Category Archives: Aquifer

The Floridan Aquifer is our main drinking water source under our entire WWALS watershed, east to south Carolina, west through Alabama to Mississippi, and under all of Florida.

SRWMD apparently does not know what were the 800 alternatives to WFNF 2026-04-24

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Does the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) really not know what alternatives were considered before WFNF, and why they were rejected?

Or are they refusing to tell the public?

In either case, how are they representing the people of the Suwannee River Basin about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin?

[SRWMD apparently does not know the 800 alternatives to WFNF]
SRWMD apparently does not know the 800 alternatives to WFNF

Meanwhile, all dozen counties in the Suwannee District signed on to resolutions opposing NFWF by the Rivers Task Force and by the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council (NCFRPC).

The members of the Task Force and Council are all elected officials, unlike the boards of the Suwannee and St. Johns River Water Management Districts and JEA, who are promoting WFNF.

For those resolutions and the letters and resolutions by individual counties and the Town of Branford, as well as who you can contact, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

On April 15, 2026, I sent SRWMD a public records request for the “over 800 initial alternatives to the four alternatives identified for additional study” to WFNF that were mentioned in a document they sent me. I included, “For each alternative, please include at least a description, along with reasons why it was rejected, and any relevant accompanying documentation.”

Today, April 23, I got a pretty nonresponsive reply, giving no descriptions nor reasons for rejection, with the excuse that, “The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) was not the managing entity for the contracts or investigations referenced in your request.”

The response even spells out that it is nonresponsive, “This is not a full response to your request, and at this time, the District is not aware of additional responsive records in its custody.”

They don’t even say who was the managing entity. I can only guess it was the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD). So today I sent SJRWMD a similar public records request.

There is nothing in the SRWMD response that indicates they considered the proposal by Dennis J. Price, P.G., to drill aquifer rehydration wells at overflows of planted pine wetlands.

There is nothing to indicate they looked at any desalination plants other than a few in north Florida.

The actual content of the SRWMD response was two attached spreadsheets, which you can find here: Continue reading →

WFNF on Jacksonville TV 2026-04-22

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This is probably the first most people in the Jacksonville area have heard of Water First North Florida (WFNF).

It’s great that the SRWMD and SJRWMD Executive Directors consider clean water a personal issue. They’re still pushing an overly complex, expensive, and risky 60+-mile pipeline for treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin.

There are less expensive, fast-to-build, less risky, and more scalable solutions.

https://wwals.net/?p=70046

For more about WFNF, including who you can contact and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[WFNF on Jacksonville TV, Andrea Snody, News4JAX 2026-04-22, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, Hugh Thomas, SRWMD, Mike Register, SJRWMD]
WFNF on Jacksonville TV, Andrea Snody, News4JAX 2026-04-22, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, Hugh Thomas, SRWMD, Mike Register, SJRWMD

Andrea Snody, News4JAX, April 22, 2026, Jacksonville wastewater plan could reshape North Florida water supply, Continue reading →

Tabled: Sheriff’s lease for an ICE detention center –Bradford County Commission 2026-04-16

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Forty people spoke against, and not one for, the proposed ICE detention center in Starke, Bradford County, Florida. They came from all across north Florida, from Tallahassee to St. Augustine. As Mary Bauer from Gainesville said, this is really a national issue.

Several of them brought up water and sewage issues such as in the WWALS letter to Bradford County of April 6.

Sheriff Gordon Brown claimed people who came to him were three to one for it.

Outside his bubble, four of five Bradford County Commissioners said that last meeting they asked for all options for the Douglas Building to be considered, that putting only the ICE option on the agenda the previous day, with the lease and operating requirements added only 24 hours before this meeting, was rushed, and they could not vote for it. 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 →

San Diego Carlsbad Desalination Plant may sell water to Arizona, Nevada, or Utah 2026-04-17

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An old seawater desalination plant in California wants to make a deal with Nevada, Arizona, or Utah to replace water no longer coming from the Colorado River.

That seems relevant to the Suwannee River Basin’s diminishing Floridan Aquifer water supply. Jacksonville has the Atlantic Ocean next door. Let it desalinate and stop pumping so much groundwater.

