The St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) hired a consultant in November to solidify the plan to pipe Jacksonville treated wastewater to recharge springs on the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.

Their documents show that Jacksonville uses about as much water as all of agriculture in the Suwannee River Basin.

How about Jacksonville get a grip on its water usage?

Wouldn’t that be better than having JAX upstream from the Suwannee River Basin?

SJRWMD hired a consultant to plan piping treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin (Water First North Florida) 2025-11-12

Maybe you’d like to Ask Florida statehouse and Water Districts to explain JAX treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin or to stop it.
https://wwals.net/?p=69143

The trail from SRWMD’s lack of knowledge of the locations for this project led to SJRWMD’s board minutes.

There is still an opportunity to change course (see below about the SJRWMD November 12, 2025, board packet):

Projects identified in the Strategy do not become permit conditions by virtue of their inclusion in an approved Strategy. The projects described in this Strategy, or alternative projects that the Districts concur will provide an equivalent benefit, may be developed and incorporated as conditions on water use or consumptive use permits (WUP or CUP) through the permitting process and shall be updated with each approval of the NFRWSP.

That’s good, because the projects SJRWMD considered apparently did not include limiting water withdrawals or Dennis Price’s proposal to drill wells at the bottom of planted pine ditches.

They apparently did not include anything about limiting water withdrawals, not even by Jacksonville, which uses about as much water as Suwannee Basin agriculture.

SJRWMD (and SRWMD as junior partner) appear to only be considering massive pipe engineering projects.

And I see nothing in these SJRWMD documents about how they plan to get rid of toxic chemicals that are not normally removed by wastewater treatement, such as PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and artificial sweeteners.

The SJRWMD Board in November 2025 authorized “a contract not-to-exceed $2,170,000 with the Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.” to do an initial design.

WFNF: Treatment Wetland and Recharge Facility Site Investigation, Selection and Conceptual Design, 2025-11-12 –SJRWMD
PDF

That includes (packet page 24), “Recommendations for the wetland and recharge sites investigation will be documented in a final report expected to be completed by January 2028.”

Which may explain why the relatively specific map from July 2025:

WATER FIRST NORTH FLORIDA, Potential treatment wetland locations and recharge locations, 2025-07-08 –SRWMD
PDF

Turned into this remarkably vague map that is in the SJRWMD November packet and on the https://waterfirstnorthfl.com/ website.

Wetlands and Recharge Locations, 2025-12-18 –Water First North Florida

The WFNF project wouldn’t actually start until 2030 (packet page 29), with “Complete Treatment Wetland/Recharge Siting Investigation and review regional MFL ecological and environmental data to identify optimal recharge areas”.

On the RFQ process schedule, on September 9, 2025, &ldquop;District Governing Board consideration to approve a ranking of designated firms and competitive negotiations be instituted”

The District will conduct the RFQ process as follows:, 2025-07-28 –SJRWMD RFQ 41325
PDF

That’s the St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), which issued the RFQ.

There is nothing obvious in the agenda or board packet for the September 9, 2025, SJRWMD Board meeting. Same for October.

But for November 12, the WFNF project as part of the “Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee River and Outstanding Florida Springs Implementation Strategy” is the main thing on the agenda, including rolling WFNF into the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP).

5. Consideration: Approve actions related to the Implementation Strategy to Recover the Lower Santa Fe and Itchetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs Minimum Flows and Levels.
   1. Approve the 2025 Implementation Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs (LSFIR) Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) (hereafter the 2025 Implementation Strategy); and
   2. Approve an Addendum to the 2014 Recovery Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs Minimum Flows and Levels (hereafter the First Addendum to the 2014 Recovery Strategy) to include the water supply development, water resource development, and water conservation projects identified in the 2025 Implementation Strategy; and
   3. Approve an Addendum to the 2023 North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (hereafter the First Addendum to the 2023 NFRWSP), to include the water supply development, water resource development, and water conservation projects identified in the 2025 Implementation Strategy. Wednesday, November 12, 2025

5. Consideration: Approve actions related to the Implementation Strategy to Recover the Lower Santa Fe and Itchetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs Minimum Flows and Levels.
PDF

6. Consideration: Approve the ranking of the consultants responding to the Request for Qualifications 41325 for the Water First North Florida Treatment Wetland and Recharge Facility Site Investigation, Selection and Conceptual Design and authorize the Executive Director to take the following actions: (1) negotiate and execute a contract not-to-exceed $2,170,000 with the Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., the top ranked respondent; (2) negotiate and execute a revenue agreement for project funding with the Department of Environmental Protection and any amendment thereto; and (3) execute all related budget transfers necessary to complete the project.

