Update 2020-11-20: Bad at Knights Ferry, Withlacoochee River 2020-11-19.

Water quality is still looking good in the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers after the big mess last Wednesday. WWALS tested Sunday, and got good quality all the way from Cook County Boat Ramp on the Little River down to Knights Ferry on the Withlacoochee River. Madison Health tested Tuesday, and got good quality from the state line down to FL 6, just above Madison Blue Spring. That continues good results since Thursday. If we have more results today, we will report those tonight or tomorrow morning.

Maps and Chart

There’s been no rain, so unless the mystery dumper strikes again, so I’ve set all the WWALS “beaches” to green on Swim Guide, and happy swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend!

Valdosta says the Wednesday contamination did not come from the city, and they are looking into a number of ways to find the source. Lowndes County assures us it did not come from them, plus the new force main they are installing does not have anything in it yet, and does not cross any existing sewage mains. The county has asked its installation contractor to keep an eye out. I have even enlisted Waste Management, the new owner of Advanced Disposal Services, which owns the Lowndes County landfill, to keep an eye out for trucks that look like they might be hauling fecal matter. More calls are going out.

Suzy Hall got 33 cfu/100 mL E. coli at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River, which is very good. Upstream at US 84, Conn and Trudy Cole got zero on the Withlacoochee River and 100 on Okapilco Creek, both below the 126 one-time sample limit. They did get 1,033 for Crooked Creek at Devane Road. But that’s pretty normal for that location with all its upstream cattle, and there is little flow in that feeder creek that joins Okapilco Creek between US 84 and the Withlacoochee River, so apparently as usual little of that washed into the river.

Upstream, the Coles got 66 at Cook County Boat Ramp at GA 76 on the Little River.

Which matches Valdosta’s upstream results at US 41, GA 133, and US 84 Friday. Thanks again to Valdosta PIO Ashlyn Johnson for posting Friday results online Saturday.

Good since last Thursday
For context and the entire WWALS composite spreadsheet of Georgia and Florida water quality results, see
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/

The Coles’ 66 at GA 76 is similar to Josh and Angela Dunn’s 33 at Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River Saturday. As previously reported, on the Withlacoochee River Saturday, the Dunns got 66 at US 41 and Michael and Jacob Bachrach got zero at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps Saturday, it was a clean weekend.

So everything is green on Swim Guide.

Swim Guide Map

Here’s another map of all those locations and more.

Cook County Boat Ramp to Madison Ramp on the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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