There will be spots to break with springs to see and early takeout at Rum Island Park (or Poe, Gilchrist, Ginnie). Rum and FL 47 Ramp cost money.
Please pack a responsible lunch eco friendly.
We have a yoga instructor who is willing to provide a session before, during, or after the paddle.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 6 PM, Sunday, May 10, 2026
Put In: U.S. 27 Ramp
GPS: 29.844121, -82.6309
Continue readingThe Alachua County BOCC meets this morning, May 5, 2026, at 10 AM, County Administration Building – Grace Knight Conference Room 12 SE 1 Street, 2nd Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601.
There is nothing on their agenda about either of the moratoria that Hailey Hall requested on April 28, 2026, after their last meeting:
![[Two moratoriums: detention centers and WFNF --Hailey Hall to Alachua BOCC, 2026-04-28]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-05--alachua-bocc-hall-wfnf/fbmany.jpg)
Two moratoriums: detention centers and WFNF –Hailey Hall to Alachua BOCC, 2026-04-28
Hello Commissioners,
Thank you for your efforts and for allowing everyone to speak today at the meeting.
I am requesting that you enact two separate moratoriums.
- A moratorium prohibiting construction of new, non-municipal detention centers as Kansas City has done.
- A moratorium against further development and construction of the Water First North Florida pipeline project.
Please see the attached ordinance from Kansas City and resolution from Town of Branford.
Thank you and take care,
Hailey Hall
You’ve already seen the Branford resolution.
Here is the Kansas City ordinance: Continue reading
There is nothing about Water First North Florida (WFNF) on the Alachua County BOCC agenda for this morning, May 5, 2026, at 10 AM, County Administration Building – Grace Knight Conference Room 12 SE 1 Street, 2nd Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601.
But there is Public Comment near the end. And you can watch on facebook, YouTube, or Alachua County’s Video on Demand.
For much more about WFNF, see:
Here is what I sent the Alachua BOCC on April 20, 2026. Continue reading
There’s nothing about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin, on the agenda for the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Governing Board next week.
But watch “28. Water Resources Division Updates”; that’s where I first heard about WFNF back in July 2025.
And maybe we’ll hear how poorly their attempts to sell WFNF are going in “20. Outreach and Communications Activity Summary”.
Also, “7. A. Hydrologic Conditions Report” is always interesting. That one will appear on the SRWMD website later.
Get there on time at 9 AM, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, for “4. Public Comment”. That’s at SRWMD HQ, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060.
Livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SRWMD
For more about WFNF, including other upcoming meetings, who you can contact, and a petition, see:
All three of St. Marys, Satilla, and Suwannee Riverkeeper will be at the
May 5 6, 2026, meeting of Georgia’s Suwannee Satilla Regional Water Planning Council (SSRWPC),
10 AM-2:30 PM
at Okefenokee Swamp Park.
Datacenters are on the agenda as a Discussion item. It’s not clear whether participants other than the Council will be allowed to discuss. But they will notice anybody who shows up. And there is Public Comment near the end.
For more about datacenters, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters
SSRWPC includes part of the St. Marys River Basin, as well as the Satilla and Suwannee Basins, including of course the Alapaha, Willacoochee, Withlacoochee, Little, and New Rivers, with much concern about groundwater including the Floridan Aquifer.
According to their WATER & WASTEWATER FORECASTING TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM of March 2024, population growth projections have been decreased, causing water use and wastewater use also to be less.
Datacenters could reverse that trend.
FYI, Mark Masters is Executive Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC) at Albany State University and Laura Rack also works there “in a joint role with the River Basin Center at the University of Georgia.”
Caitlin Sweeney is listed by the Jones Center at Ichauway, also in the Flint River Basin, although the agenda says she is with GWPPC.
