Tag Archives: Alapaha River

The AI Layoff Trap –Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas 2026-03-02

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After years of labor unions advocating for an 8-hour day and a 5-day week, Henry Ford finally saw his own self-interest and Ford Motor Company on September 25, 1926, made it company policy.

Why? Workers with free time and money to spend bought cars: long-term profit!

A century later, many companies are doing the opposite: laying off workers and replacing them with so-called AI: short-term profiteering. This trend only increases, because if competitors are doing it, every company has incentive to do it.

But companies are sabotaging themselves. Fired workers cannot easily find new jobs, so they can’t afford to buy. An economy with no purchasing is in trouble.

[The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 --Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it]
The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 –Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it

There are other issues, such as firing experienced people means companies lose their ability to do new things or to deal with unexpected challenges, and fewer jobs mean people trying to join the job market find nothing, so there’s little new talent incoming and few left to train them. But the chase for short-term profits overrides all that.

Plus the proliferation of hyper-scale datacenters catering to this so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI), using much cooling water, either directly, or through new power plants. See:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

New research models this corporate behavior and finds that most proposed solutions do not stop it. Continue reading →

Statewide Drought Response Level 1 –GA-EPD 2026-04-27

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Georgia starts to catch up with Florida in drought declarations.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division Declares Drought Response Level 1

On April 27, 2026, after consideration of the drought severity and the water resource impacts, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) declared a state-wide Drought Response Level 1 for public water systems using surface water and/or groundwater. EPD has been closely monitoring drought conditions in Georgia for months, and on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, EPD held conference calls with public water systems to discuss current water supply and EPD’s consideration of issuing a Level 1 drought response. Following the conference calls, the public water systems had three days to submit any additional feedback before EPD could proceed with a drought response declaration.

[Statewide Drought Response Level 1 --GA-EPD, April 27, 2026]
Statewide Drought Response Level 1 –GA-EPD, April 27, 2026

As a result of the Level 1 Drought Response, public water systems must implement a public information campaign including, at a minimum, notice regarding drought conditions and drought-specific announcements in one or more of the following ways: newspaper or online ads, bill inserts, social media, and notices in public libraries. This public information campaign is designed to help citizens better understand drought, its impact on water supplies, and the need for water conservation.

Outdoor water use between the hours of 4 PM and 10 A.M. is still Continue reading →

Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA 2026-04-24

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Everyone has two weeks, until Monday, May 11, 2026, to review and comment on the Development of Regional Importance (DRI) application by Project Arrowhead to build a huge datacenter in Irwin County, Georgia, near Irwinville and the Alapaha River.

The attachments SGRC sent are on the WWALS website, with images of each page below.

https://wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-24-dri-irwin-county-project-arrowhead

I see nothing from the applicant that WWALS hasn’t previously posted, such as when the DRI application appeared on April 10.

The Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) has helpfully annotated the Kimley-Horn site maps we saw back in March, and added other useful maps.

Plus SGRC points out the most significant part of the Data Center Ordinance the Irwin County Commission passed on April 6: the table permitting a Data Center as a Special Exception (SE) allowable use in the Agriculture (A-U), Heavy Industrial (H-I), and the Adult Commercial (C-A). I’m not sure that ordinance added SE for A-U, but it certainly called it out.

For much about what we do not know, such as who the real applicant is, or what closed loop cooling means in this case, see Who is Project Arrowhead in Irwin County, GA? –Vesper 2026-04-16.

https://wwals.net/?p=70067

For much more about Datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA, Comment to SGRC by May 11, 2026]
Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA, Comment to SGRC by May 11, 2026

Received by email Friday, April 24, 2026, at 7:32 PM: Continue reading →

Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06

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It looks like the Irwin County Commission added a few things about water, power, and enforcement to their draft datacenter ordinance before they passed it.

The final version, received today in response to a WWALS open records request, is on the WWALS website.

For comparison, a copy of the original draft is here:

https://wwals.net/?p=69663

Do you see any other differences?

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06, Changes to Water, Energy, Enforcement]
Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06, Changes to Water, Energy, Enforcement

Subclause (3) is new on page 4:

(d) Water Usage Standards.

