Update 2025-04-30: Better retested Sugar Creek water quality 2025-04-25.

Sugar Creek was filthy again this week. Something is not right near the old spill site. And there was no rain to cause this extremely high result from Valdosta Utilities.

Two Tifton Creeks, the Withlacoochee River, and the Alapaha River were clean.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida, although somebody spilled 50 gallons of diesel fuel at the I-75 mile 449 Hamilton County Agricultural Inspection Station in White Springs on Wednesday.

No rain is predicted until Monday at the earliest.

The rivers are all down to boatable levels. The top of the Santa Fe River at Graham is now too low.

So avoid Sugar Creek, and happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend!

Clean Alapaha River 2025-04-20, Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-04-22, Clean Withlacoochee River, Mostly Clean Tifton Creeks 2025-04-21

Join us tomorrow on-land for Another Clean up One Mile Branch at Azalea City Trail, Valdosta, GA 2025-04-26.
https://wwals.net/?p=67224

For more WWALS outings and events, see: https://wwals.net/outings/

Sugar Creek

Valdosta Utilities got 375 cfu/100 mL E. coli for Tuesday at Baytree Road on Sugar Creek. That’s below the 410 one-time test limit.

But downstream of the former sewage spill, at Gornto Road, they got TNTC, which is Too Numerous to Count, as in far above the 1,000 alert limit.

Table: Sugar Creek TNTC –Valdosta Utilities, 2025-04-22

That is far higher than the WWALS 760 result for Wednesday a week ago.

Something is still not right on Sugar Creek.

Map: Gornto Road Bridge, Sugar Creek in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Withlacoochee River

WWALS tester Cindy Vedas sampled her usual three Withlacoochee River sites Wednesday.

For Franklinville, she got a very clean 33 cfu/100 mL.

She noted, “This area of the river looked very nice.”

For Staten Road, she got cleanest 0 (zero) cfu/100 mL.

For Langdale Park, she got very clean 33 cfu/100 mL.

Ahe noted, “Trash cans were empty. No trash.”

Downstream of Sugar Creek, Valdosta Utilities for Tuesday got 95 cfu/100 mL at the Withlacoochee River GA 135 Bridge, and 60 at US 84, both below the 126 three-test-average limit, so quite clean.

WWALS tester Russ Tatum got for Wednesday zero (0) at Holly Point, way down the Withlacoochee River near the Suwannee River.

As he wrote, “Clean Withlacoochee down here in Florida.”

Little River

WWALS Tester Samantha Carr tested Monday on or near two Tifton Creeks that run into the Little River and got mostly clean results.

At a wetland south of Pearman Road and US 41, and north of Zion Hope Road where it crosses Heard Creek, she got 466 cfu/100 mL, which is above the 410 one-time test limit. This is not surprising for stagnant water.

At a depression they call Sinkhole (although it is not really a sinkhole), south of Heard Creek, north of Perdue Road, west of Zion Hope Road, and east of Shaky Bay Road, she got a clean 66.

And at the Zion Hope Road Mill Creek Bridge, she got clean 33 cfu/100 mL.

Map: Mill Creek @ Zion Hope Road, Tifton, GA in the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT)

Alapaha River

On Sunday, 4/20, WWALS tester Heather Brasell tested her usual two Alapaha River sites, and got clean results at both.

At the outflow of the Town of Alapaha Settlement Pond, she got 67.

On the Alapaha River slightly upstream of US 82 and Sheboggy Boat Ramp, she got very clean zero (0).

Chart: Filthy Sugar Creek 2025-04-22, Clean Alapaha River 2025-04-20, Clean Withlacoochee River 2025-04-23
For context, see: https://wwals.net/issues/testing

The numbers in the chart boxes indicate E. coli levels as colony-forming units per 100 mililiters (cfu/100 mL), according to Georgia Adopt-A-Stream bacterial monitoring protocols:
Zero (0) is what we want to see, and often we do, on the Alapaha and upstream on the Suwannee Rivers.
From 1-125 is within long-term average limits according to U.S. EPA and Georgia and Florida state agencies.
From 126-409 long-term is not good, and is likely to make some people sick.
From 410-999 is likely to make some people sick; try not to get that water on you.
From 1,000 and up: high alert; best not to get close to that water without gloves; wash clothes afterward.

The letters before the numbers indicate the source of the datapoint, as in W100 means 100 cfu/100 mL found by a WWALS tester.

W: WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), Suwannee Riverkeeper
V: Valdosta, GA
L: Lowndes County, GA
Q: Quitman, GA
SGRC: Southern Georgia Regional Commission
SRWMD: Suwannee River Water Management District
FDOH: Florida Department of Health
FDEP: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Rain: From USGS and UGA and other gauges.

Water quality testing training and funding

WWALS Water Quality Testers Suzy Hall and John S. Quarterman reviewed the results. Such review is part of every WWALS tester’s ongoing training.

WWALS water quality testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman delivered supplies to several testers.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

Thanks to Joe Brownlee and Georgia Power for another generous grant for water quality testing equipment and materials.

You or your organization could also donate to the WWALS volunteer water quality testing program.

There are more images below.

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

AWWTP

Alapaha Settlement Pond Stream, Alapaha River @ US 82 2025-04-20

SBR

Sheboggy Boat Ramp, Alapaha River @ US 82 2025-04-20

Heardsink

Sinkhole, Heard Creek, Tifton, GA, IMG 20250421 130912053 HDR, 2025:04:21 13:09:16, 2025-04-21 31.5275421, -83.5699005

Sinkhole, Heard Creek, Tifton, GA, Other IMG 20250421 130917636 HDR, 2025:04:21 13:09:20, 2025-04-21 31.5275421, -83.5699005

Sinkhole, Heard Creek, Tifton, GA, Plates IMG 20250422 174636358, 2025:04:22 17:46:37 2025-04-21

Sinkhole, Heard Creek, Tifton, GA, Plates2 2025-04-21

Heardwet

Wetland, Heard Creek, Tifton, GA, IMG 20250421 125228462 HDR, 2025:04:21 12:52:32, 2025-04-21 31.5468349, -83.5408325

Wetland, Heard Creek, Tifton, GA, Plates IMG 20250422 174728828 HDR~3, 2025:04:22 17:47:30 2025-04-21

Mill Creek @ Zionchrd

Mill Creek @ Zion Hope Road, Tifton, GA, IMG 20250421 134049373 HDR, 2025:04:21 13:40:53,, 2025-04-21 31.4971330, -83.5532600

franklinville

Franklinville, Withlacoochee River @ Frankinville Road 2025-04-23

staten

Staten Road other, Withlacoochee River @ Staten Road 2025-04-23

LPBR

Langdale Park Boat Ramp other, Withlacoochee River @ North Valdosta Road 2025-04-23

HP

Holly Point, Withlacoochee River @ NE Withla Bluffs Way 2025-04-23, 2025:04:23 16:49:33, 30.4137861, -83.2066944

-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

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