6. Consideration: Approve the ranking of the consultants responding to the Request for Qualifications 41325 for the Water First North Florida Treatment Wetland and Recharge Facility Site Investigation, Selection and Conceptual Design and authorize…
PDF

Why is all this in the SJRWMD board agenda instead of SRWMD?

Anyway, here are some excerpts from the corresponding SJRWMD board packet for November 12, 2025.

https://sjrwmd.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1218&Inline=True

I’m told the origins of WFNF actually go back to at least 2004, but here is some evidence of a study in 2024 (on packet pages 21-23).

Projects that Achieve the Strategy Objective

Recovering and ensuring the maintenance of the LSFIR MFLs will require the implementation of projects, in addition to the careful management of local and regional groundwater withdrawals. Projects include enhanced water conservation, aquifer recharge, and development of alternative water supplies (AWS), including the expansion of the beneficial use of reclaimed water. The benefits predicted from the suite of proposed projects provide assurance that the LSFIR MFLs will be achieved by 2045.

Potential regional projects evaluated for inclusion in the Strategy, along with their estimated benefits, are shown in Table 7. These projects are further described in the sections below. For more detailed information, see Appendix A. Moreover, there are additional local-scale projects that would benefit the LSFIR MFLs that could be implemented. The WSD, WRD, and water conservation projects listed in the 2023 NFRWSP were updated and are included in Appendix B, as well as any additional projects that have been identified or funded since the 2023 NFRWSP was approved. When constructed, these projects can provide ancillary benefit to the LSFIR MFLs by reducing the impacts that would have occurred if projected demands were met exclusively by groundwater. The 2023 NFRWSP projects are further described in the section below.

Projects that Achieve the Strategy Objective
PDF

Projects identified in the Strategy do not become permit conditions by virtue of their inclusion in an approved Strategy. The projects described in this Strategy, or alternative projects that the Districts concur will provide an equivalent benefit, may be developed and incorporated as conditions on water use or consumptive use permits (WUP or CUP) through the permitting process and shall be updated with each approval of the NFRWSP.

The projected benefits of the regional projects, WSD, WRD, and water conservation projects, together with the regulatory measures, identified in this Strategy are sufficient to address the MFL targets for the Lower Santa Fe River at Hwy 441 near High Springs (USGS 02321975) and the Ichetucknee River at Hwy 27 near Hildreth (USGS 02322700) which are currently not being met (1.0 and 6.3 cfs deficit, respectively) and are projected to have a deficit of 17.3 and 13.2 cfs by 2045, respectively.

Table 7. Regional Strategy projects to achieve the LSFIR MFLs in 2045

Project	Project No.	Estimated Volume (mgd)	Estimated Hwy 27 Flow Benefit (cfs)	Estimated Hwy 441 Flow Benefit (cfs)	Estimated Capital Cost ($M)	Priority1
Water First North Florida	2025_1	40	14	17	$1,100	A
Black Creek WRD Project	2017_21	8.0	0.1	0.5	$119	A
Agricultural Water Conservation	2760, 228, 458	8.0	0.6	1.2	$14	A
FWS Silver Plus Implementation2	2025_2	17	0.4	1.5	$0.97

¹ A= Project is being implemented or planned for implementation; B=Project will be considered in whole or part for implementation

² Average estimated administrative cost for implementing a Florida Water Star (FWS) Silver Plus program by utility condition-of-service or local government ordinance in the Partnership area can be up to $0.97 million. FWS Silver Plus will result in an overall savings of $1,171 per home construction costs when compared to traditional home construction costs.

