Author Archives: jsq

Data Center in Land Use table in Zoning Ordinance –Irwin County 2026-04-06

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The Irwin County Data Center Ordinance table rows about which zoning districts can have a Data Center Special Exception have made their way into the composite Irwin County Zoning Ordinance.

For those who are not used to this standard practice in county zoning regulations. The Irwin County composite Zoning Ordinance has a table to show what is permissible in each zoning district. The two rows specified by the data center ordinance got into that table. One of them says you can have a special exception for a data center on agricultural land. Which is s. the county commission later approved. Curiously, the composite zoning ordinance does not include the rest of the data center ordinance. Nor apparently about a dozen other ordinances.

For much more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

It’s possible that for the Special Exception for Project Arrowhead that the Irwin County Commission passed on May 20, 2026 to be legal, it first needed the Data Center Ordinance they passed on April 6, 2026.

[Data Center in Land Use table in Zoning Ordinance --Irwin County 2026-04-06]
Data Center in Land Use table in Zoning Ordinance –Irwin County 2026-04-06

Curiously, the actual Data Center Ordinance is not included in the composite Zoning Ordinance that Irwin County sent me on June 29 in response to an open records request of the same day.

The Zoning Ordinance ends with Chapter 16, and the Data Center Ordinance says it is adding Chapter 27. I wonder what are the ordinances in Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26?

Anyway, here’s what those table rows look like in the Data Center Ordinance: Continue reading →

Verizon tower in Langdale Park? @ GLPC 2026-06-29

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Verizon Wireless wants to put a 159-foot-tall communications tower in Langdale Park, a stone’s throw from the main trail kiosk, too close to White Trail A, and with no demonstration that no existing tower would do, not even an inventory of existing towers.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) will hear this case at 5:30 PM, Monday, June 29, 2026, and the Lowndes County Commission will decide at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

County staff wrote that the application satisfies the requirements of the county’s Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). Actually, it fails to do so in at least four ways.

[Verizon tower in Langdale Park? Next to White Trail? @ GLPC 2026-06-29]
Verizon tower in Langdale Park? Next to White Trail? @ GLPC 2026-06-29

The GLPC agenda sheet for “8. TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run, 3781 North Valdosta Road, Map and Parcel 0076C-025” says in part: Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-06-25

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Update 2026-07-03: Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-06-29 and Alapaha River 2026-07-01.

The Withlacoochee River and the Santa Fe River tested clean in the results we have for this week. Even Sugar Creek tested pretty clean.

No new sewage spills were reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

According to the results we have, happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating, and it’s even supposed to be sunny this weekend.

Maybe you’d like to join WWALS for Gibson County Park to SRSP Paddle, Suwannee River 2026-06-27.

https://wwals.net/?p=70541

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

[Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers, plus Sugar Creek, 2026-06-25]
Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers, plus Sugar Creek, 2026-06-25

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 →

Construction materials dumped at Hagan Bridge, Withlacoochee River @ GA 122 2026-06-26

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Update 2026-06-29: Construction trash removed from under Hagan Bridge @ GA 122, Withlacoochee River 2026-06-29.

Update 2026-06-26: Lowndes County Code Enforcement says they have started an investigation and they’ll handle cleanup.

If the Withlacoochee River rises much more, all this trash could be swept downstream.

I don’t think we want antifreeze or plastic pipes or even random plywood and wood slats in the river.

[Construction materials dumped at Hagan Bridge, Withlacoochee River @ GA 122, First reported 2026-06-25]
Construction materials dumped at Hagan Bridge, Withlacoochee River @ GA 122, First reported 2026-06-25

So I have reported this trash dump to Lowndes County Code Enforcement so they can see if they can determine who put it there.

And also to Lowndes County Public Works, in hopes their litter crew can come collect it.

Remember, you can report trash, sewage spills, or anything else that could affect waterways:

https://wwals.net/report/

We were alerted to this trash by a post by Johnnie D Smith on June 25, 2026, in the facebook group Lowndes County, Georgia Voices.

 -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/

Continue reading →

Some history and data on the Suwannee River near Gibson Park –Byron Herder 2026-06-25

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Byron Herder, who owns the Alapaha River Rise, just upstream from the Alapaha River on the Suwannee River, sent this:

I don’t think I can make it Saturday. Here is some history and data on the area of put in near Gibson. Was the capitol of Florida for thousands of years before Spanish contact. Largest pyramids in Florida. Was site of San Ugustin de Urihica for Spanish missionaries. First large battle in what is now US history called Napituca.

What’s happening Saturday is Gibson County Park to SRSP Paddle, Suwannee River 2026-06-27.

https://wwals.net/?p=70541

[Some history and data on the Suwannee River near Gibson Park --Byron Herder 2026-06-25]
Some history and data on the Suwannee River near Gibson Park –Byron Herder 2026-06-25

Here are the images Byron sent, with sources for those that I could find. Continue reading →

Treated wastewater must benefit both an Outstanding Florida Spring and A Rural Area of Opportunity 2026-04-17

It turns out there’s a reason JEA might want to send its reclaimed wastewater into the Suwannee Basin in Water First North Florida (WFNF), according to the Florida Statutes resulting from SB 64.

All of the Suwannee Basin counties are Rural Areas of Opportunity (RAO), except Alachua County.

None of the SJRWMD counties are RAO, except Nassau in the St. Marys River Basin, and Putnam County. Not Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Flagler, Volusia, etc., or Alachua again.

And Nassau and Putnam Counties do not seem to have any Outstanding Florida Springs.

