Lowering the boom at Sugar Creek 2022-01-23

Update 2022-01-31: Another trash boom across Sugar Creek 2022-01-30.

Maybe this will catch some trash before it floats down Sugar Creek to the Withlacoochee River.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and WWALS Science Committee Chair Dr. Tom Potter brought some 3/4-inch sissel rope and 4-inch flexible drain pipe down to Sugar Creek at the bottom of the Salty Snapper property off Gornto Road, and turned it into a boom across the creek.

For why we did this, see Sugar Creek Trash 2022-01-15.

3/4 inch sissel rope and 4 inch flexible drain pipe

Here’s the pile of logs Valdosta Stormwater cut out of the creek in November. Previously those logs formed a trashjam which WWALS and a few times Stormwater cleaned out.

Pile of logs with trash

We used a few plastic bottles from the log pile, along with some we brought, and a bunch of bubble wrap, and some styrofoam, to stuff the pipe to make it float. A use for styrofoam!

Preparing

Bobby McKenzie arrived in time for the deployment. Yes, we ran it one way across and then turned it around to get the longer rope on the west side where the tree was farther from the water.

Deploying

Here’s the boom across the creek. Twomile Branch comes in just upstream of the boom, in the upper right of the picture.

Boom across

And seen from my boat on the east side.

Boom

Here’s a WWALS video playlist taken every 10 seconds by the WWALS GOPRO 360 camera:

Lowering the boom at Sugar Creek 2022-01-23
Between Twomile Branch and the Withlacoochee River, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Video by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS),

Views upstream and downstream from the east end of the boom. Quite a nice creek for paddling, if it didn’t have so much trash coming down it from parking lots with fast food outlets.

Upstream, 11:53:08, 30.8623616, -83.3185051