Park (976), Ocilla (3,538), Omega (1,251), Quitman (3,664), Ray City (1,058), Remerton (1,151), Sparks (2,003), Statenville (unknown), Sylvester (6,283), Tifton (16,672), Valdosta (57,597), Waycross* (13,876),
• Florida: Alachua (9,982), Bell (454), Branford (723), Cedar Key (698), Chiefland (2,206), Cross City (1,692), Fanning Springs (974), Fort White (590), Gainesville* (132,249), High Springs (6,033), Horseshoe Beach (167), Jasper (4,452), Jennings (866), Lake Butler (1,813), Lake City (12,100), Lee (330), Live Oak (6,919), Luraville (?), Madison (2,769), Mayo (1,251), Old Town (10,682), Starke (5,370), Suwannee (295), Trenton (2,023), White Springs (776).

And by population (recent population numbers); *only partly in the Basin, largest first:

• Georgia: Valdosta (57,597), Tifton (16,672), Moultrie* (14,506), Waycross* (13,876), Fitzgerald (9,048), Sylvester (6,283), Adel (5,270), Nashville (4,986), Ashburn (3,897), Quitman (3,664), Ocilla (3,538), Lakeland (3,391), Hahira (2,846), Homerville (2,452), Sparks (2,003), Omega (1,251), Remerton (1,151), Ray City (1,058), Norman Park (976), Dasher (956), Lake Park (750), Morven (532), Barwick (378), Fargo (324), Cecil (278), Argyle (213), DuPont (123), Naylor (122), Statenville (unknown), Chula (unknown)
• Florida: Gainesville* (132,249), Lake City (12,100), Old Town (10,682), Alachua (9,982), Live Oak (6,919), High Springs (6,033), Starke (5,370), Jasper (4,452), Madison (2,769), Chiefland (2,206), Trenton (2,023), Lake Butler (1,813), Cross City (1,692), Mayo (1,251), Fanning Springs (974), Jennings (866), White Springs (776). Branford (723), Cedar Key (698), Fort White (590), Bell (454), Lee (330), Suwannee (295), Horseshoe Beach (167),

While Gainesville is twice the size of Valdosta, only a tiny part of Gainesville* is in the Suwannee River Basin.

So Valdosta is by far the biggest city, followed by Tifton, Moultrie*, Waycross*, and Lake City. Thus Lake City is either number 5, or number 3 if we’re not counting cities only partly in the Suwannee River Basin. Then it’s Alachua, Fitzgerald, Live Oak, Sylvester, High Springs, Starke, Adel, Nashville, Jasper, etc., switching back and forth between Florida and Georgia, quickly getting into population differences of only a few hundred.

Moultrie is way up at the top of Okapilco Creek, which goes through Brooks County to the Withlacoochee River. Tifton and Valdosta are drained by all three of the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha watersheds. The Alapaha River runs through Nashville, Lakeland, and Statenville, then near Jasper, FL. Ocilla and Fitzgerald are on the Willacoochee River. See Our WWALS Watersheds for more on which cities and counties are in which WWALS watersheds. The Upper Suwannee River runs from the Okefenokee Swamp through Fargo and White Springs, before being joined by the Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers.

See also Biggest city in Suwannee River watershed? for how Valdosta is the biggest city not only in the WWALS watersheds, but also in the entire Suwannee River Basin.

See Maps for more information.

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

ZIP Codes

There will be overlaps, since we adjoin Flint, Altamaha, Satilla, and St Marys Riverkeepers, and the ZIP codes don’t go by watershed boundaries. While portions of Charlton County, GA and Baker County, FL are in the Upper Suwannee HUC, those portions are in the swamps, where there are no ZIP codes.

This list includes Dixie County, with Horseshoe Bay. It includes Cedar Key and Old Town in Levy County, but not the eastern parts that get into Waccasassa and Withlacoochee (south) Rivers that run directly into the Gulf.

This list includes 94 ZIP codes. One could make arguments for a few more around the edges, but this list includes the great majority of WWALS watersheds and all the main population centers.

