Here’s a bit more about the
Water First North Florida (WFNF) billion dollar project to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.
The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) seems to know surprisingly little about
this joint project with the St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD).
They don’t know where the water would go into wetlands to “clean” it up some more,
and they don’t know where it would go to infiltrate into the Floridan Aquifer.
They don’t have a pilot study and they don’t have wetland site assessments.
Turns out there are a couple of reasons why SRWMD does not know or have those things.
But I have found out a few things.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Suwannee River Basin
starts in Waycross, Georgia, around a line south down Gibbs Street, east on Walker Road, south on Gilmore Street, south down Swamp Road, then east along Washington Drive.
Here’s a new one:
Chiefland, Florida, had a sewage spill.
Somebody drilled into a 6-inch force main downtown.
That’s nowhere near any waterway.
The nearest is Long Pond, which indirectly ends up in Manatee Spring
on the Suwannee River, but it is very unlikely any of this sewage got into any of those waterways.
This report is from the daily-updated Pollution Notice
of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Incident Name:
City of Chiefland Force Main Break
Incident Report:
On 11/12/2025 at approx. 3:45pm, a fiber boring contractor drilled into our 6-inch force main causing a break. We immediately arrived on scene to assess the situation. We began shutting down lift stations through town as others gathered, pipe, tools, and equipment to repair the break. The wastewater department was assisted by our water department as well. Work began immediately to dig and repair the break. At approx. 5:50pm, a permanent repair was made and stations were being turned back on quickly as personnel watched the repair to ensure no leaks. Once we determined the repair was solid, we lime the hole and partially backfilled to help stabilize the force main through the night. The next morning, fresh fill dirt was hauled in to put the affected area back to normal.
Come see what the Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone (SPZ) is about. Swim in the itch head spring. Then join us for a leisurely paddle 4 miles downstream in crystal clear waters with the possibility of seeing manatee, several types of gar and bird species.
Thanks to Linda Dicker, who proposed the SPZ, for leading this expedition,
and for arranging takeout at the private TREPO Point Park.
Thanks to WWALS water quality tester Christiaan Ard for assisting leading this outing.
The Ichetucknee River is great paddling in the park.
From there down to the Santa Fe River, power boats abound,
producing wakes, endangering humans and wildlife, and eroding shorelines.
The SPZ would require a No Wake Zone and maybe ban personal watercraft.
When: Gather 9 AM, launch 11 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, January 10, 2026
Put In: Dip in Ichetucknee Headspring,
then paddle starting at
North Launch Ichetucknee Springs State Park,
Ichetucknee S.P. North Entrance, 8294 SW Elim Church Rd, Fort White, FL 32038, in Columbia County.
It was fun in White Springs, Florida, at a festival of crafts, music, and dancing.
Thanks to Russ Tatum of Hamilton County for helping at the WWALS booth,
where we talked to many people and moved some stickers, hats, and an aerial Suwannee River Basin poster.
Many children played the froggy toss and got candy for each beanbag they got in the lily pad hole.
Veronica Kelly-Summers, a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge,
talked about the Okefenokee Swamp, its history, significance, places to go, things to do, and what’s next,
in this largest and best-preserved freshwater wetland in the U.S.
The Swamp is the headwaters of two rivers: the St. Marys that forms the border between Georgia and Florida,
and the Suwannee, which flows through Georgia and the Florida state song.
Here is the WWALS video of Veronica’s webinar, from noon-1 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025:
https://youtu.be/pvLU8wPLsZc
The WWALS
campout at Floyd’s Island
in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp
has unfortunately been cancelled due to low water.
So you can watch Veronica’s presentation instead.
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction.
In questions and answers at the end,
Veronica elaborated on what it means
for the Okefenokee NWR to become a World Heritage Site:
more visibility, more visitors, but no additional federal funding.
Veronica Kelly-Summers is a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with
over 15 years of experience in protecting natural resources and
connecting people with nature. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s
degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University with a focus on
forest recreation and wildlife habitat management. Her career with
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken her to eight national
wildlife refuges from the woods and swamps of southern Illinois to
the Loess Bluffs of Iowa and Missouri, the Florida Everglades, and
she’s now stationed at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in
Georgia. She works closely with staff and partners to provide
leadership and strategic direction for the Visitor Services program
including managing visitor facilities and recreational opportunities
for camping, boating, interpretation, environmental education,
special events, outreach, hunting, fishing, managing volunteers, and
much more. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her
husband, Jacob, and their pets, a yellow lab named Charlie and a
spicy tuxedo cat named Tino.
Join us for a fascinating historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.
Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1
As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s
economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped
the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families
who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee
Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve
out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian
Removal Policy of the 1830s.
Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and
Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how
waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte
reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much,
they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2
WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface
waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in
south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee,
Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River
watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring,
and citizen activities.
Advocacy
Many other organizations already promote paddling, swimming,
fishing, birding, and other water-related activities hereabouts, as
does WWALS for fun and education. WWALS exists to assist positive
changes and to resist invasive problems, using strategies such as
environmental monitoring and tactics such as outings and events in
that advocacy.
The Suwannee River is low and shoals are exposed so lets go exploring. We’ll launch from the steps at Big Shoals Tract Launch and paddle one mile to the portage. Then we’ll walk out to the shoals and enjoy the unusual view of shoals that are usually covered with rushing water. This could be the prettiest lunch spot you’ve ever had.
When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10 AM, end 2 PM, Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Put In:Big Shoals Tract Launch
From White Springs, travel north on CR 135 to SE 94 Street (Godwin Bridge Road); turn right and follow road to Big Shoals, in Hamilton County, Florida.
![[Water First North Florida wetland locations: unknown, No Pilot Study or Wetland Assessments, But here is the RFQ --SRWMD]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-12-17--srwmd-wetland-locations/fbmany.jpg)
![[Where does southwest Waycross drain? Through Lees Branch, into Middle Fork, Suwannee River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-23--waycross-sw-drain/fbmany.jpg)
![[Map: SW from Brunel Street --SRWT 2025-11-23]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-23--waycross-sw-drain/2025-11-23--map-sw-from-brunel-st-srwt.jpg)
![[Chiefland, Florida, sewage spill 2025-11-12, Levy County, FL, force main break]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-12--chiefland-force-main-break/fbmany.jpg)
![[Ichetucknee Polar Plunge and River Paddle 2026-01-10, to see SPZ, Springs Protection Zone]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2026-01-10--ichetucknee-spz/fbmany.jpg)
![[WWALS Booth at Sugar Cane Festival, White Springs, FL, 2025-11-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-08--sugar-cane-festival-pictures/fbmany.jpg)
![[Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-09-11--okefenokee-swamp-webinar-video/fbmany.jpg)
![[Geography of Opportunity in Georgia's Wiregrass Region, by History Instructor Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, Noon-1 PM by zoom, 2025-12-11]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-12-11--geography-of-opportunity-webinar/many.jpg)
![[WWALS Day of Giving, #GAGIVES 2025, All Month, November 2025]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-02--day-of-giving/fbmany.jpg)
![[WWALS Booth at Sugar Cane Festival, White Springs, FL, 2025-11-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-08--sugar-cane-festival/many.jpg)
![[Explore Big Shoals, Suwannee River, Day Paddle, 2025-11-05]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-11-05--explore-big-shoals/fbmany.jpg)