I got to the Suwannee Basin BMAP meeting late, because I had been at SRWMD HQ talking about water trails. Still, this seemed sparsely attended.

Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30 Much like Santa Fe BMAP and no closer to solutions

Other than a few IFAS people, almost everybody there seemed to be the same usual suspects from the Santa Fe BMAP meeting two days before in Lake Butler. So that was an opportunity to talk to many of them without much interruption.

I promised them some comments, which I will send to Chandler B. Keenan <Chandler.B.Keenan@FloridaDEP.gov>

For example, asking why SRWMD made no mention of the Manatee Springs BMAP when issuing an ERP for a road in the area of the big PUD rezoning that Chiefland City Commission approved mostly in flood zones next to Long Pond, in the springshed of Manatee Springs.

r: Chandler Keenan, BMAP Basin Coordinator, FDEP, l: Samuel Hankinson, Professional Geologist II, FDEP

Maybe you’d like to send comments, too.

And don’t stop there: contact your statehouse members and try to get some grasstops to do the same. And today is Election Day: vote for clean water.

Attendees

For reference, here is the May 2016 Lower and Middle Suwannee River Basin BMAP. See also the Meeting Materials.

Here’s a context map:

Map: Suwannee Basin BMAP monitoring stations 2024-11-05 in Suwannee River BMAP StoryMap.

And here’s the Lower Suwannee situation according to FDEP:

Map: Lower Suwannee not attaining standards

Nothing in the Lower and Middle Suwannee River Basin is attaining water quality standards.

The Withlacoochee Basin shows a different picture:

Map: Withlacoochee attaining standards

According to that, everything assessed with sufficient data in the Withlacoochee River Basin in Florida is attaining standards “for total phosphorus, chlorophyll-a, and either total nitrogen or nitrate-nitrite,” including Madison Blue Spring.

That warrents further examination.

There are more pictures below.

 -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/

Ag

Madeline Hart, FDACS, Agricultural Progress in the Suwannee BMAP

Madeline Hart, FDACS, Agricultural Cooperative Regional Water Quality Elements (ACE)

Blueway

FDEP examining a WWALS WLRWT z-fold brochure, r: Kathryn (Katie) Craver, Government Operations Consultant III, Northeast District

AP

Suwannee River Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) Outstanding Florida Springs Public Meetings 2024

AR

Suwannee River Basin BMAP Allocated Reductions, Milestones and Progress

OV

Overview: Florida Springs and BMAPs

Side view

General BMAP manager is on the left

 -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/

Short Link: