Category Archives: GRU

Speak about WFNF, Taxes, etc. at SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09

You can speak about WFNF, taxes, etc. at the SJRWMD Governing Board Meeting,

10 AM, Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Board Room, SJRWMD District Headquarters, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, FL 32177

Don’t be late: 5. Public Comment is very early on the agenda.

So far, the Suwannee River Water Management Districdt (SRWMD) has no comment on the alleged cancellation of WFNF. We’ve heard nothing at all from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), which has dedicated $125 million to WFNF. Maybe you’d like to ask them what they are doing with WFNF.

How much of SJRWMD’s own tax revenue comes from property tax, and how much of that will be affected if the voters in November approve the Florida Homestead Property Tax Exemption?

[Speak about WFNF, Taxes, etc., at SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09, Or GRU 15% increase groundwater withdrawal affecting Suwannee Basin]
Speak about WFNF, Taxes, etc., at SJRWMD Board 2026-06-09, Or GRU 15% increase groundwater withdrawal affecting Suwannee Basin

Public Comment is right after this item:

  1. Consideration: Approve Consumptive Use Permit 11339-8, known as Murphree WTP – GRU. This application is a renewal of an existing public supply permit with an increase in the Upper Floridan aquifer groundwater allocation from 30.0 million gallons per day (mgd) to 34.592 mgd, through the year 2056.

That’s a 15% increase from 2056 for Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU). From the same Upper Floridan Aquifer everybody drinks from in the Suwannee Basin. With direct effects on the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Associated Priority Springs minimum flows and levels, as spelled out later in the board packet.

There is no mention of PFAS forever chemicals or pharmaceuticals being removed from the “reclaimed” wastewater that ends up in the aquifer. One of the reclaimed wastewater routes goes through Sweetwater Wetlands Park, which WFNF claims as a precedent.

Maybe you’d like to talk about that.

On packet page 9: Continue reading

Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem –Tana Silva 2026-04-19

Like Tana Silva, you can write a letter to the editor of your local, state, or national newspaper, or ask your local radio or TV station to interview you, or post on social media.

Better yet, call or write your elected and appointed officials, and sign the petition:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Tana Silva, Alachua Chronicle, April 19, 2026, Letter: Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem, not a solution
https://alachuachronicle.com/letter-refilling-the-aquifer-with-wastewater-is-a-problem-not-a-solution/

April 19, 2026

Letter to the editor

[Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem (WFNF) --Tana Silva 2026-04-19]
Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem (WFNF) –Tana Silva 2026-04-19

Until the 1970s, Jacksonville pumped sewage straight into the St. Johns River and allowed dumping industrial waste there as well. The mayor elected in 1967, local advocates, and the Clean Water Act of 1972 helped to at least send wastewater to treatment plants before releasing it to the river. That practice, too, is restricted by state law now, but raising springwater levels through recharging projects is another goal in state law that opens a path to reusing wastewater, a risky and irreversible choice.

Jacksonville, the largest city, water consumer, and wastewater producer in northern Florida, is again looking to offload its wastewater, this time far to the west, in rural springs country.

Local residents and governments and the 12-county regional planning council that includes Alachua County say no: Continue reading