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.

WFNF not done yet –Florida Alligator 2026-06-14

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More on how WFNF is not done yet, including that contributing projects are still going.

Cost is one of many reasons for the massive public opposition to Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

The WFNF cost estimate was $1 billion in July 2025, but had ballooned to $1.1 billion by February 2026. That’s 10% inflation in six months.

Even that higher estimate expressly does not include the cost of the pipeline or eminent domain, not to mention likely lawsuits.

Another reason is that few people trust JEA to clean up the wastewater or to keep the pipeline system working without failures.

Another is that nobody got to vote on WFNF except the unelected boards of JEA and the St. Johns and Suwannee River Water Management Districts (SJRWMD and SRWMD).

[WFNF not done yet --Florida Alligator 2026-06-14, Stacie Greco, Alachua County, Sarah Younger, SSGSCFL]
WFNF not done yet –Florida Alligator 2026-06-14, Stacie Greco, Alachua County, Sarah Younger, SSGSCFL

Much more about WFNF here:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Julianna Bendeck, the independent florida alligator, June 14, 2026, Why the Water First North Florida project may not be done just yet: The state cancelled the $1 billion aquifer recharge proposal amid drought conditions,

Although state officials abandoned the original Water First North Florida proposal, research associated with the project continues.

Continue reading →

Drought dire; GRU water withdrawal increase approved; no response about WFNF @ SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09

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Asked directly about WFNF, what’s happening with the $125 million and have you cancelled the consultant contracts, SJRWMD had no response.

Remember that whenever somebody tries to tell you WFNF is cancelled. It’s just laying low.

That’s Water First North Florida, the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin to seep down from wetlands into the Floridan Aquifer and come back up in springs, rivers, and drinking water wells, at the June 9, 2026, meeting in Palatka of the Governing Board of the St. Johns River Water Management District.

What they did do, after their Hydrologic Conditions Report showed how dire the drought is, they approved an increase in the amount of groundwater GRU can withdraw for Gainesville.

[Drought dire, yet approved GRU water withdrawal increase, No response about WFNF @ SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09]
Drought dire, yet approved GRU water withdrawal increase, No response about WFNF @ SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09

And they praised GRU’s wastewater reclamation, i.e., Sweetwater, as a model. They didn’t say, but that’s one of the precedents cited in https://waterfirstnorthfl.com: “Similar projects like the Sweetwater Wetlands Project in Alachua County and the Black Creek Water Resource Development Project in Clay County have successfully improved water quality, restored wetland habitats, and provided community benefits – proving this approach works for North Florida.”

Nevermind that, as Suwannee County BOCC pointed out, “You assert that this method has been “proven” at the Sweetwater Wetlands Project and Black Creek Water Resource Development. That is simply not true as both of those projects use wetlands to cleanse run off — not chemically “treated” water. To be blunt, those projects are not receiving sewer water like you are planning to use for the Water First North Florida Project. Even if they were similar projects, the difference in scale compared to Water First North Florida negates any reasonable comparison.”

For more about WFNF, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Here’s another question. Continue reading →

Video: Leaf Area Index and Forest Water Yield, Matt Cohen, WWALS Webinar 2026-05-28

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Reducing forest cover to about what it was before the 1990s would increase water yield and could be seen as restoration of more natural forests.

That was one take on the WWALS Webinar by Dr. Matthew J. Cohen, presenting research about forest management to lower Leaf Area Index (LAI) and increase water yield, on May 28, 2026, from noon to 1 PM.

[Video: Leaf Area Index and Forest Water Yield, Dr. Matthew Cohen, WWALS Webinar 2026-05-28]
Video: Leaf Area Index and Forest Water Yield, Dr. Matthew Cohen, WWALS Webinar 2026-05-28

Leaf area index (the ratio of leaf cover to ground area) increased in the 1990s. Reverting to about the LAI before then would increase water yield into streams and wetlands, and thence into the Floridan Aquifer. This works by reducing evapotranspiration from the trees.

LAI can be decreased through means such as delaying replanting after clearcutting, not planting as densely, and thinning more or sooner. The resulting increased waterflow is as clean as any source.

Unlike the agriculture that is the subject of the Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs), forestry does not irrigate.

The research is quite thorough and Dr. Cohen indicated more potential effects.

Here is the zoom video:

https://youtu.be/_PTxZJ6BJFw Continue reading →

Rezoning application for potential datacenter, Coleman Road, Lowndes County 2025-06-30

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I keep getting asked for the rezoning application for the potential datacenter site on Coleman Road in Lowndes County.

Please note that there is no application yet for a datacenter in Lowndes County.

The rezoning application for the potential site is in the board packets for the June 30, 2025, Planning Commission meeting and the July 7-8, 2025, Lowndes County Commission meetings.