Lowndes County, GA:
31601 Valdosta, GA
31602 Valdosta, GA
31603 Valdosta, GA
31604 Valdosta, GA
31605 Valdosta, GA
31606 Valdosta, GA
31632 Hahira, GA
31636 Lake Park, GA
31641 Naylor, GA
31698 Valdosta State University, GA
31699 Moody AFB, GA

Brooks County, GA:
31625 Barney, GA
31629 Dixie, GA
31638 Morven, GA
31643 Quitman, GA
31720 Barwick, GA

Thomas County, GA:
31626 Boston, GA
31738 Coolidge, GA
31778 Pavo, GA

Colquitt County, GA:
31722 Berlin, GA
31747 Ellenton, GA
31768 Moultrie, GA
31771 Norman Park, GA
31788 Berlin, GA

Worth County, GA:
31781 Poulan, GA
31789 Sumner, GA
31791 Sylvester, GA

Turner County, GA:
31783 Rebecca, GA
31714 Ashburn, GA
31790 Sycamore, GA

Crisp County, GA:
31015 Cordele, GA

Dooly County, GA:
31092 Vienna, GA

Tift County, GA:
31733 Chula, GA
31727 Brookfield, GA
31775 Omega, GA
31793 Tifton, GA
31794 Tifton, GA
31795 Ty Ty, GA

Cook County, GA:
31620 Adel, GA
31627 Cecil, GA
31647 Sparks, GA
31637 Lenox, GA

Berrien County, GA:
31639 Nashville, GA
31622 Alapaha, GA
31749 Enigma, GA
31645 Ray City, GA

Ben Hill County, GA:
21750 Fitzgerald, GA

Irwin County, GA:
31760 Irwinville, GA
31769 Mystic, GA
31774 Ocilla, GA

Coffee County, GA:
31533 Douglas, GA

Atkinson County, GA:
31650 Willacoochee, GA
31642 Pearson, GA

Lanier County, GA:
31635 Lakeland, GA
31649 Stockton, GA

Clinch County, GA:
31623 Argyle, GA
31630 Du Pont, GA
31631 Fargo, GA
31634 Homerville, GA

Echols County, GA:
31648 Statenville, GA

Ware County, GA:
31501 Waycross, GA
31502 Waycross, GA
31503 Waycross, GA
31550 Manor, GA
31552 Millwood, GA

Madison County, FL:
32059 Lee, FL
32331 Greenville, FL
32340 Madison, FL
32341 Madison, FL
32350 Pinetta, FL

Hamilton County, FL:
32052 Jasper, FL
32053 Jennings, FL
32096 White Springs, FL

Columbia County, FL:
32024 Lake City, FL
32025 Lake City, FL
32055 Lake City, FL
32056 Lake City, FL

Suwannee County, FL:
32008 Branford, FL
32060 Live Oak, FL
32062 Mc Alpin, FL
32064 Live Oak, FL
32071 O Brien, FL
32094 Wellborn, FL

Lafayette County, FL:
32013 Day, FL
32066 Mayo, FL

Gilchrist County, FL:
32008 Branford, FL
32619 Bell, FL
32643 High Springs, FL
32669 Newberry, FL
32693 Trenton, FL

Dixie County, FL:
32628 Cross City, FL
32648 Horseshoe Beach, FL
32680 Old Town, FL
32692 Suwannee, FL

Levy County, FL:
32625 Cedar Key, FL
32626 Chiefland, FL
32644 Chiefland, FL

Baker County, FL:
32087 Sanderson, FL
32040 Glen Saint Mary, FL
32234 Jacksonville, FL

Union County, FL:
32026 Raiford, FL
32054 Lake Butler, FL
32083 Raiford, FL
32697 Worthington Springs, FL

Bradford County, FL:
32622 Brooker, FL
32042 Graham, FL
32044 Hampton, FL
32054 Lake Butler, FL
32058 Lawtey, FL
32656 Keystone Heights, FL
32091 Starke, FL

Alachua County, FL:
32609 Gainesville, FL
32622 Brooker, FL
32615 Alachua, FL
32616 Alachua, FL
32622 Brooker, FL
32643 High Springs, FL
32653 Gainesville, FL
32655 High Springs, FL
32666 Melrose, FL
32694 Waldo, FL