A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.
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.
I received your voicemail requesting an in-person meeting and
property survey.
As stated in my previous correspondence dated August 24, 2026, I do
not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my
unencumbered acreage. Because our formal objection, structural
constraints, and pre-existing water and land infrastructure have
already been clearly outlined and filed with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC), an in-person meeting will not change
our position.
Kira Pollock is the first to file a complaint with the FERC about Sabal Trail’s plan to gouge a second pipeline next to the one they built a decade ago.
That’s the old Sabal Trail docket, and nothing else has been filed in it since May 2025.
The 2025 activity was just regular reports and a request and grant of extension of time for Sabal Trail Phase III.
That’s an old project that was already delayed several years.
It was to expand capacity of the old pipeline by a small amount.
This Sabal Trail Expansion Project would approximatly double the amount
of fracked methane.
As
previously mentioned,
The only “economic development” I can see that would cause this is hyper-scale AI datacenters.
You can send in your own comments, so nobody can say there were no objections.
Just go to ferc.gov -> FERC Online -> Login -> New User and make yourself an account.
Then go to FERC Online Home -> eComment and comment in Docket Number CP15-17-000.
I am writing to share some important neighborhood feedback and
formally log my concerns regarding the proposed Sabal Trail
Expansion Project study corridor as it relates to my property and
our immediate neighborhood within the Quail Hollow subdivision in
Suwannee County, Florida. I understand that your team is currently
in the planning and information-gathering phase, so I wanted to
reach out cooperatively to bring some significant physical,
structural, and hydrological bottlenecks in our neighborhood to your
attention so we can avoid issues down the road.
After reviewing the track of your current 36-inch mainline easement Continue reading →
The Local Industrial Development Authority of Irwin County
on August 18, 2026, apparently for the first time.
Supposedly there are nine members, but they were not all present.
They didn’t say anything until the very end about datacenters, which was why this board was formed.
This meeting was entirely about attorney, officers, bylaws, training required by the state, and next meeting: 8 AM, Tuesday, September 8, 2026.
This Authority
was approved by the Irwin County Commission on
June 3, 2026.
As near as I can tell, the members were appointed at the July 6 County Commission meeting.
I cannot find any agenda nor minutes on the Irwin County website for that July meeting.
Will Spicer sent this report and video from the August 18 meeting.
My edits are marked with [square brackets].
I went to the inaugural meeting of the Development Authority of
Irwin County tonight. It was held in a small board room in a
building about 1 block from the hospital. I gather this space
belongs to the Hospital Authority and it is used for hospital board
meetings.
In attendance were [7 of 9 of the new board’s members.
Clockwise from the end of the table: Continue reading →
Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman
discussed the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest last Thursday
at the Mayor’s day job, the radio show he owns and hosts on talk921.fm.
Songs can be about any waterbody in the 10,000-square mile Suwannee River Basin
or Estuary in Georgia or Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Little, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, or Suwannee Rivers,
or the Okefenokee Swamp, or any other river, creek, swamp, or sink.
Plus underground waters such as the Floridan Aquifer.
Songwriters can be from anywhere; they come from as far as Tennessee and south Florida.
Once we get those last few songs from the procrastinating songwriters,
the organizing committee will select Finalists.
The Finalists will play at WWALS River Revue, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026,
at the Lowndes County 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, on Long Pond.
When you buy a ticket, you get to hear them along with the three judges,
who will select the winners.
And you get a sit-down dinner with cash bar, Headliner Joe First, who is last year’s winner, and two speakers:
Amy Sharma of Science for Georgia, talking about hyper-scale AI datacenters.
Rick Davis, Chair of the dozen-county Florida Task Force, talking about
Water First North Florida (WFNF), the currently-hibernating scheme
to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee Basin.
Here’s what six people running for Florida Governor
have to say about clean water.
The other candidates did not respond.
We got a variety of answers about WFNF, desalination, potable reuse, WMDs, datacenters, and RTCW.
For what these candidates wrote about those and other issues, see below.
If you are a candidate for state or national office in Florida this year,
in the Suwannee River Basin, we sent you a questionnaire.
If you didn’t get it, please let us know.
Here’s what some of those running for U.S. Congress from Florida District 3
have to say about clean water: Troy Albers and Seth Harp.
Kat Cammack (the incumbent), Georgia Hubac, Mike Klein, and Tom Wells did not respond.
FL-03 covers Hamilton, Columbia, Baker, Union, Bradford, Alachua, Gilchrist, Suwannee, (most of ) Lafayette, Dixie, Levy, Counties, and part of Marion County.
That’s almost all of the Suwannee River Basin in Florida, except not Madison County.
In FL-03 also WFNF is not popular, WMDs in their current form are problematical,
hyper-scale AI datacenters are looked upon ascance, and these candidates support RTCW.
For these candidates’ answers to those and other questions, see below.
For much more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), see:
If you are a candidate for state or national office in Florida this year,
in the Suwannee River Basin, we sent you a questionnaire.
If you didn’t get it, please let us know.
Update 2026-08-15: It’s treated creek water, not human wastewater.