[Rezoning application for potential datacenter site, Coleman Road North to Withlacoochee River, Lowndes County 2025-06-30, 2025-07-08]
Rezoning application for potential datacenter site, Coleman Road North to Withlacoochee River, Lowndes County 2025-06-30, 2025-07-08

The Planning Commission board packet materials, 2025-06-30

These were obtained from Lowndes County in response to an open records request from Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE):

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/2025/06/packet-two-lowndes-county-rezoning-materials-glpc-2025-06-30.html

In case it’s not obvious, see this file:

https://wwals.net/pictures/2025-06-30-coleman-road-lowndes-county-rezoning-datacenter-site/REZ-2025-11-GLPC-Packet.pdf

Images of each page are below.

They include the relevant pages about the target zoning, M-1 (Light Manufacturing), from the Lowndes County Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). Continue reading →

Local Industrial Development Authority @ Irwin County BOCC 2026-06-01

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The Local Industrial Development Authority took two Irwin County Commission meetings to approve.

The ordinance says the Authority is limited to the unincorporated parts of Irwin County and that it is to have nine Directors.

For the June 3 meeting where they finally approved that ordinance, we got nothing but a Public Notice: no agenda, no board packet.

But in response to an open records request, we got an extensive board packet for the June 1, 2026, meeting. It also includes a household trash burn ordinance, a solar ordinance, an ordinance limiting appraisals for low-income properties, an employee performance evaluation form, and a job posting for a County Administrator. That last item is not on the agenda, but it is in the packet.

[Local Industrial Development Authority @ Irwin Co. BOCC 2026-06-01, 2026-06-03, Burn Ordinance, Solar Ordinance, County Administrator job posting]
Local Industrial Development Authority @ Irwin Co. BOCC 2026-06-01, 2026-06-03, Burn Ordinance, Solar Ordinance, County Administrator job posting

These items are on the WWALS website. Images of each page are below, except I have omitted the 22 blank pages. Continue reading →

Speak about WFNF, Taxes, etc. at SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09

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Update 2026-06-18: Drought dire; GRU water withdrawal increase approved; no response about WFNF @ SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09.

You can speak about WFNF, taxes, etc. at the SJRWMD Governing Board Meeting,

10 AM, Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Board Room, SJRWMD District Headquarters, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, FL 32177

Don’t be late: 5. Public Comment is very early on the agenda.

So far, the Suwannee River Water Management Districdt (SRWMD) has no comment on the alleged cancellation of WFNF. We’ve heard nothing at all from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), which has dedicated $125 million to WFNF. Maybe you’d like to ask them what they are doing with WFNF.

How much of SJRWMD’s own tax revenue comes from property tax, and how much of that will be affected if the voters in November approve the Florida Homestead Property Tax Exemption?

[Speak about WFNF, Taxes, etc., at SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09, Or GRU 15% increase groundwater withdrawal affecting Suwannee Basin]
Speak about WFNF, Taxes, etc., at SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09, Or GRU 15% increase groundwater withdrawal affecting Suwannee Basin

Public Comment is right after this item:

  1. Consideration: Approve Consumptive Use Permit 11339-8, known as Murphree WTP – GRU. This application is a renewal of an existing public supply permit with an increase in the Upper Floridan aquifer groundwater allocation from 30.0 million gallons per day (mgd) to 34.592 mgd, through the year 2056.

That’s a 15% increase from 2056 for Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU). From the same Upper Floridan Aquifer everybody drinks from in the Suwannee Basin. With direct effects on the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Associated Priority Springs minimum flows and levels, as spelled out later in the board packet.

There is no mention of PFAS forever chemicals or pharmaceuticals being removed from the “reclaimed” wastewater that ends up in the aquifer. One of the reclaimed wastewater routes goes through Sweetwater Wetlands Park, which WFNF claims as a precedent.

Maybe you’d like to talk about that.

On packet page 9: Continue reading →

Citrus County Datacenter Moratorium, but application already in progress 2026-05-26

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Congratulations, Citrus County Commissioners, on passing a Datacenter Moratorium, May 26, 2026!

But the big horse was already out the barn: an application by Deltona Corporation to add to the 557.4-acres Holder Industrial Park another 798.6 acres for a total of 1,356 acres, so they can build a hyper-scale datacenter. That’s a bit wet of the Withlacoochee (South) River, the one that runs north from the Green Swamp, then west into the Gulf.

That is not in the Suwannee River Basin, but this is the first Florida datacenter moratorium we’ve heard of, and we’re concerned with Citrus County for other reasons, such as the borrow pit for the toll road extension that if its built could keep going up US 19 across the Suwannee River.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Citrus County Datacenter Moratorium 2026-05-26, but application in progress, Deltona Corporation, Holder Industrial Park Expansion]
Citrus County Datacenter Moratorium 2026-05-26, but application in progress, Deltona Corporation, Holder Industrial Park Expansion

That application will next be heard at 9 AM, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in the Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Room #166, Lecanto, Florida 34442.

