Come help us remove some deadfalls that are impeding canoe and kayak paddling.
Bring a chainsaw if you really know how to use it.
But you do not have to use a saw to join us.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, September 9, 2023
Put In: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602,
GPS: 30.88747, -83.32395
![[Easy and hard deadfalls 2021-05-15]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-09-09--langdale-troupville-chainsaw-cleanup-withlacoochee-river/many.jpg)
Easy and hard deadfalls,
2021-05-15
Update 2023-08-02: Very bad water quality at US 41 and GA 133 Monday 2023-07-31.
The Withlacoochee River tested good for Friday in WWALS sampling, but Crawford Branch and Sugar Creek were each above the one-time test limit for E. coli.
The Sugar Creek result is presumably due to ongoing effects from Valdosta’s July 17th 6,000 gallon sewage spill into Hightower Creek “behind the Target,” reported as at 1700 block River Street. This follows the disturbing Sugar Creek results Valdosta Utilities told us about Friday a week ago, after which we converted a cleanup paddle into an on-land cleanup.
We do not have any downstream results because
the WWALS volunteer water quality testing program is short-handed this week.
Maybe you’d like to become a WWALS tester; please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7
No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.
Rain fell hard today, but only briefly, so most of the rivers are probably OK for fishing, swimming and boating this weekend, although we have no downstream test results to tell.
I’d avoid the Withlacoochee River downstream from Sugar Creek as far as the Little River Confluence.
![[Chart, River and Creeks, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-28]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-28--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, River and Creeks, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-28
The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Wednesday upstream and Wednesday two weeks ago downstream. For Monday Valdosta got way-too-high results for US 41 Continue reading
Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for leading the rerouted on-land Sugar Creek and mostly Withlacoochee River cleanup. Children and experienced adults teamed up to get the job done. We found only one big trash jam and we cleaned that one up.
Phil Hubbard came with boat and chainsaws ready to do a chainsaw cleanup, but due to the reroute there was no chainsawing.
We thanked Valdosta Assistant Utilities Director Jason Barnes for alerting us to the sewage spill contamination in Sugar Creek that caused us to reroute from a cleanup paddle to an on-land cleanup. He arrived before we left, so we thanked him again in person.
![[Before, WaterGoat, Trashjam, Level log, after, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-22]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-22--sugar-creek-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)
Before, WaterGoat, Trashjam, Level log, after, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River 2023-07-22
Yes, Vivian, there could be alligators. Continue reading
Update 2023-07-24: Redesignation as Recreational, Withlacoochee River, GA 37 to Tiger Creek 2023-07-19
Suwannee Riverkeeper about Valdosta sewage spills yesterday on WTXL.TV, “It’s bad for people, it’s bad for wild life, it’s also bad for the economy. Valdosta is trying to be a place for ecotourism, and you’re not really helping that if you have sewage spills, if you have trash in the creeks and rivers,” [John S.] Quarterman said.
Come to Sugar Creek behind the Salty Snapper this morning at 9AM and hear more.
![[Reporter, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Utilities Director 2023-07-21]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-21--valdosta-sewage-wtxl/many.jpg)
Reporter, Suwannee Riverkeeper, Valdosta Utilities Director 2023-07-21
Ariel Schiller, ABC27 WTXL, July 21, 2023, City of Valdosta working to fix outdated sewer system, Continue reading
Update 2023-07-29: Clean Withlacoochee River, filthy Crawford and Sugar Creeks 2023-07-28.
Update 2023-07-22: Valdosta sewage spills bad for people, wildlife, economy –Suwannee Riverkeeper on WTXL.TV 2023-07-21.
The Alapaha, Little, and Withlacoochee Rivers tested good for Thursday in WWALS sampling. But there are ongoing effects from a couple of Valdosta sewage spills, plus a new one from Quitman.
Valdosta Utilities tells us of some disturbing results on Sugar Creek, downstream of the Valdosta spill of July 17th and upstream of the Withlacoochee River. (I would publish those test results, but I do not have them in writing.)
Because of those results, we have converted tomorrow’s cleanup paddle to an on-land cleanup.
If you do paddle this weekend, I recommend the Little or Alapaha Rivers, or the Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, or Suwannee.
Also, Quitman had a 12,500 gallon sewage spill on July 11th that was just reported today. That goes into Okapilco Creek into the Withlacoochee River.
No other sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-20]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-20--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-07-20
The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday upstream and Wednesday a week ago downstream. For Monday Valdosta got way-too-high results for US 41, GA 133, and US 84 on the Withlacoochee River. WWALS got a much better result for Thursday at US 41. We did not test at GA 133 or US 84, expecting to get Valdosta’s Wednesday results. No such luck.
FYI, GA 133 is on the route the Valdosta Mayor and City Council member were supposed to paddle with us tomorrow. You’d think Valdosta would have tested and reported in a timely manner before that. But they did not.
Meanwhile, Valdosta’s followup testing after its July 6, 2023, 194,251-gallon raw sewage spill into Knights Creek keeps showing way too-high Fecal coliform and E. coli downstream on Knights Creek, which is upstream of the Alapahoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. I have to wonder whether Valdosta has had more spills that it has not reported, possibly because it does not know about them. Continue reading
Update 2023-07-22:Pictures: Sugar Creek Withlacoochee River on-land cleanup 2023-07-22.
Due to bad water quality reports for Sugar Creek heard from the City of Valdosta, we are revising the cleanup from a paddle to an on-land cleanup. Please come to Sugar Creek at 9AM to hear where we will go from there.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, July 22, 2023
Where: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll go to appropriate locations from there.
