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
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 2023-06-27: 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
Please ask the Florida Governor to veto the part of the budget bill that could end up with preemption of local fertilizer bans.
You can use this handy Waterkeepers Florida form to do that: https://waterkeepersflorida.good.do/stopthefertilizerpreemption/
![[Veto fertilizer ban preemption]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-05-13--veto-fertilizer-preemption/2023-05-13--veto-fertilizer-preemption.jpg)
Who would benefit by the bill? Phosphate mines.
As everyone knows, fertilizer nitrates leaching through the soil into our springs and rivers is the main cause of the algae blooms that crowd out native vegetation and starve fish and manatees in the Suwannee River Basin. The state’s Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs) won’t solve that problem. Counties and cities can pass ordinances to address the problem, but not so easily the relevant part of this bill becomes law.
The relevant part of line item 146 of SB 2500 reads: Continue reading
Update 2023-05-16: Rivers and mining: WWALS comments on Suwannee-Satilla Draft Regional Water Plan 2023-05-15.
We have an agenda for the May 24, 2023, meeting of the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Commission (SSRWPC) in Tifton, Georgia.
Note the SRWMD presentation about Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs), as in the ongoing SRWMD peer review of the Upper and Middle Suwannee River MFLs.
SSRWPC will also be discussing their Lake Beatrice water storage and Alapaha River replenishment scheme, which has assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Don’t wait until the SSRWPC meeting to get your comments in on their Georgia Regional Water Plan by May 15, 2023.
Received this morning in response to a WWALS request, Cliff Lewis wrote:
Agenda for the upcoming meeting is below. See you then. Continue reading
Update 2023-04-20: Ten days until BIG Little River Paddle Event, 2023-04-29.
WWALS charter board member Bret Wagenhorst will guide a tour of the Little River from Red Roberts Landing to Reed Bingham State Park Lake.
Paddlers will learn about natural history of the river, from flora and fauna to aspects of rivers and black water: oxbows, tannic acid, river foam, hairpin curves and breakthroughs, sloughs, silt deposition sides, etc. If more than 8 boats sign up, we will add another tour guide.
The tour will make stops at various locations for short learning experiences. The tour will last at least 1.5 hours, and possibly up to 2.5-3 hours depending on water level, paddle speed, and number of questions. There will be a briefing before and after on land.
Registration is online in advance:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wwals-members-only-paddle-with-an-expert-big-little-river-paddle-event-tickets-605920995007
This is a WWALS members-only event.
If you are not a WWALS member, you can become one at the event,
or online:
https://wwals.net/donations
There is no charge for this paddle,
other than a $5 park entrance fee and any boat rental fees to the park.
Please contact the park in advance about any boat rentals.
https://gadnr.org/ReedBingham/Paddling
Paddlers are encouraged to donate to this WWALS fundraiser. Sponsors will be listed on a sign at the event and in social media and other postings.
When: Gather 8 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 3 PM, Saturday, April 29, 2023
Put In: Red Roberts Landing, 4727 Rountree Bridge Rd., Adel, GA 31620. Take I-75 exit 41, head west onto Roundtree Bridge Road, then right to stay on Roundtree Bridge Road (CR 251). After 4.7 miles, turn left just before the Little River, into the park entrance at Red Roberts Landing, in Cook County, Georgia.
![[Bret Wagenhorst, paddlers on the Little River, 2022]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-04-29--blrpe/m2023.jpg)
Bret Wagenhorst, paddlers on the Little River, 2022
Continue reading
Georgia has it, among 23 states, including all states in the southeast, except for Florida.
Looks like it’s coming to Florida: a state constitutional amendment for a Right to Hunt and Fish. Identical bills are speeding through the state House and Senate towards getting this amendment on the 2024 ballot.
![[Ballotpedia, 23 states have Right to Hunt and Fish as of November 2020]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-27--fl-right-hunt-fish/2020-11-01--ballotpedia-right-to-hunt-fish-fl.jpg)
Ballotpedia, 23 states have Right to Hunt and Fish as of November 2020
And what good is a Right to Hunt and Fish without clean water for the fish and wildlife? Floridians, please sign the petition for Right to Clean Water, also intended for the 2024 ballot.
Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida, Tampa Bay Times, March 27, 2023, updated March 29, Hunting, fishing could be enshrined in Florida Constitution under proposal: If approved, the proposal could be on the November 2024 ballot. Continue reading
March 17, 2023
Land Protection Branch,
4244 International Parkway,
Atlanta Tradeport- Suite 104,
Atlanta, Georgia 30354
twinpines.comment@dnr.ga.gov
RE: WWALS Public Comments on Mining Land Use Plan of Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (PDF)
Dear EPD,
This letter recommends denying the permit applications by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (TPM) to mine for titanium dioxide (TiO2) near the Okefenokee Swamp, based on specifics of the Mining Land Use Plan,1 as requested in the Notice of the Opportunity for Public Comment.2
![[Please deny the mining permits]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-17--wwals-to-epd-tpm-okefenokee/many.jpg)
Please deny the mining permits
First, we present some context for why this decision is important far away from the Okefenokee Swamp.
Any lowered water level or dewatering of the surface around the Swamp increases the risk of fires. The 2007 Bugaboo fire spread smoke west across the Suwannee River Basin, causing respiratory distress 80 miles away in Quitman, continuing 450 miles to Meridian, Mississippi. Southwards the smoke closed I-75 and went 370 miles to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. North it went 250 miles to Atlanta.
During the 2017 West Mims fire, Lowndes County Fire (along with Valdosta and its other cities, and nearby counties) sent assistance from 75 miles away. They were among 900 firefighters from across the country.3 “There’s nobody Continue reading
Update 2023-02-24: Valdosta and Ashburn in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2023-02-23.
This afternoon Valdosta said it spilled 672,250 gallons of sewage last Wednesday, near Knights Creek between East Park Ave. (Lakeland Highway) and US 84 (East Hill Ave.) on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
![[VALORGIS and ARWT maps, E. Park Ave., US 84, Valdosta sewage spill 2023-02-15]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-02-21--valdosta-major-sewage-spill/many.jpg)
VALORGIS and ARWT maps, E. Park Ave., US 84, Valdosta sewage spill 2023-02-15
This additional press release, after the previous one last Thursday, says the sewage “was released into the wetland watershed area adjacent to Knights Creek.”
It’s good the city mentioned the creek this time. But as usual, Valdosta did not mention that Knights Creek runs into Mud Swamp Creek, then the Alapahoochee River through Echols County, Georgia, then the Alapaha River in Hamilton County, Florida.
We know by WWALS testing that any effects on the Alapaha River seemed to be gone by Saturday.
Because this is a major spill (more than 10,000 gallons), Valdosta is required to do followup water quality testing. WWALS will be requesting that data, as well.
Today’s Valdosta press release also says, “City staff immediately began cleanup and disinfecting at the overflow location. All appropriate regulatory and public health agencies have been notified, and warning signs have been posted.”
I applaud the city’s efforts to clean up that mess.
However, this spill still does not appear in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report on this seventh day since the spill. Continue reading
Update 2023-02-22: Valdosta will maintain Berkley Drive trash trap 2023-02-22.
Valdosta City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd says Valdosta has purchased an upgraded Watergoat trash trap, to be installed in approximately March.
It will go in Sugar Creek, he says, and the old one will go into Two Mile Branch below Berkley Drive.
![[Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-02-17--valdosta-watergoat-upgrade/many.jpg)
Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash
That’s all good. Thanks for doing that, Engineer O’Dowd, and City of Valdosta.
But he did not mention any plan for cleaning out that new trash trap location on Two Mile Branch. Remember, Continue reading
![[The attendees: Sheri Almer and Cliff Lewis of GA-EPD, Emory Gawlik and Shayne Wood of GDM Smith, Council Mac McCall, Chair Scott Downing, Foreground Bert Early of Georgia Forestry, Elizabeth Backe of SGRC, Emily Ducker and Sean King of SRWMD --John S. Quarterman Suwannee Riverkeeper]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-14--ssrwpc-videos/20230314_103332.jpg)