Here is what the SRWMD Board approved on November 12, 2025, regarding Water First North Florida (WFNF).
Please note three things.
- Although I’ve heard some people say the SRWMD Board only approved studies of the feasibilty of the plan, not WFNF itself, nothing in the agenda or the memorandum says that. Nothing in the minutes, either.
- These SRWMD materials are similar to those for the SJRWMD Board meeting of the same day, but they do not include an Order approving any of this, they say nothing about hiring a consultant, and they do not include the related RFQ (Request for Qualifications) for the consultant.
- Neither WFNF nor its long name appears in the SRWMD agenda item
nor the staff memorandum on what the board was to approve.
In the agenda, this item is:
“WR Page 1 26. 2025 Implementation Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs”Water First North Florida first appears in the Table of Contents of the “2025 Implementation Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs” for its page 12.
WFNF approved as part of NFRWSP by SRWMD, November 12, 2025
On page 69 of the SRWMD board packet for November 12, 2026:
SUWANNEE RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
MEMORANDUMTO: Governing Board
FROM: Amy Brown, Deputy Executive Director, Water Resources
THRU: Hugh Thomas, Executive Director
DATE: October 30, 2025
RE: 2025 Implementation Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs
RECOMMENDATION
District staff recommend the following Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers related actions:
- 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
- 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 2014 Recovery Strategy) to include the water supply development, water resource development, and water conservation projects identified in the 2025 Implementation Strategy; and
- 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.
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