Why does this matter?

[Treated wastewater must benefit both: Outstanding Florida Spring and Rural Area of Opportunity by Florida Statutes]
Treated wastewater must benefit both: Outstanding Florida Spring and Rural Area of Opportunity by Florida Statutes

In Florida Statutes 403.064 Reuse of reclaimed water: Continue reading →

Filthy Sugar Creek 2026-06-19

Update 2026-06-26: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-06-25.

WWALS got a filthy water quality result for Sunday at the WaterGoat on Sugar Creek, just downstream from Two Mile Branch and not far upstream from the Withlacoochee River.

I was hoping to include the City of Valdosta’s Monday results for GA 133 and US 84 on the Withlacoochee River, but those are not published yet.

No new sewage spills were reported since our last WWALS water quality report in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

But we have to wonder, since these high Sugar Creek results keep happening, whether there is still some sewage problem on Sugar Creek or upstream on Two Mile Branch or One Mile Branch.

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

[Filthy Sugar Creek at WaterGoat 2026-06-19, Just upstream from Withlacoochee River]
Filthy Sugar Creek at WaterGoat 2026-06-19, Just upstream from Withlacoochee River

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 →

Pictures: Juneteenth at Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20

More than 20 boatloads of new paddlers went on Reed Bingham State Park Lake, in Juneteenth, June 20, 2026, by Macedonia Community Foundation and WWALS.

Thanks to Fannie Marie Gibbs for the idea. She was indisposed and could not come. Her grandchildren Andre and Aisha Gibbs and friends and relatives brought the food and the games for children.

WWALS supplied the boats and the stunt adults to paddle with children whose parents don’t want to get in a boat: Andrew Reinlieb, Gretchen Quarterman, Scotti Jay, and John S. Quarterman, plus Kimberly Godden Tanner signing people in.

[Juneteenth with new boaters, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20, And food!]
Juneteenth with new boaters, Reed Bingham State Park Beach, Little River 2026-06-20, And food!

Here are some video snippets:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/902855629498139/

https://youtu.be/_APnkogCgcg

People seemed to like it. I took the first boatload out soon after the 11 AM start time, and more boatloads of new paddlers were still going well after the nominal 3 PM end time, even after 4 PM.

Georgia State Parks raised the parking rate from to $10. Sorry about that. Other than that, there was no charge.

June 19, 2027, is on a Saturday, so that’s the most likely next time for this Juneteenth celebration.

If you want to know about Juneteenth the event, try this:

https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/moments/juneteenth Continue reading →

Better than treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin

Why do three unelected boards want to spend $1.1 billion for a bad solution to two water problems?

The plan is to pipe treated wastewater from the JEA Buckman wastewater plant more than 60 miles into the Suwannee Basin to replenish wetlands and raise flows and levels in springs and rivers. It’s called Water First North Florida (WFNF),1  and it’s wasteful, slow, fragile, and based on unproven technology. It also risks the health of our fragile aquifer.

If it’s clean enough to drink, Jacksonville can drink it. If it’s not, why should the Suwannee Basin accept it to contaminate wetlands, seep into groundwater where cave divers and rare species swim, and come back up in drinking water wells and springs and rivers where people and animals swim? All twelve Suwannee Basin counties have approved a resolution against WFNF and for seawater desalination or other solutions.2

The proposal is being pushed by the unelected boards of JEA (Jacksonville’s private water and wastewater utility), and the Suwannee and St. Johns River Water Management Districts (SJRWMD and SRWMD).

The $1.1 billion cost estimate does not include building the pipelines, nor the cost of obtaining rights of way, nor operational costs. Why should people in the St. Johns Basin accept likely rate increases from cost overruns, operational costs, and lawsuits about pipelines and by neighboring landowners? JEA should line up with its own customers, “JEA is dedicated to serving our customers and delivering reliable, sustainable services at reasonable rates.”3  

[Better than treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin, Water First North Florida]
Better than treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin, Water First North Florida

In May we heard that, “ the Water First North Florida project is being canceled in its current form . ”4  Actually, the state legislature zeroed a $20 million line item for WFNF. 5  But that’s peanuts compared to the combined $525 million already dedicated by JEA and SJRWMD, plus more promised by FDEP.

It ain’t dead yet.

People in both basins get to vote in local, state, and federal elections. WFNF should be an issue.

Continue reading →

Gibson County Park to SRSP Paddle, Suwannee River, 2026-06-27

Join us for an eight-mile paddle on the beautiful Suwannee River with a short detour upstream to the Alapaha River Rise, where that river reemerges after traveling underground for 10 miles. We will paddle by the confluence of the the Alapaha River, as well as several springs along the way to Suwannee River State Park (SRSP).

Gibson County Park entry is free but there is a $5 fee for the State Park, fees are collected via online payment or QR code. Check SRSP’s webpage if you need more information.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2:30 PM, Saturday, June 27, 2026

Put In: Gibson County Park, 6844 SW CR 751, Jasper, FL 32052. Right bank, west side of the river. From Jasper, Hamilton County, FL, travel southwest on Right bank. SW CR 249 to SW CR 751; turn left and boat ramp is on the right in Gibson Park, in Hamilton County.

GPS: 30.437637, -83.094031

[Gibson County Park to SRSP, Suwannee River 2026-06-27, Alapaha River Rise, Suwannee River State Park]
Gibson County Park to SRSP, Suwannee River 2026-06-27, Alapaha River Rise, Suwannee River State Park

Continue reading →