North Florida Project Conceptualization Effort

As part of the development of this Strategy and following completion of the 2023 NFRWSP, it was determined that there was a need to evaluate the feasibility of regional projects to address all or a significant portion of the flow deficits in the LSFIR MFLs. Therefore, in 2024, a jointly funded cooperative study, with participation by SJRWMD, SRWMD, DEP, JEA, Clay County Utility Authority (CCUA), Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU), and St. Johns County Utilities Department (SJCUD), was conducted to identify potential large-scale projects that could work in concert with conservation efforts and other locally implemented projects to meet the LSFIR MFLs (CDM Smith 2025). Each participant shared equally in the cost of the study. The evaluation considered more than 800 alternatives of varying water sources and recharge methods. Water First North Florida, which is discussed in more detail below, was identified as a project of sufficient scale to mitigate the impacts to the LSFIR MFLs. Other regional project options considered include the following:

North Florida Project Conceptualization Effort
PDF

• North Fork Black Creek: Periodic surface water withdrawals of 5.2 million gallons per day (mgd) average from the North Fork of Black Creek would be used to beneficially recharge the aquifer ($210 million). More detailed hydrological analysis would be required to ensure source water availability. This project could be implemented, but the Water First North Florida project is expected to be more cost-effective and sufficient at this time.
• Lower Suwannee River: Periodic surface water withdrawals of 8.9 mgd average withdrawn downstream of the Branford gage would be used to beneficially recharge the aquifer ($340 million). More detailed analysis would be required to ensure compliance with Suwannee River MFLs and confirmation of no other adverse environmental impacts would be required. This project is currently not being considered for implementation.
• Desalination: Three desalination project alternatives were considered. Two conceptual desalination projects, one on the east coast and one on the west coast, would desalinate ocean water and pump it to strategic recharge areas in the region ($2.8 to $3.0 billion). Additionally, a conceptual Pumping Replacement project was considered that would desalinate ocean water in the Jacksonville area and use it to replace groundwater as a water supply for all four utilities ($12.0 billion). These projects are currently not being considered for implementation due to the high capital and operation/maintenance costs, brine disposal and the benefits of the Pumping Replacement desalination project would not offset the full LSFIR MFL deficits

Other regional project options considered include the following:
PDF

The “Lower Suwannee River” project is a bad idea we have opposed for many years. It’s actually several proposals to pipe Suwannee River water to recharge springs. See Worse than Falling Creek: SRWMD wants to pipe Suwannee River water twice to Ichetucknee Springs 2021-06-08.

Map: Recharge % in SRWMD’s slides Prevention and Recovery Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs.

I see nothing in there about the proposal by Dennis J. Price, P.G., to drill wells at the bottom of planted pine ditches.

Map: Flatwood Recharge Wells
PDF

I’m told that one didn’t fly because the water wasn’t treated first. Nevermind that forestry rainwater would not have PFAS, pharmaceuticals, or artificial sweeteners, like treated municipal wastewater does.

I see nothing in the SJRWMD projects about limiting water withdrawals, as WWALS and others have repeatedly recommended.

There’s little mention and no graphical display that Jacksonville is the biggest water user in North Florida.

Figure C3: Aquifer surface change due to withdrawals in north Florida and south Georgia

The island of increased aquifer water level around Jacksonville is because JAX pumping pulls in water from elsewhere.

That map is from the 2016 North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP). And SJRWMD is rolling WFNF into NFRWSP.

Some of the tables in the SJRWMD packet do indicate that.

Table 5: Percent Withdrawal Impacts SRWMD; Table-6: Percent Withdrawal Impacts 2025-11-12 –SJRWMD

For SRWMD, Agricultural withdrawals have the most effect on the subject rivers.

But for SJRWMD, Public Supply has the most effect.

This table appears to compare the overall effects of withdrawals from the two districts.

Table 4: Percent Withdrawal Impacts 2025-11-12 –SJRWMD

So if SJRWMD withdrawals have about as much effect as SRWMD withdrawals, and SJRWMD withdrawals are almost all Public Supply, i.e., for Jacksonville, how about have Jacksonville limit its withdrawals?

This additional SJRWMD information raises more questions than it answers. For some of those questions, see:

Ask Florida statehouse and Water Districts to explain JAX treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin or to stop it.

 -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/

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