Also, if western states can do this, so can Jacksonville:

In addition to desalination, some states are considering recycling wastewater. In 2021, Arizona and Nevada each invested $6 million in a water recycling initiative that is in the final stages. The project, Pure Water Southern California, could eventually convert enough sewage into purified drinking water to supply 500,000 homes.

Both seawater desalination and potable reuse make much more sense than the JEA, SJRWMD, and SRWMD plan to pipe treated Jacksonville wastewater 60+ miles west into the Suwannee Basin. For more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

San Diego’s Carlsbad Desalination Plant opened in 2015, so it’s more than a decade old. It cost about a billion dollars and produces about 50 million gallons a day (mgd) of drinking water.

For half a dozen bigger, less expensive seawater desalination plants around the world, see, NAQA’A Desalination Plant in Umm Al Quwain, U.A.E. 2019-07-09.

[Old San Diego Carlsbad Desalination Plant may sell water to Arizona, Nevada, or Utah 2026-04-17]
Old San Diego Carlsbad Desalination Plant may sell water to Arizona, Nevada, or Utah 2026-04-17

Scott Dance, The New York Times, April 17, 2026, Western States Need Water. San Diego Has Extra. Will They Make A Deal?
San Diego County is shopping a surplus of desalinated seawater to Western states that are facing increasingly urgent drought and short supplies.

As most Western communities expect to grapple with water shortages this summer and fall, one is looking to share its unlikely surplus. Continue reading →

NCFRPC asks Gilchrist County to pass a resolution against WFNF 2026-04-20

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This Monday the Gilchrist County BOCC will consider a resolution against Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin, by JEA, SJRWMD, and SRWMD.

That’s 3:01 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026, Board of County Commissioners Meeting Facility, 210 South Main Street, Trenton, FL 32693.

There is Public Comment towards the beginning and the end of the meeting.

NCFRPC, after passing a resolution against WFNF back in March, is now asking counties to do the same.

[NCFRPC asks Gilchrist County to pass a resolution against WFNF, 3:01 PM, April 20, 2026, 210 S Main Street, Trenton, FL 32693]
NCFRPC asks Gilchrist County to pass a resolution against WFNF, 3:01 PM, April 20, 2026, 210 S Main Street, Trenton, FL 32693

On the Gilchrist agenda for Monday:

Attorney Report

  1. Miscellaneous
    1. Email and Resolution from North Central Florida Regional Planning Council
      Attachments:
      • NCFRPC Email in Opposition to the Water First North Florida Aquifer Project (NCFRPC_Email_in_Opposition_to_the_Water_First_North_Florida_Aquifer_Project.pdf)
      • NCFRPC Resolution in Opposition to the Water First North Florida Aquifer Project (NCFRPC_Resolution_in_Opposition_to_the_Water_First_North_Florida_Aquifer_Project.pdf)

For all the other local and regional letters and resolutions against WFNF, as well as who you can contact and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Here’s what NCFRPC is asking: Continue reading →

WFNF discussion on the agenda –Union County Commission 2026-04-20

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The agenda doesn’t say much about it, but Water First North Florida (WFNF) is on there:

9. Water First Discussion… Mac Johns

That’s on the for Union County, FL, Board of County Commissioners, 6 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026, in the Board Meeting Room, Union County Courthouse, 55 W. Main St., Lake Butler, FL 32054.

[Water First North Florida discusion on the agenda at Union County Commission, 6 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026]
Water First North Florida discusion on the agenda at Union County Commission, 6 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026

Union County sits between the New River and Olustee Creek on the Santa Fe River, which flows to the Suwannee River.

The county website link for agendas, https://unioncounty-fl.gov/agendas/, gets 404 “Page Not Found”.

But you can find the agenda on the Clerk of Court and Comptroller website. Continue reading →

Datacenter moratorium –Brooks County, GA 2026-02-02

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The Brooks County Commission passed a moratorium on datacenters on February 2, 2026.

However, it expires on May 2.

A copy, received today in response to a WWALS open records reqauest, is on the WWALS website.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

The Little and Withlacoochee Rivers form the east boundary of Brooks County, and Piscola and Okapilco Creeks flow out of it into the Withlacoochee, all above the Floridan Aquifer.

