Category Archives: FDEP

SWFWMD approved ERP for Suncoast Parkway 2 Eastern Borrow Site 2026-05-22

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The Southwest Florida Water Management District has approved an Environmental Resource Permit modification for a borrow pit for use in constructing the Suncoast Parkway 2 toll road extension.

That move brings the toll road ever closer to extending up US 19 across the Suwannee River and other sensitive wetlands all the way to the GA-FL line towards Thomasville, Georgia.

[SWFWMD approved ERP, for Suncoast Parkway 2, Eastern Borrow Site, owned by FDEP 2026-05-22]
SWFWMD approved ERP, for Suncoast Parkway 2, Eastern Borrow Site, owned by FDEP 2026-05-22

This site is not in the Suwannee River Basin. It is in the watershed of Citrus County’s Crystal River. But building any part of that toll road accellerates the likelihood of the same road heading north into the Suwannee Basin.

Hurricane evacuation is the usual excuse for this toll road, but solar panels and batteries for houses and businesses would cost less and would mean many people would not have to evacuate and would not be without power for weeks as happens now after every hurricane.

You may recall that this is the same sand mine that Southworth sold to the state of Florida after Continue reading →

SRWMD has no comment on WFNF alleged cancellation 2026-05-15

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If it was really cancelled, you’d think SRWMD, SJRWMD, and JEA would say so, and announce they have cancelled any outstanding contracts, such as the one SJRWMD let on November 12, 2025, for $2.17 million for a consultant to study WFNF for three years.

Instead, we’ve heard nothing from JEA or SJRWMD, and the Executive Director of the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) has no comment.

For much more about WFNF, including which Suwannee District counties oppose it (all 12 of them) and which have passed their own letters or resolutions of opposition (7 of them), as well as who you can contact, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[SRWMD has no comment on WFNF alleged cancellation; Nothing from JEA or SJRWMD or FDEP 2026-05-19]
SRWMD has no comment on WFNF alleged cancellation; Nothing from JEA or SJRWMD or FDEP 2026-05-19

Stew Lilker, Columbia County Observer, May 15, 2026, Water First North Florida: The $1.1 Billion Project That No One Likes, Except Insiders, Is on the Ropes
Where is it now and how did it get there?

Continue reading →

Lafayette County against WFNF and for desalination 2026-04-28

Lafayette County on Tuesday became the sixth county to pass a letter or resulution against Water First North Florida (WFNF), the scheme by JEA, SJRWMD, and SRWMD to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

The other counties are Madison, Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton, and Baker, plus the Town of Branford, the Rivers Task Force, and the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council. The last two organizations each represent all twelve counties in the Suwannee River Water Management District.

[Lafayette County against WFNF & for desalination, April 28, 2026]
Lafayette County against WFNF & for desalination, April 28, 2026

There are better ways to address both lower flows and levels in the Suwannee Basin and JEA’s legal requirement to stop outflowing into the St. Johns River; see The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13.

For much more about WFNF, including upcoming county commission and city council meetings, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

RESOLUTION NO. 2026-04-06

A RESOLUTION OF THE LAFAYETTE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OPPOSING THE WATER FIRST NORTH FLORIDA AQUIFER RECHARGE PROJECT AND RECOMMENDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ALTERNATIVE WATER DESALINIZATION PROJECT

WHEREAS, Continue reading →

Way down upon this Florida river, pollution and water withdrawals spell double trouble –Craig Pittman 2026-04-23

A wide-ranging story, which includes springs, the Nutrien phosphate mine, Stephen C. Foster, Ray Charles, Pilgrim’s Pride, WFNF, dairy farms, and Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs).

For much more about WFNF, see

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

First, some pullquotes:

Even blunter was John S. Quarterman, who’s been the Suwannee Riverkeeper for a decade. He told me, “It certainly IS endangered.”

Sheesh! Having your state’s most famous river classified as endangered is like having the governor’s limo towed because it’s a clunker. It reflects badly on all of us — especially whoever sits in the driver’s seat.

…

[Way down upon this Florida river, pollution and water withdrawals spell double trouble, --Craig Pittman, 2026-04-23]
Way down upon this Florida river, pollution and water withdrawals spell double trouble, –Craig Pittman, 2026-04-23

One of the largest drains on the Suwannee: Jacksonville. Water from the Suwannee is being pumped out of the ground to benefit folks who live nowhere near the river.

The water district has a plan to fix this. But it’ s so controversial, Quarterman said, that all the counties in the Suwannee River basin are opposed to it.

The flaw in the flow

The cover of the American Rivers report on the 10 most endangered rivers in America is an image of the flowing Suwannee.

Smack dab in the middle is a pipeline dumping waste into the river. Quarterman identified the pipeline’s owner as Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken processing plant in Live Oak.

According to the water management district, the solution to the Suwannee’s dwindling flow lies in building a bigger, longer pipeline, this one stretching all the way to Jacksonville.

Although it’s called “Water First North Florida,” this project does not, in fact, involve water. It involves treated wastewater.

Continue reading →

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

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 →

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

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 →

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

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 →

Thanks, Georgia Power for a water quality testing grant 2026-04-16

Thanks to Georgia Power for another generous grant for water quality testing!

Thanks to Don F. Hutchinson, Area Manager, Southwest Region, Georgia Power, and his Admin Assistant Peyton Avrett for coming to Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River so we could thank them.

For more about the WWALS Volunteer Water Quality Testing Program, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/testing

[Thanks, Georgia Power, for a water quality testing grant, At Troupville Boat Ramp, April 16, 2026]
Thanks, Georgia Power, for a water quality testing grant, At Troupville Boat Ramp, April 16, 2026

Here’s the video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/953491027626147/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXNiVmwiAM2/

https://youtu.be/NZbmlRY7CyM Continue reading →

Lease and operating requirements added to Sheriff’s ICE detention agenda item @ Bradford County BOCC 2026-04-16

Update 2026-04-22: Tabled: Sheriff’s lease for an ICE detention center –Bradford County Commission 2026-04-16.

Late yesterday, Bradford County updated the agenda for this evening to add a lease agreement for the Douglas Building and a list of “Mandatory Operational Requirements and Compliance Standards”.

That hardly leaves time for anyone to review properly before this evening.

And there is no mention of either of the other two offers for use of the site discussed last time.

Bradford County should choose one of its other options for the site. And the county should do nothing with the site until FDEP returns results of its contamination examination.

The meeting is 6:30 PM, Thursday, April 16, 2026, at the Bradford County Courthouse, 945 North Temple Avenue, Starke, Florida 32091.

[Lease and operating requirements added about Sheriff's ICE detention to agenda packet @ Bradford County BOCC 2026-04-16]
Lease and operating requirements added about Sheriff’s ICE detention to agenda packet @ Bradford County BOCC 2026-04-16

This item is still one of the “Reports” in the agenda, not marked ACTION. But the Commissioners could choose to vote on it anyway.

There is no comment by the county attorney in the agenda packet.

There’s also nothing on the agenda about any results of the FDEP contamination study they approved last time, March 7, 2026. That would have to take much longer than nine days, anyway.

As we pointed out last time, Starke has already had sewage spills, and increasing its population by 50% (3,000 inmates on top of 6,000 Starke residents) would risk more spills, on a site that sits between two creeks that go through Lakes Rowell and Sampson into the Sampson River to the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers.

There is some verbiage about that in the lease, and in the “Mandatory Operational Requirements and Compliance Standards: Douglas Building Facility Transition”: Continue reading →

ICE detention center back with no alternatives @ Bradford County BOCC 2026-04-16

Update 2026-04-16: Lease and operating requirements added to Sheriff’s ICE detention agenda item @ Bradford County BOCC 2026-04-16.

Despite two other options for use of the Douglas Building being discussed last time, only the ICE detention center is on the agenda for the Bradford County Commission tomorrow, 6:30 PM, Thursday, April 16, 2026. That’s at the Bradford County Courthouse, 945 North Temple Avenue, Starke, Florida 32091.

The board packet does not include the text of the proposed lease, nor any comment on it by the county attorney.

There’s also nothing on the agenda about any results of the FDEP contamination study they approved last time, March 7, 2026. That would have to take much longer than nine days, anyway.

According to Sheriff Gordon Smith‘s agenda item detail, such a detention center “would be capable of housing up to 3,000 detainees.” Remember the population of Starke is about 6,000. So that’s a 50% increase, plus ICE and other personnel.

As we pointed out last time, Starke has already had sewage spills, and increasing its population like that would risk more spills, on a site that sits between two creeks that go through Lakes Rowell and Sampson into the Sampson River to the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers.

Bradford County should choose one of its other options for the site.

And the county should do nothing with the site until FDEP returns results of its contamination examination. Continue reading →