Here is the agenda:
Agenda
Georgia Suwannee-Satilla
Water Council Meeting
May 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Okefenokee Swamp Park — Waycross, GAObjectives:
- Hear a report from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division
- Review the draft implementation assessment report
- Hear a report on seed grant activities from the St. Mary’s Riverkeeper
- Discuss data center development in the Council region
- Discuss plan update priorities
10:00 Welcome, Introductions, Meeting Overview, Planning Contractor Updates — Mark Masters, GWPPC
10:10 Chairman’s Comments — Scott Downing
10:20 Georgia Environmental Protection Division Update — Russell Nix, GAEPD
10:30 Seed Grant Update from St. Mary’s Riverkeeper — Emily Floore and Alec Jarobe
Building a Watershed Resilience Plan for the St. Marys River and its Community11:00 Implementation Assessment — Laura Rack and Caitlin Sweeney, GWPPC
11:15 Data Centers Discussion
11:45 Planning Priorities (Part 1) —- Laura Rack and Caitlin Sweeney
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Planning Priorities (Part 2) — Laura Rack and Caitlin Sweeney
2:00 Public Comment
2:15 Next Steps and Adjourn — Mark Masters
www.georgiawaterplanning.org
![[Agenda, 2026-05-06 -Suwannee-Satilla Water Planning Council]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/2026-05-06-Suwannee-Satilla-Council-Meeting-Agenda-0001.jpg)
Agenda, 2026-05-06 -Suwannee-Satilla Water Planning Council
PDF
![[Council Meeting Public Notice, 2026-05-06 --Georgia Water Planning]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Council-Meeting-Public-Notice-SS-May-2026-0001.jpg)
Council Meeting Public Notice, 2026-05-06 –Georgia Water Planning
PDF
-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/
![[Figure 1-1 Georgia’s Historic Population and Growth Projections, 2024-03-01 --CDM for SSRWPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Suwannee-Satilla-Water-and-Wastewater-Forecasting-Technical-Memorandum-0005.jpg)
Figure 1-1 Georgia’s Historic Population and Growth Projections, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF
![[Figure 1-2 Suwannee-Satilla Population Projections, 2024-03-01 --CDM for SSRWPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Suwannee-Satilla-Water-and-Wastewater-Forecasting-Technical-Memorandum-0006.jpg)
Figure 1-2 Suwannee-Satilla Population Projections, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF
![[Figure 2-1 Forecasted Municipal Water Demand for Suwannee-Satilla Planning Council, 2024-03-01 --CDM for SSRWPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Suwannee-Satilla-Water-and-Wastewater-Forecasting-Technical-Memorandum-0010.jpg)
Figure 2-1 Forecasted Municipal Water Demand for Suwannee-Satilla Planning Council, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF
![[Figure 7-1 Regional Water Demand by Basin and Aquifer, 2024-03-01 --CDM for SSRWPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Suwannee-Satilla-Water-and-Wastewater-Forecasting-Technical-Memorandum-0015.jpg)
Figure 7-1 Regional Water Demand by Basin and Aquifer, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF
![[Figure 7-2 Regional Water Demand by Sector, 2024-03-01 --CDM for SSRWPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Suwannee-Satilla-Water-and-Wastewater-Forecasting-Technical-Memorandum-0024.jpg)
Figure 7-2 Regional Water Demand by Sector, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF
![[Figure 7-3 County Water Demand by Sector for 2020, 2024-03-01 --CDM for SSRWPC]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/Suwannee-Satilla-Water-and-Wastewater-Forecasting-Technical-Memorandum-0025.jpg)
Figure 7-3 County Water Demand by Sector for 2020, 2024-03-01 –CDM for SSRWPC
PDF
After years of labor unions advocating for an 8-hour day and a 5-day week, Henry Ford finally saw his own self-interest and Ford Motor Company on September 25, 1926, made it company policy.
Why? Workers with free time and money to spend bought cars: long-term profit!
A century later, many companies are doing the opposite: laying off workers and replacing them with so-called AI: short-term profiteering. This trend only increases, because if competitors are doing it, every company has incentive to do it.
But companies are sabotaging themselves. Fired workers cannot easily find new jobs, so they can’t afford to buy. An economy with no purchasing is in trouble.