(1) Only closed-loop cooling systems are permitted in Irwin County.

(2) There shall be no discharge of cooling water into public sewers or ground without treatment.

(3) Before a certificate of occupancy is provided, all data centers shall submit a hydrogeologic study conducted by an independent third-party engineering firm showing estimated annual water usage. Such report should compare estimated water usage to the prior owner/user of the subject property or of that of similar surrounding areas.

Also on page 4, this subclause (1) is new: Continue reading →

Thanks, Georgia Power for a water quality testing grant 2026-04-16

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Thanks to Georgia Power for another generous grant for water quality testing!

Thanks to Don F. Hutchinson, Area Manager, Southwest Region, Georgia Power, and his Admin Assistant Peyton Avrett for coming to Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River so we could thank them.

For more about the WWALS Volunteer Water Quality Testing Program, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/testing

[Thanks, Georgia Power, for a water quality testing grant, At Troupville Boat Ramp, April 16, 2026]
Thanks, Georgia Power, for a water quality testing grant, At Troupville Boat Ramp, April 16, 2026

Here’s the video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/953491027626147/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXNiVmwiAM2/

https://youtu.be/NZbmlRY7CyM Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2026-04-10

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Update 2026-04-18: Mixed Withlacoochee River 2026-04-13, Clean Santa Fe River 2026-04-14.

More waterbodies heard from since the Friday weekly water quality report:

Sugar Creek tested clean for the first time anybody can remember, and the Alapaha River also clean.

Still no rain, and still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling]
Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application, Irwin County, GA 2026-04-10

The Irwinville datacenter is back and bigger, this time called Project Arrowhead for 4,220,000 SF, Approximately 1066 acres.

The Irwin County government on April 10, 2026, submitted an application as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (GA-DCA).

The new five-tract campus includes the old one and extends farther east, across Ponderosa Drive to Pinetta Road.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters/#irwinco

[Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application 2026-04-10, Irwin County, GA, near Alapaha River]
Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application 2026-04-10, Irwin County, GA, near Alapaha River

According to the Initial Form, the location is “31°35&min;57.00&sec;N, 83°22&min;2.79&sec;W. Parcel numbers 0018 0007, 0026 0001, 0026 0003, 0026 00040AA, and a p”

That’s right, the last parcel is truncated. But it must be the one where the latlong leads, which is parcel 0035 0009, owned by Marcus D Fletcher Trust, trustee Angie F Bryan, 641.67 acres. That east parcel conveniently has a power line on it.

It’s connected to the former land west of Ponderosa Drive through parcel 0026 0040AA, owned by Sirrom Farms, LLC, 120.19 acres. Continue reading →

A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River, Gaskins Forest Education Center 2026-04-11

Come see us in the woods near Alapaha, Georgia, at A Day in the Woods, an annual event by Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC), near the Alapaha River.

WWALS members can help with the WWALS booth.

[A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2026-04-11, Gaskins Forest Education Center, A friendly festival]
A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2026-04-11, Gaskins Forest Education Center, A friendly festival

Thanks to Heather Brasell of GFEC for holding this festival.

When: Gather 12 PM, launch 1 PM, end 5 PM, Saturday, April 11, 2026

Put In: Gaskins Forest Education Center, 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd., Alapaha, Georgia 31622

GPS: 31.345454, -83.178356 Continue reading →

Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River, Gaskins Forest Education Center, 2025-04-12

A Day in the Woods is always fun, at Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC) near Alapaha, Georgia.

Coming up again April 11, 2026.

Here are some pictures from 2025.

[Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers]
Pictures: A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2025-04-12, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Thanks, WWALS volunteers

Thanks to WWALS volunteers Gretchen Quarterman, Shirley Kokidko, and Cindy Vedas for helping at the WWALS Booth.

Thanks to Heather Brasell for holding this event at GFEC.

For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS outings web page, https://wwals.net/outings/. Continue reading →

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2026-04-12

Here is the draft agenda and the zoom parameters for the WWALS Quarterly Board meeting Sunday evening, April 12, 2026.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting

When: 6:00 PM, Sunday, April 12, 2026

What: The usual board business.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1630092761633059/

[Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees]
Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees

Here is the agenda (see also Continue reading →