It broke four days after SJRWMD bragged about it working:
the Black Creek treated waste creek water pipeline into Alligator Creek.
This is the prototype for the 60+-mile Water First North Florida (WFNF)
pipeline from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.
We should trust SJRWMD and JEA to build a pipeline?
There’s an election going on.
No candidate seems to want to support WFNF.
WWALS sent a clean water questionnaire to all Florida candidates for office.
It also got answers on many other water topics.
Some of those answers may help you choose who to vote for.
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. (WCJB) – The Black Creek pipeline burst and eroded underneath State Road 21 between State Road 16 and Sharron Road in Clay County Tuesday morning.
Clay County Fire Rescue officials say the pumps that supply the water are secured. State Road 21 is currently down to one lane.
Fire rescue officials are at the scene and FDOT officials are mobilizing to repair the damage. Officials say there are no injuries or accidents at this time.
Update 2026-08-05:
Now with a response from Marshall Rawson,
added to the responses from June by Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and Chase Brannan,
and James Hunter Batley’s response that he dropped out of the race.
Here’s what those running for Florida State Representative District 10
have to say about clean water: Chase Brannan and Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson.
Marshall Rawson did not respond, and James Hunter Batley dropped out of the race.
District 10 covers Columbia, Baker, Union, and Bradford Counties, and part of Alachua County.
WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is conducting a
Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire: #WWALSCleanWaterQuestionnaire
In District 10 also WFNF is not popular, WMDs in their current form are problematical,
hyper-scale AI datacenters are looked upon ascance, and RTCW needs more education.
For these candidates’ answers to those and other questions, see below.
For much more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), see:
If you are a candidate for state or national office in Florida this year,
in the Suwannee River Basin, we sent you a questionnaire.
If you didn’t get it, please let us know.
As an IRS 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit,
WWALS cannot support or oppose any specific candidate for office.
But we can ask all candidates in a race what they think,
and publish the results. Continue reading →
Here’s what candidates have to say about clean water,
those running for Florida State Representative District 9: Allison Tant, Jibri Knight, and Tracy Robinson.
WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is conducting a
Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire: #WWALSCleanWaterQuestionnaire
So far we have responses from all the candidates for this district,
so that’s what we are reporting today.
If you are a candidate for state or national office in Florida this year,
in the Suwannee River Basin, we sent you a questionnaire.
If you didn’t get it, please let us know.
WWALS Events Committee Member Hailey Hall will introduce the speakers,
who will speak for about 45 minutes, followed by questions and answers.
The Suwannee River watershed supports one of the world’s largest
spring systems, productive estuarine ecosystems, working
agricultural and forest landscapes, and communities whose
livelihoods depend on healthy water resources. Understanding how
future changes in climate and land use will affect these
interconnected systems is critical for informed management and
conservation.
This presentation will highlight results from a large
interdisciplinary research project that coupled hydrologic,
estuarine ecological, and economic models to evaluate a range of
plausible future scenarios for the Suwannee River watershed and
estuary. Using a landscape-scale groundwater-surface water model, we
examined how alternative land-use futures—including
agricultural expansion, forest restoration, conservation planning,
and urban growth—interact with projected climate change to
influence groundwater recharge, river flows, nitrate transport,
estuarine water quality, fisheries, and regional economic outcomes.
Rather than attempting to predict a single future, this
scenario-based approach explores Continue reading →
![[Re: Voicemail, I still do not consent to any surveying, mapping, or physical entry onto my unencumbered acreage --Kira Pollock to Sabal Trail 2026-08-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-25--stt-kira-pollock/many.jpg)
![[Denial of Survey Consent, Kira Pollock to FERC, about Sabal Trail Expansion Project 2026-08-24]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-24--ferc-kira-pollock/fbmany.jpg)
![[Local Development Authority of Irwin County 2026-08-22, Apparently its first meeting, Maybe appointed July 6]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-18--video-irwin-county-local-development-authority/fbmany.jpg)
![[Songs for Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by August 19, on Scott James radio, Finalists play September 12, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-13--scott-james-radio/fbmany.jpg)
![[Florida Governor Candidates, Clean Water Questionnaire, WFNF, Datacenters, WMDs, etc. --WWALS 2026-08-17]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-17--fl-governor-water-questionnaire/fbmany.jpg)
![[Florida U.S. House District 3, Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire --WWALS 2026-08-17]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-17--fl-03-water-questionnaire/fbmany.jpg)
![[Black Creek treated creek water pipeline broke 2026-08-11, after less than a week, Prototype for WFNF]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-11--black-creek-pipeline-broke/fbmany.jpg)
![[Florida State House District 10, Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire, by WWALS]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-04--district-10-political-candidate-clean-water-questionnaire/fbmany.jpg)
![[Florida State House District 9, Political Candidate Clean Water Questionnaire, by WWALS 2026-08-03]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-08-03--political-candidate-clean-water-questionnaire/fbmany.jpg)
![[Farms, Forests, Flows & Fish: Exploring Possible Futures for the Suwannee River Watershed & Estuary, a WWALS Webinar 2026-08-19]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-10-19--farms-forests-flows-fish-wwals-webinar/fbmany.jpg)