![[At Langdale Park Boat Ramp: Caution Sewage Spill City of Valdosta --Bobby McKenzie 2023-07-21]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-22--langdale-park-boat-ramp-sewage-sign/IMG_3271.jpg)
At Langdale Park Boat Ramp: Caution Sewage Spill City of Valdosta –Bobby McKenzie 2023-07-21
Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. Bring sturdy shoes and clothes, drinking water, and snacks.
There is no need to bring a boat. Continue reading
After I complimented them quite a bit yesterday, I fear I must do so again today: Valdosta City Manager Richard Hardy and Assistant City Manager Catherine Ammons.
Yet there is still room for improvement on sewage spills, and ample room on trash and Click ‘n’ Fix, as well as generally on letting the public know what the city of Valdosta is doing to fix problems that affect waterways and the public.
![[Valdosta officials and recent sewage spill reports 2023-07-19]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-18--valdosta-city-manager-sewage-spills-trash/many.jpg)
Valdosta officials and recent sewage spill reports 2023-07-19
Not only did they get a press release out for yesterday’s sewage spill the day after the spill. After I sent GA-EPD that WWALS blog post, the state replied at 8 AM this morning saying that spill was in today’s GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report. Indeed it is, and already picked up by the WWALS automated software and on the WWALS website.
The Assistant City Manager asked what I thought a reasonable time was to get a press release out about a sewage spill, and I answered that specific question (certainly not five days, and as soon as the city knows what’s happening).
Here’s the answer I should have given, since it’s not what I think, it’s who we are all trying to protect. People who fish, swim, or boat on the river or in the creeks need to know when there is a health hazard. So as quickly as practically possible, preferably by the day after the spill, or even the same day. Especially for weekends, when the most people do those things, please get the press release out before the weekend, and that does not mean after 5 PM on Friday. Plus post it on the city’s website and on the city’s own social media.
As I promised in the meeting with the city officials yesterday, I have filed an open records request for the letters Valdosta sent GA-EPD informing them of those spills. We’ll see where the long delay was on the previous spill reports.
Update 2023-07-21: Clean Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers, but warning 2023-07-20.
At least they got the press release out in a more timely manner this time: only the day after the sewage spill. They also included an estimated number of gallons and a sort of precise location, as well as a cause of the spill.
![[Map: 1700 River Street into Hightower Creek in WLRWT]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-07-17--valdosta-river-street-spill/2023-07-18--map-1700-river-street-hightower-creek.jpg)
Map: 1700 River Street into Hightower Creek, Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River
in
the WWALS
map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)
Speaking of cause, notice no mention of rain, which is probably because there was no significant rain on Valdosta Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.
Indeed, rain can cause sewage spills, but Valdosta does not seem to have many of those these days, and that’s a good thing. However, Valdosta still has spills for other reasons, mostly related to sewer system infrastructure that was not updated for decades. In recent years the city has spent upwards of $100 million on sewer system fixes, but there is still a long way to go.
This 6,000 gallon sewage spill is in the same place as a 1,170 gallon spill on February 8, 2023.
The Valdosta press release does not name “the creek”, but it’s a branch of Hightower Creek, which runs into Sugar Creek, the Withlacoochee River, and then the Suwannee River. I wonder if the erosion was partly caused by the previous spill.
WWALS received this press release from Valdosta at 5:16 PM today. Which is interesting, because I was in a meeting with City Manager Richard Hardy and Assistant City Manager Catherine Ammons from 2:15 to almost 3 PM, with one of the topics discussed being sewage spills, and they did not mention this spill.
One thing I mentioned to them was that the two previous Valdosta spills (into Knights Creek and into One Mile Branch) finally showed up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report yesterday, after I asked the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) why they had not already appeared. We shall see how long this one takes to show up there.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
DATE: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 Continue reading
It went well, the joint WWALS and City of Valdosta cleanup of Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive, on March 25, 2023.
Many good things have happened since then.
However, there is still plenty the City needs to do about trash.
![[Collage @ Two Mile Branch Cleanup 2023-03-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-25--two-mile-branch-berkley-drive-cleanup-pictures/many.jpg)
Collage @ Two Mile Branch Cleanup 2023-03-25
Thanks to Bobby McKenzie for leading, neighbor Jan Powell for rustling up some participants and helping at the table, to City Engineer Ben O’Dowd, City Council Tim Carroll, and Mayor Scott James Matheson for helping, along with quite a few other volunteers.
See also facebook photosets and videos by:
Some of the things the Engineer and Mayor promised have happened. Continue reading
Update 2023-06-27: Good Alapaha River 2023-06-25.
The Withlacoochee River tested good for Sunday at four locations, plus Sugar Creek.
![[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-06-25--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-06-25
So apparently the Valdosta Wednesday Williams Street One Mile Branch sewage spill, if it ever affected Sugar Creek, has already washed away. We did see a lot of background Fecal coliform bacterial colonies, but those were on plates for all the tested locations, and those bacteria are usually harmless.
Thanks to WWALS testers Cindy and David Vedas, who could not sample most of their sites Thursday, for sampling Sunday instead, and for adding Sugar Creek below the Salty Snapper, at the WaterGoat.
So I would be good with swimming, fishing, and boating on the Withlacoochee River.
Except of course that the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Little Rivers are up in or near Action Stage, which means it’s high and fast and there’s little place to pull out onshore if you get capsized by overhanging branches. So you’d probably be better off on the Suwannee or Santa Fe Rivers this weekend.
This is why this weekend’s WWALS chainsaw cleanup has been rescheduled and merged with the regular cleanup next month, Sugar Creek to Troupville, Withlacoochee River Cleanup 2023-07-22.
Paddle at your own risk, as always.
Despite Valdosta’s assertion Saturday evening “Georgia EPD has been notified of the issue,” no new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida. Sometimes this means that Valdosta so far only telephoned in a report to GA-EPD, and has not yet submitted a written report. Continue reading