2022-06-17: WWALS Thursday tests clean, but Valdosta bad Wednesday results for US 41 and GA 122, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-16.

All tested clean: Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers, for Thursday. Sure, those were only a few test sites on each river. But there’s been little rain, none predicted, and no sewage spills reported. So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend.

Chart, River, Swim Guide

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

Thanks to Jacob and Michael Bachrach for their three Withlacoochee River sites: Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Nankin Boat Ramp, and State Line Boat Ramp. With no rain, no cattle manure washed down Okapilco Creek into the river.

Thanks to Gus Cleary for Cleary Bluff, downstream of Allen Ramp, near the Withlacoochee River Confluence.

Thanks to Pam Thomas and crew for the two Ichetucknee River and one Santa Fe River test sites, all in private parks of Three River Property Owners (TREPO).

Five Clean Rivers, Charts 2022-06-09
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing

The most recent data we have from Valdosta is for Monday upstream and Friday downstream: all also clean on the Withlacoochee River.

I’ve set all the WWALS “beaches” for which we have recent data to green on .

Map: Five Clean Rivers, Swim Guide 2022-06-09

The Ichetucknee and Santa Fe River sites are not on Swim Guide yet, but if the reports keep coming in every other week, we will add them. For now there’s an Ichetucknee River inset on the map.

Valdosta has reported its downstream results for previous weeks. They got a bad result at Knights Ferry for Wednesday, June 1st. There was more than half an inch of rain upstream at US 84 the previous day. If that rain extended into Brooks County, maybe it washed some cattle manure down Okapilco Creek into the Withlacoochee River.

Bad GA 133, Withlacoochee River @ GA 133 Charts 2022-05-26

For Friday, May 27, 2022, Valdosta got not only a pretty high result at GA 133, but also a too-high result for Okapilco Creek @ US 84. Apparently that likely cattle manure runoff apparently got diluted when it got to the Withlacoochee River.

However, there’s also a too-high result for Wednesday, May 25th at State Line Boat Ramp. Maybe the previous Friday rain at Allen Branch on the west side of Brooks County washed something down Okapilco Creek that reached the state line by Wednesday. Or maybe it came from wild hogs.

Bad State Line Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River @ GA 31 Charts, 2022-05-19

Thanks to Suzy Hall for herding the testing cats.

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman for training all the testers.

There are more pictures on the WWALS website.

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

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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