Not too crowded, and fun, Little River Fest at Reed Bingham State Park on the border Little River between Colquitt and Cook Counties, in the heart of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). We’ll be back in 2018.
Author Archives: jsq
Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest scheduled
The First Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest is scheduled! Soon song submissions will open. And you can still help plan it.
Song Submissions:
Starting soon (date to be announced) through Sunday May 13
Finalists will be announced Saturday May 19, 2018.
The Contest: 1-5PM, Saturday, June 23, 2018
Where: Community Center, Cedar Key, Florida, with food and beverages
What: Finalists will play, sponsors will be acknowledged, and judges will award prizes.
Clockwise from left:
Anna, Teri, Eileen, jsq, (Mike), Scotti, Sara.
What to submit: Lyrics and sound (mp3) about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the Suwannee River Basin (except not the Santa Fe River nor creeks, sinks, etc. on it, because it has its own contest). Nature, people, or events, are all Continue reading
Call Florida House today to stop bad springs amendment 2018-03-01
Update 2018-03-02: The amendment was withdrawn, thanks to all of you who called!
They’re going to vote tomorrow (Friday), so call today or very early tomorrow and ask your state rep to vote against Amendment 246447 by Rep. Ingoglia on HB 1149. That amendment would force septic tanks to be installed near springs while putting off useful actions for years during further “review” and “study”.
Contact numbers for them are here: http://myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/myrepresentative.aspx
Or here are all the ones in the Suwannee River Basin listed on a web page.
Illustration from the
“2015 final
report written as part of the study originally authorized in
Specific Appropriation 1682 of chapter 2008-152, Laws of
Florida”.
On House Bill 1149, a general environmental regulation bill, Rep. Blaise Ingoglia (R-35) this afternoon introduced Amendment 246447 which includes for example:
(3) As part of the pilot program, the department, in coordination with the Department of Health, must:
(a) Review and build upon Continue reading
WWALS Booth at Cedar Key Arts Festival, 2018-03-24-25
Dave and Louise Hetzel will staff the WWALS booth at a big event in a small town in the Suwannee River Estuary, Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, 2018.
When:
10AM-5PM Saturday, March 24, 2018
10AM-4PM Sunday, March 25, 2018
Where: downtown Cedar Key, Florida
WWALS member Anna White Hodges, who arranged a site for the WWALS booth, says: Continue reading
Push the Florida fracking ban through 2018-03-01
WWALS joins Florida Sierra Club in asking you to this link push the Florida Fracking ban through to a vote:
Senate Bill 462— Advanced Well Stimulation Treatment by Senator Dana Young (R-Tampa)—has passed two committees and has one to go — but there are no more scheduled meetings. Its companion House Bill 237 by Rep. Kathleen Peters (R-Treasure Island) has not even been heard in its first committee.
But there’s still time — leadership can schedule more meetings or bring the bills to the floor for a vote.
Follow this link for a convenient form to send email to your Florida statehouse member.
WWALS is a member of Floridians Against Fracking
Fracking and drilling associated with fracking for oil and natural gas poses a direct and immediate threat to the drinking water, air, food, health, wildlife, climate, and economy of communities across Florida….
What are the tenets of the coalition?
Continue reading
Coal ash dewatering bill HB 879 passed 169:3 on crossover day 2018-02-28
On the very last possible day, the Georgia House passed the coal ash dewatering bill, HB 879, 169:3 (with 2 not voting and 6 excused), yesterday, on crossover day (after which bills cannot move from the Georgia House to the Senate).
Thanks to every Georgia House member from the Suwannee River Basin for voting for GA 879: Patty Bentley (District 139), Buddy Harden (148), Ed Rynders (152), Clay Pirkle (155), Dominic LaRiccia (169), Penny Houston (170), Jay Powell (171), Sam Watson (172), John Corbett (174), John LaHood (175), Jason Shaw (176), Dexter Sharper (177), and Jason Spencer (180). Thanks to all the WWALS members who contacted any of them.
Georgia Power Plant Bowen Ash Pond Dewatering Plan,
found on GA-EPD
Coal Ash Pond Dewatering Plans.
Despite the hard work of the Georgia Water Coalition, HB 880, “Solid waste management; safe disposal of coal ash in municipal and commercial solid waste landfills”, never made it out of Continue reading
Georgians Want Coal Waste Laws Fixed
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Georgians Want Coal Waste Laws Fixed
Hahira, GA, February 27, 2018 — “We don’t want coal ash in our rivers or in our wells, and we don’t want any more mercury in our Alapaha River from coal plants, so we back Georgia House Bill 879 to inform Georgians what Georgia Power and others are doing with their coal ash,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. He added, “Ninety percent of Georgians agree on this, and Georgia Water Coalition has helped this bill get very close to passing. You can push it through by crossover day by getting your state legislators to vote on it today or tomorrow.”
Here is an easy way to send email to your Georgia state legislators:
http://www.protectgeorgia.org/stop-coal-waste-pollution.html#/58/
For more background on these bills, see: Continue reading
Supporting WLRWT: Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority 2018-02-20
Thanks, VLDA!
The Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority (VLDA) sits in the middle of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT), where the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers join, and also in the middle of the Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area, with around 140,000 people, which is almost half the entire population of the Suwannee River Basin. VLDA didn’t need any explaining about how the WLRWT improves quality of life, and that benefits the local economy.
Image of the signed VLDA letter. See also
PDF.
Valdosta-Lowndes
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITYFebruary 20, 2018
Mr. John S. Quarterman, President
WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. PO Box 88
Hahira, GA 31632Dear Mr. Quarterman;
The Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority works diligently Continue reading
FGT pipeline noise, Suwannee County 2018-02-25
It sounded like a jet engine Wednesday evening, said a WWALS member as a pipeline let loose in Suwannee County. (Hear it for yourself in WWALS videos four days later.) Was it a leak? A planned release? A road construction break? We get no answers, just runarounds, from the federal and state agencies that permitted all the interstate natural gas pipelines into Florida. They passed the buck to Suwannee County Fire Rescue. At least Suwannee BOCC opposed the Sabal Trail pipeline and approved a solar farm.
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS 2018-02-25 of FGT at Suwannee Oaks Drive.
Neighbors preparing to evacuate February 21, 2018, confirmed the location: just north of 208th Street, at Continue reading
Progress and more to do to Stop Coal Ash Pollution in Georgia
Thanks to all who helped get HB 879 out of one committee and into the Rules Committee. It needs to get out of there to the full Georgia House by this Wednesday February 28, 2018.
So please contact your Georgia state legislators to ask them to back both bills that will help keep coal ash off our lands and out of our waters.
Here’s an easy way to send email to your Georgia statehouse Representative and Senator.
There’s more about the bills below. Continue reading