There are other issues, such as firing experienced people means companies lose their ability to do new things or to deal with unexpected challenges, and fewer jobs mean people trying to join the job market find nothing, so there’s little new talent incoming and few left to train them. But the chase for short-term profits overrides all that.
Plus the proliferation of hyper-scale datacenters catering to this so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI), using much cooling water, either directly, or through new power plants. See:
https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters
New research models this corporate behavior and finds that most proposed solutions do not stop it. Continue reading
Valdosta Utilities got a pretty good E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, and a good result at US 84 that same day. That’s much improved from previous weeks.
WWALS results for Sugar Creek last Thursday were also OK.
And a WWALS result for Batterbee Branch, in Ray City, Georgia, upstream from Cat Creek, was OK.
Still no significant rain, and still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.
As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend, if you can find any water.
Rain is predicted for this weekend, but it was predicted for yesterday, too, and didn’t happen.
If there is rain, maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires. Remember not to light anything outdoors.
This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.
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
Georgia starts to catch up with Florida in drought declarations.
Georgia Environmental Protection Division Declares Drought Response Level 1
On April 27, 2026, after consideration of the drought severity and the water resource impacts, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) declared a state-wide Drought Response Level 1 for public water systems using surface water and/or groundwater. EPD has been closely monitoring drought conditions in Georgia for months, and on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, EPD held conference calls with public water systems to discuss current water supply and EPD’s consideration of issuing a Level 1 drought response. Following the conference calls, the public water systems had three days to submit any additional feedback before EPD could proceed with a drought response declaration.
![[Statewide Drought Response Level 1 --GA-EPD, April 27, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-27--drought-level-1-ga-epd/fbmany.jpg)
Statewide Drought Response Level 1 –GA-EPD, April 27, 2026As a result of the Level 1 Drought Response, public water systems must implement a public information campaign including, at a minimum, notice regarding drought conditions and drought-specific announcements in one or more of the following ways: newspaper or online ads, bill inserts, social media, and notices in public libraries. This public information campaign is designed to help citizens better understand drought, its impact on water supplies, and the need for water conservation.
Outdoor water use between the hours of 4 PM and 10 A.M. is still Continue reading
Water First North Florida (WFNF) is on the agenda for Lafayette County, Florida, BOCC:
- Consider adopting Resolution No. 2026-04-06, concerning the Water First North Florida Aquifer Recharge Project.
That’s at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in the County Commissioners Meeting Room, second floor, Lafayette County Courthouse, 120 West Main Street, Room #206, Mayo, Florida.
![[WFNF resolution on the agenda, Lafayette County BOCC, 5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-28--agenda-lafayette-wfnf/fbmany.jpg)
WFNF resolution on the agenda, Lafayette County BOCC, 5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026
We don’t know what the resolution says, since, as near as I can tell, Lafayette County BOCC only posts its agendas, not its board packets.
For what other elected bodies have passed, as well as who you can contact, and a petition, see:
This is part 2 of the Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup of Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Part 1 was downstream.
Here we go upstream, with Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta in her canoe, helping pull limbs aside and photographing, and Russell Hassenstab of Kona Ice paddling the Suwannee Riverkeeper Old Town Canoe, while Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman chainsaws.
Here are some video snippets.
Thanks to Continue reading
![[Santa Fe River Paddle, U.S. 27 Ramp to Hollingsworth, by Poe, Gilchrist, and Ginnie Springs, Sunday, May 10, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-10--santa-fe-river-paddle/fbmany.jpg)
![[Agenda: No WFNF, but watch Outreach and Water Resources, Plus Hydrologic Conditions @ SRWMD 2026-05-12]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-12--srwmd-board/fbmany.jpg)
![[Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-05-06--ssrwpc-agenda/many.jpg)
![[The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 --Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-02--ai-layoff-trap/fbmany.jpg)
![[Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23, and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27, No rain, no sewage spills]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-27--wq/many.jpg)
![[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Langdale Park BR, Towards US 41 Bridge, Sunday, March 29, 2026]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-03-29--langdale-park-chainsaw-pictures/many.jpg)