In eight minutes she talked about the BIG Little River Paddle Race, the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, on the air with Charlie Walker, KIX 99.5 Country Radio, plus Paddle Georgia, and all the other events and outings.
“That’s our signature event,” said WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman, about the Seventh Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race.
It’s our seventh year. It’s at Reed Bingham [State Park]. We paddle from Continue reading
It was a fine time with 30,000 friends at Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Georgia.
See also Onemile Branch Cleanup, Drexel Park, during Azalea Festival 2019-03-10.
Front, Raffle Kayak
Instructions, Froggy Toss
Everybody, Froggy Toss
For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
A Florida Senate Committee has scheduled a Workshop on Valdosta Sewage Spills.
The same session this Wednesday afternoon will hear three water bills, SB 1100 about funding water well testing, which is relevant to the recent detection of E. coli in for example Hamilton County wells, SB 1758, which includes some changes to Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) requirements and requirements for wastewater treatment plants to notify customers of unlawful discharges, and SB 1552 about Red Tide mitigation.
When
I went by
Senator Bill Montford’s office last Wednesday,
his staffer said they would be scheduling this workshop,
with public input. They have done so.
Senator Montford is the Chair of the
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
His District 3 includes
Hamilton, Madison, and Taylor Counties,
all of which are members of the
twelve-county Florida
Rivers Task Force
and signatories on its
Resolution asking for assistance from Florida and Georgia about Valdosta sewage spills.
The Withlacoochee River, into which much of Valdosta’s raw sewage spills have gone,
is the border between Madison and Hamilton Counties, and the Alapaha River,
into which basin other Valdosta spills have gone, runs through Hamilton County.
Taylor County is not on either of those rivers nor on the Suwannee River,
yet its economy is affected by the stigma of Valdosta’s sewage spills.
The Florida Senate, COMMITTEE MEETING NOTICE,
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Senator Montford, Chair
Senator Albritton, Vice ChairMEETING DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
TIME: 4:00—6:00 p.m.
PLACE: Mallory Horne Committee Room, 37 Senate Building [404 S. Monroe, Tallahassee, FL 32399]
AMENDMENT DEADLINE: Continue reading
Valdosta’s monthly water quality testing data shows E. coli down at three out of their six remaining stations, and up at the other three, highest at US 41 on the Withlacoochee River, upstream of most of Valdosta and its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant. This data is for Tuesday, March 5, 2019, and was obtained as usual by an open records request from WWALS.
Even that 265 cfu/100 ml E. coli is barely above the Georgia limit of 200, and far below the alert line of 1,000.
At the next station downstream from US 41, at GA 133, the Withlacoochee River still showed Continue reading
Three of the Waterkeepers of Florida were at the Capitol in Tallahassee Wednesday, two of them for Reclaiming Florida’s Future for All, an annual event organized by ReThink Energy Florida and others. Of course Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) was prominently represented. Banning fracking was top of the long list of issues on the agenda. Water Quality and Quantity included Valdosta (and other) wastewater.
Lake Worth Waterkeeper Reinaldo Diaz advocates for the Lake Worth Lagoon and its watershed, a coastal estuary running along the eastern edge of Palm Beach County.
Scariest of all to polluters is St Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman, seen here with Continue reading
On WWALS TV radio Scott James and Valdosta Airport Executive Director James Galloway and I discussed alligators, karst limestone, and water levels on the Suwannee, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers. If I have to fly, I much prefer flying out of Valdosta to Atlanta, because if you forget about your pocketknife, security will just ask you if you want to take it to your car.
Before outings, we talked about coal ash and how Continue reading
We asked the state of Georgia to upgrede our main Suwannee River Basin rivers (and some lakes and swamps) from their current lowest water quality classification as Fishing to what they really are: Recreational Use. You can help!
![[Georgia landings in Suwannee River Basin]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-03--wwals-suw-basin-landings-ga/all-ga-landings-suw-river-basin.jpg)
Every three years, federal law requires each state to review its water quality standards. 2019 is such a year for Georgia, so the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) is conducting a Triennial Review. The request WWALS sent to GA-EPD, background, and their response are all on the WWALS website. Our request was rather long, with 23 pages asking for reclassification of the Suwannee River, the Okefenokee Swamp, the Alapaha River, Lake Irma, Banks Lake, Grand Bay, the Withlacoochee River, the Little River, and Reed Bingham State Park Lake, all from Fishing to Recreational Use. The WWALS cover letter is included at the end of this blog post. For the rest, see the WWALS website.
The response thus far from GA-EPD has some good news: Continue reading
Update 2019-03-14: The Valdosta City Clerk says the Valdosta City Manager says “the public will have an opportunity to speak.”
As discussed in Lake City when the dozen downstream Florida counties passed their resolution, and as foreshadowed by Emma Wheeler on WCTV, and now confirmed by Valdosta City Clerk Teresa Bolden, elected officials from Valdosta and twelve Florida counties will meet to discuss Valdosta wastewater spills and how to stop them. She also confirmed that since there will be a quorum of the Valdosta City Council there, this will be a public meeting.
When: 6PM, Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Where:
General Purpose Room,
Valdosta City Hall Annex,
300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, GA 31601
Photo: Ellis, Ricket & Associates.
It’s not clear the public will be able to speak, but you can come and see for yourself. As I told the Valdosta City Clerk, this afternoon I already invited the Suwannee River Water Management District and everybody else who was in their meeting. Valdosta will probably publish an announcement soon, but so far we at least know the meeting will happen and it will be public. Y’all come.
Back on Continue reading
It turns out Valdosta can schedule a workshop for elected officials to meet with the Valdosta City Council, as the the dozen downstream Florida counties previously requested.
Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 7 March 2019, Task force looks to curb Valdosta sewage spills,
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WCTV) — Communities continue to push for more prevention of spills at Valdosta’s wastewater treatment system.
Several North Florida counties down the river from Valdosta formed a task force last year to try and protect local waterways. The group is now hoping the states can step in to help.
Counties across North Florida and South Georgia are making it a priority to protect the rivers. The task force has passed a Continue reading
The testing results promised last time will apparently be in the workshop, which is usually around noon or 1PM:
Also Bob’s River Place, on the Suwannee River in Dixie County, is on the agenda yet again, this time for a variance, after last time they said they had received new information.
Received Monday, 4 March 2019: Board agenda and packet and Lands Committee Agenda and packet. See also the WWALS writeup and videos from the February SRWMD board meeting, which was mostly about Valdosta wastewater.
AGENDA
SUWANNEE RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
GOVERNING BOARD MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
March 12, 2019
9:00 a.m.
District Headquarters
Live Oak, Florida
![[Speaking]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-13--wwals-tlh/20190313_105603.jpg)
![[Lisa Rinaman et al.]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-03-13--wwals-tlh/20190313_115538.jpg)