Meanwhile, No Data Center Citrus has scheduled half a dozen rallies against.

https://nodatacentercitrus.org/ Continue reading →

SRWMD Governing Board Meeting 2026-06-09

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There’s nothing on the SRWMD agenda Tuesday about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

But you can speak in item “4. Public Comment” about most anything. Don’t be late: it’s very near the start of the meeting.

That’s 9 AM, Tuesday, June 9, 2026,
at SRWMD HQ, 9225 Co Rd 49, Live Oak, FL 32060.

You can watch remotely on SRWMD’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@SRWMD

[SRWMD Governing Board Meeting, 4. Public Comment, 9 AM, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, SRWMD HQ, 9225 Co Rd 49, Live Oak, FL]
SRWMD Governing Board Meeting, 4. Public Comment, 9 AM, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, SRWMD HQ, 9225 Co Rd 49, Live Oak, FL

Elsewhere on the agenda there are:

https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/Archive.aspx?ADID=1753

  • 5. Consent Agenda Item No. 22 – Task Work Assignment with Water & Air Research, Inc (see below)
  • 7.A. Hydrologic Conditions Report
  • 21. Water Resources Division Updates
  • Workshop Following Board Meeting: Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Tentative Budget Presentation

Plus some details about surplus lands as well as work at various parks.

Last month twelve people spoke about WFNF, but the Minutes record them each only as Water First North Florida concerns. You can see them in SRWMD’s own video. They were: Continue reading →

Review, Project Arrowhead, DRI 4689, Irwin County, GA –SGRC 2026-05-14

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Only two state agencies commented on the Development of Regional Impact (DRI) for the Project Arrowhead datacenter near the Alapaha River in Irwin County, Georgia:

  • the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council (SSRWPC) in one page, and
  • the DRI facilitator, the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC). Beyond a three-page summary at the beginning, the SGRC comments mostly consisted of the same 21 pages we already saw at the beginning of the comment period.

In the section of “Comments from Public Agencies” the other two letters are from the Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) and from WWALS, which you have already seen.

Fifteen citizens commented in the section labeled “Comments from the Public – Non-official.” All were opposed to the datacenter.

For much more about datacenters, including who you can contact, petitions, and upcoming meetings, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Review, Project Arrowhead, DRI 4689, Irwin County, GA --SGRC 2026-05-14, Comments from Public Agencies, Comments from the Public]
Review, Project Arrowhead, DRI 4689, Irwin County, GA –SGRC 2026-05-14, Comments from Public Agencies, Comments from the Public

I thank Irwin County Assistant County Manager Bonnie Kelly, Ed.D. and County Clerk Patricia Battle for each returning a copy of this document within minutes after I sent in an open records request this morning.

This is presumably the same document you can see the Irwin County Commissioners perusing in Videos: Datacenter Special Exception approved at Special Called Meeting of Irwin County BOCC 2026-05-20.

The document is on the WWALS website and images of each page are below. Continue reading →

Hydrologic Conditions Report –SRWMD 2026-04-30

In case you thought recent rains had solved the drought, think again.

This is the April 30, 3026 Hydrologic Conditions Report that was presented at the May Governing Board meeting of the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).

[Hydrologic Conditions Report --SRWMD 2026-04-30, Still in drought, Need much more rain]
Hydrologic Conditions Report –SRWMD 2026-04-30, Still in drought, Need much more rain

https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/DocumentCenter/View/19656/04-April-26-Hydro-Reportk

SUWANNEE RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
MEMORANDUM

TO: Governing Board

FROM: Robbie McKinney, Hydrologic Program Manager, Office of Water Resources

THRU: Hugh Thomas, Executive Director

DATE: April 30, 2026

RE: April 2026 Hydrologic Conditions Report

RAINFALL

  • Districtwide average rainfall for the month was 0.88”, which was about 74 percent lower than the 1932-2025 average of 3.38” (Table 1, Figure 1). The 12-month period ending April 30 reflected a Districtwide rainfall deficit of 20.22”, which was an increase to the 19.98” deficit seen at the end of March. District counties ranged from just over 0.5” to 1.4” of rainfall on average, with parts of Taylor, Suwannee, Columbia, Hamilton, Union, Gilchrist, and Dixie counties receiving more than 2.5 inches of rainfall (Figure 2).
  • Overall, a 12-month rainfall deficit was present in all river basins, with the Aucilla and Coastal basins increasing in deficit by the end of April (Figure 3). A small area in the southern Waccasassa Basin showed a deficit of less than 8 inches. Portions with deficits greater than 29” were also observed in the Aucilla, Santa Fe, and Suwannee basins. Each river basin increased its 3-month rainfall deficit by the end of April (Figure 4). No surpluses were seen over the past 3 months, and each river basin had areas measuring anywhere from less than 6” to more than 9” of deficit. Sections with greater than 9” of rainfall deficit can be seen in all 5 of the basins.

SURFACE WATER

Continue reading →