A few pullquotes sum it up:

“The entire area JEA serves uses 120 million gallons. Remember that Texas plant, one plant does 100 million gallons. There’s no reason it has to be all in one place,” said Quarterman. “It doesn’t have to take more than a dozen years to come online.”

Around 50 people attended the town hall, with the majority of attendees being older. None of the attendees who spoke out favored the Suwannee River Water Management District’s plan to strengthen the water supply. The main concerns of the project were over where funding would come from, project logistics, and the safety behind drinking recycled water.

“One of my biggest concerns with this project is that it’s introducing contamination that’s extremely expensive to test for, to even know it’s there, much less manage and treat,” said Hailey Hall, a groundwater monitor.

Area resident Ed Lee expressed his dissatisfaction with the plan approved by the Suwannee River Water Management District in November 2025 to address potable water issues. “Nobody has talked anything about money,” said Ed Lee. “Today you’re talking $1 billion. What the hell do you think it’s gonna cost with the time it gets there? It’ll be $15 billion.”

The article has more.

Nobody liked Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin at a Live Oak meeting 2026-02-05, News by WUFT 2026-02-19

Jessica Wilkinson, WUFT, February 19, 2026, Suwannee County residents unhappy with a $1 billion dollar water supply plan,

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Almost everyone attending a Suwannee County GOP town hall on Feb. 5 again opposed a plan to recharge the Floridan aquifer with treated Jacksonville wastewater.

Despite their concerns, the Suwannee River Water Management District approved the plan in November of 2025 to address potable water issues, citing ongoing droughts and low water levels in the Santa Fe and Itchetucknee rivers as threats to North Central Florida’s water usage.

The District is supporting a project from Water First North Florida, according to the district’s communication and outreach manager Troy Roberts. The project will carry wastewater from Jacksonville, almost 90 miles east of Suwannee, through a pipe to be treated in facilities and natural wetlands before being sent into the aquifer.

Water First North Florida, Troy Roberts of SRWMD, 2026-02-05 –jsq for WWALS

Ninety-nine percent of residents in the 15 districts the Suwannee River Water Management District serves rely on the aquifer, Roberts said.

“This is a 40-million-gallon-per-day reclaimed water project,” Roberts said. “It is not a wastewater project.”

Reclaimed water refers to highly treated municipal water that is recycled as potable water. Pipes would be constructed to carry the water from across the state, but an exact location where pipes will take the reclaimed water has yet to be determined. The project would take 15 years to complete and cost around $1 billion.

The reporter misunderstood. This is not drinking water. The pipes are for wetlands to “further purify” the water, because wastewater treatment does not remove many contaminants, such as PFAS forever chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and nitrates. How wetlands are supposed to remove those things is not clear.

Then the water is supposed to seep into the aquifer to replenish the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and their springs.

That’s the same aquifer from which we all drink and use for agriculture, industry, and recreation.

The main cause of lower flows and levels in rivers and springs is Jacksonville sucking up so much water from the aquifer. SRWMD claims desalination would be too expensive. Ken Sulak cited an affordable desalination plant.

Ken Sulak, 2026-02-05 –Jessica Wiklinson for WUFT News

This is a bipartisan issue. Nobody likes this Water First North Florida (WFNF) plan.

This story is about the Suwannee County Republican Party meeting.

I previously spoke at the Suwannee County Democratic Party meeting.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, 2026-02-05 –Jessica Wiklinson for WUFT News

The slides I presented at those meetings I added to for this: Video: Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12.

Please remember to Ask for explanations or to stop the projects.

Members of Congress & Statehouse
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

SRWMD and SJRWMD Board
https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/134/Current-Board-Members
https://www.sjrwmd.com/about/organization/directors/

County Commissioners and City Councils
https://www.fl-counties.com/2025-fac-directory/

Florida Counties Task Force about wastewater
https://wwals.net/?p=68081

Follow the QR code or the link below for a change.org petition you can sign.

https://c.org/8CgGBpLv7r

https://wwals.net/?p=69143

Ask for explanations or to stop the project
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/

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