[Datacenter moratorium --Brooks County, GA, Passed February 2, 2026, Expires May 2, 2026]
Datacenter moratorium –Brooks County, GA, Passed February 2, 2026, Expires May 2, 2026

RESOLUTION 26-R-01

A RESOLUTION ADOPTING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON DATA CENTER FACILITIES IN BROOKS COUNTY TO PROMOTE PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WELFARE

WHEREAS, Continue reading →

FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or 2044 to divert its wastewater –Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02

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Wastewater professional Joe Squitieri pointed out that 2032 may not be the real deadline for wastewater outflows to stop going into rivers according to FL SB 64.

Extensions could be granted until 2039, or maybe even 2044. So JEA could keep outflowing into the St. Johns River after 2032.

[FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or later to divert its wastewater --Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02]
FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or later to divert its wastewater –Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02

Here’s the video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1329841519196016/

https://youtu.be/qsp91kAdL5E

He also reminded us that the JEA Buckman wastewater plant is under a Florida Consent Order for exceeding a range of contaminant limits.

Plus, even when that plant is in compliance, it produces quite a bit of nitrates and other contaminants. It failed a test that involves putting fish in the outflow: none of them survived, he said. Then there are PFAS forever chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

“They really don’t know what they’re doing,” he said.

He recommended if they can clean it up enough, they should turn their wastewater into potable reuse.

For much more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), including all the local and regional elected letters and resolutions against, who you can contact, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

For the other speakers at that meeting, see Continue reading →

Who is Project Arrowhead in Irwin County, GA? –Vesper 2026-04-16

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Here’s an analysis worth reading: Vesper: Public Intelligence, April 16, 2026, Project Arrowhead: Inside Irwin County, Georgia’s Data Center Fight.

https://vesperosint.substack.com/p/project-arrowhead-inside-irwin-county

This bit, which seems based on checkable history, is very relevant:

The Fayetteville pattern has a diagnostic shape: a locally-unfamiliar front entity files the first DRI and absorbs the political friction. A shell entity files the middle-stage DRI and captures the rezoning. The named operator surfaces only after entitlements are secured. The tenant surfaces only after construction is underway. At every stage, the community is making zoning decisions about an entity that is not the entity that will ultimately own and operate the facility.

The promise of $20 million a year in tax revenue (and all the other promises) is based on an assumption that it would be a hyper-scale datacenter for so-called AI.

Bad enough if it is: likely bubble pop, etc.

But what if it’s not? Nothing else is that big, so no $20 million a year, nor many of the other promises.

I know I wouldn’t want to rezone for some unknown entity to be revealed years later, not for a project of this scale.

See also this:

In December 2025 the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts published a statewide economic-impact analysis for data center development. In January 2026 the same office published a revision. The revision cut the headline construction-jobs number from 28,350 to 8,505. It cut operational jobs from 5,471 to 1,641. It cut value-added by roughly 70 percent. Georgia’s data center sales and use tax exemption, the policy mechanism that makes almost all of this development economically viable at the facility level, cost the state $296 million in FY25 and is projected to cost $327 million in FY26. A prior Vesper: Public Intelligence piece, The Digital Land Grab: Georgia’s Data Center Wars, cited the same Georgia Department of Audits finding that roughly 90 percent of Georgia’s existing data centers would not have been built without the exemption, meaning the state is foregoing a third of a billion dollars a year to subsidize facilities that would otherwise have located somewhere else.

And this:

The gap between announcement and operation is filled with stalled projects, delayed projects, and quietly dead projects. A community that is being asked to approve a zoning change today against a project that may not operate until 2030, if ever, is being asked to accept a transaction risk that even the developer’s own pro-forma does not try to quantify in public.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Who is Project Arrowhead in Irwin County, GA? --Vesper: Public Intelligence, April 16, 2026]
Who is Project Arrowhead in Irwin County, GA? –Vesper: Public Intelligence, April 16, 2026

I’ll admit I never heard of Vesper: Public Intelligence. They don’t say much about themselves: Continue reading →