WFNF unanimous aye from Florida Senate Rules Committee 2026-03-03

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The ratifying bill passed its last committee Tuesday for the project to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin, in the Water First North Florida (WFNF) project.

Next stop, the full Senate, Thursday, tomorrow. Please call or write your Senators; see below for how.

The Senators will likely approve the bill. But the more they hear, the more likely they will advise SRWMD and SJRWMD that it must be clean or not at all, as did Senators Tracie Davis of Jacksonville and Jennifer Bradley, who represents the most affected area of the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers.

See the Florida Channel video of the Florida Senate Rules Committee on March 3, 2026.

https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/3-3-26-senate-committee-on-rules/

At 02:31:00 they took up item 20, SB 7034, and ended up with Yeas 21 Nays 0.

[WFNF unanimous aye from Florida Senate Rules Committee 2026-03-03, In full Senate Thursday 2026-03-05, Call or write your Senator]
WFNF unanimous aye from Florida Senate Rules Committee 2026-03-03, In full Senate Thursday 2026-03-05, Call or write your Senator

Next, SB 7034 is on Special Order Calendar for the full Senate for tomorrow, Thursday, March 5, 2026, as “GB by Environment and Natural Resources Ratification of Rules of the Department of Environmental Protection.”

Please call or write your Florida state Senator.

Please be polite but firm.

These are the three Suwannee River Basin Florida State Senators:

If you live somewhere else, you can find your legislator by typing in your ZIP code here:

[Senator Tracie Davis of Jacksonville, 2026-03-03 --jsq for WWALS]
Senator Tracie Davis of Jacksonville, 2026-03-03 –jsq for WWALS

Talk to your Florida House members, as well.

  • Rep. Jason Shoaf, 850-717-5007, jason.shoaf@flhouse.gov
    He represents Hamilton, Suwannee, Lafayette, and Dixie Counties and some others to the west.
  • Rep. Chuck Brannan, 850-717-5010, 386-400-1980, chuck.brannan@flhouse.gov
    He represents Baker, Union, Bradford, Columbia, and part of Alachua County.
  • Rep. Chad Johnson, (850) 717-5022, (352) 496-3700, chad.johnson@flhouse.gov
    He represents Gilchrist, Levy, and part of Alachua County.
  • Rep. Allison Tant, 850-717-5009, allison.tant@flhouse.gov
    She represents Madison County and some others.

You can also keep contacting Governor Ron DeSantis, 850-717-9337.

And don’t forget the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Board, 386.362.1001

  • Virginia Johns (Chair), Virginia.Johns@SRWMD.org
  • Richard Schwab (Vice Chair), Richard.Schwab@SRWMD.org
  • Charles Keith (Secretary/Treasurer), Charles.Keith@SRWMD.org
  • William Lloyd, William.Lloyd@SRWMD.org
  • Larry Sessions, Larry.Sessions@SRWMD.org
  • Harry Smith, Harry.Smith@SRWMD.org
  • Larry Thompson, Larry.Thompson@SRWMD.org
  • George Wheeler, George.Wheeler@SRWMD.org

Talk to your county commissioners and city council members.

If you need questions to ask, here are some.

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

And there’s a petition you can sign:

https://c.org/8CgGBpLv7r

[WFNF Petition QR Code]
WFNF Petition QR Code

It’s probably not obvious what SB 7034 has to do with WFNF.

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/7034

The bill ratifies an FDEP minimum flow level Rule “and recovery strategy”.

The Rule includes “associated Implementation Strategy” and says “The rules will become effective upon ratification in the North Florida Regional Water Supply Partnership Area without the need for further rulemaking by the water management districts.”

Well, back in November 2025, SJRWMD and SRWMD rolled WFNF into NFRWSP.

So, if the Florida legislature approves SB 7034, it authorizes the Districts to do WFNF.

This Committee meeting is a good place to try to stop that.

Also, reducing minimum flows and levels is a bad idea anyway, since that just puts off limiting water withdrawal permits, which is going to happen sooner or later.

So please come oppose this bill. Or call or write your Florida statehouse members.

SB 7034 refers to Rules 62-42.200 and 62-42.300, F.A.C., establishing minimum flows for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs and associated Implementation Strategy.

https://floridadep.gov/owper/water-policy/content/lower-santa-fe-and-ichetucknee-rivers-lsfir-and-priority-springs-minimum

The rules will become effective upon ratification in the North Florida Regional Water Supply Partnership Area without the need for further rulemaking by the water management districts. The rules and incorporated materials can be found in the table below and in the Florida Administrative Code: Chapter 62-42, Florida Administrative Code.

Those rules reduce the minimum flows and levels for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers as discussed in the various meetings over the past year. https://flrules.org/gateway/ChapterHome.asp?Chapter=62-42

They include this clause:

(2) The Department recognizes that recovery and prevention strategies may contain both regulatory and non-regulatory provisions. The non-regulatory provisions are not included in this rule, and will be included in the applicable regional water supply plans approved by the appropriate districts pursuant to Sections 373.0421(2) and 373.709, F.S.

As we’ve been advocating since at least 2016, the Districts need a water budget, to limit water withdrawals, and to do better aquifer recharge than their big-bucks pipeline projects.

https://wwals.net/?p=60931

 -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/

One thought on “WFNF unanimous aye from Florida Senate Rules Committee 2026-03-03”

  1. Pingback: WFNF bill in Florida Senate Rules Committee 2026-03-03 | WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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