Clean rivers 2023-02-16

Update 2023-02-25: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-02-23.

According to WWALS results for Thursday, happy boating, swimming, and fishing in our rivers this weekend!

Provided you like high water and are prepared to deal with overhanging limbs and getting lost in the floodplain.

I might avoid the Alapaha River at Sasser Landing, due to Valdosta’s Wednesday February 15th probably major spill into Knights Creek.

Valdosta’s other two sewage spills this month, Wednesday, February 8th into Hightower Creek above Sugar Creek and Saturday, February 11th into Cherry Creek probably were too small to have any significant effect on the Withlacoochee River. The WWALS Sunday tests on Cherry Creek and the river appear to have verified that lack of effect for that one, and regular test results after the Hightower Creek one ditto.

No other recent sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida: just Valdosta.

Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-02-16

The most recent results we have from Valdosta are for Monday. You can see Valdosta concurred with the WWALS Sunday very high results after the Friday and Saturday rains a week ago.

We have every reason to believe E. coli has subsided (washed downstream or gotten diluted) at all the usual test sites by now. Especially considering the Friday rain was a drizzle.

Chart: clean rivers 2023-02-16
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing

But we have no new test results for GA 133 or US 84, so they remain red on

Also, Knights Ferry and Nankin Boat Ramps show yellow, because it has been more than a week since Valdosta’s last results for those sites, for Wednesday a week ago. We do have WWALS results for them for Thursday a week ago, but that is also more than a week ago.

WWALS would be willing to do Valdosta’s testing job and to report results for all the Valdosta test sites in a more timely manner than Valdosta is doing, if Valdosta wants to pay us instead of its slow contractors.

Map: clean rivers, Swim Guide 2023-02-16

Thanks to Elizabeth Brunner for her usual three GA 122 test sites: Folsom Bridge on the Little River, Hagan Bridge on the Withlacoochee River, and Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River.

Thanks to Cindy Vedas for her four Withlacoochee River sites: Franklinville, Skipper Bridge, Staten Road, and US 41.

Thanks to new testers Amy Meyers and Will Hart for the 2023-02-09 Knights Ferry results.

Thanks to WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall for testing at State Line Boat Ramp, and for herding the testing cats.

Thanks to WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman for training the new testers, and for delivering supplies.

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for a generous grant for water quality testing equipment and materials.

You or your organization could also donate to the WWALS volunteer water quality testing program.

Or maybe you’d like to become a WWALS water quality tester; please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/DzWvJuXqTQi12N6v7

There are more images below.

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Short Link:

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WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.

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