Category Archives: NFRWSP

Water First North Florida at Columbia County Commission 2026-02-19

Update 2026-02-20: Nobody at a Live Oak meeting liked Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin 2026-02-05.

In Lake City this evening at 5:30 PM,

the Columbia County Commissioners will hear from SRWMD about WFNF, the SRWMD and SJRWMD plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin, supposedly to replenish the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and their springs.

Go if you can, and be early if you want to speak. The location is School Board Administrative Complex, 372 West Duval Street, Lake City, FL. 32055.

[Water First North Florida, Columbia BOCC 2026-02-19, WWALS Letter, SRWMD Letter]
Water First North Florida, Columbia BOCC 2026-02-19, WWALS Letter, SRWMD Letter

I sent a letter, included below, and a request to speak at a later meeting.

Also below is the letter SRWMD sent to Columbia BOCC.

Remember to ask your local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials for answers, or to stop this project. Continue reading →

FL SB 64: Reclaimed Water, JEA Buckman Wastewater Plant, and WFNF 2021-06-29

Update 2026-04-17: FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or 2044 to divert its wastewater –Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02.

Update 2026-02-19: Water First North Florida at Columbia County Commission 2026-02-19.

Why can’t the JEA Buckman Wastewater Treatment Plant send its outflow into the St. Johns River, many people have asked?

Well, it does now.

But according to Florida Senate Bill 64 of 2021, JEA has to stop doing that less than 11 years from now, in 2032.

Wait, isn’t that about the goal for operation of the Water First North Florida (WFNF) pipeline for JEA Buckman outflow into wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin?

See below.

[FL SB 64: Reclaimed Water, nonbeneficial surface water discharge, JEA Buckman Wastewater Plant, and WFNF 2025-2032]
FL SB 64: Reclaimed Water, nonbeneficial surface water discharge, JEA Buckman Wastewater Plant, and WFNF 2025-2032

Here’s the purpose of SB 64:

403.064 Reuse of reclaimed water.
(17) By November 1, 2021, domestic wastewater utilities that dispose of effluent, reclaimed water, or reuse water by surface water discharge shall submit to the department for review and approval a plan for eliminating nonbeneficial surface water discharge by January 1, 2032, subject to the requirements of this section.

We have found that the JEA Buckman plant is nowhere near meeting potable reuse standards, what with an FDEP Consent Order on it right now for exceeding numerous outflow limits.

Fortunately for JEA, SB 64 provides at least two loopholes JEA could use. Continue reading →

Consent Order on JEA Buckman Wastewater Treatment Plant –FDEP 2025-09-15

Update 2026-02-17 FL SB 64: Reclaimed Water, JEA Buckman Wastewater Plant, and WFNF 2021-06-29.

This is an FDEP Consent Order on the plant that is supposed to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville to wetlands in the Suwannee Basin in the Water First North Florida (WFNF) project. How can such a plant be safe to water the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers and their springs? Through the Floridan Aquifer which is the source of all local water for drinking, agriculture, industry, and recreation?

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), the JEA Buckman Wastewater Treatment Plant exceeded limits on Chronic Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET), Aldrin and Total Cyanide, Fecal Coliform, Enterococci, and Ultraviolet Light Dosage, Total Recoverable Iron, Nickel, Copper, and Total Suspended Solids.

[Consent Order on JEA Buckman Wastewater Treatment Plant --FDEP 2025-09-15]
Consent Order on JEA Buckman Wastewater Treatment Plant –FDEP 2025-09-15

JEA also had to pay “$24,750.00 in settlement of the regulatory matters addressed in this Order.”

The Consent Order was issued September 15, 2025, so this is a current problem.

So it turns out the JEA Buckman plant is a typical failing wastewater treatment plant.

Does that seem safe to you for replenishing Suwannee Basin groundwater that we use for drinking, agriculture, industry, fishing, swimming, and boating?

Thanks to Joe Squitieri for sending this Consent Order. Continue reading →

Video: Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12

Update 2026-02-17: Consent Order on JEA Buckman Wastewater Treatment Plant –FDEP 2025-09-15.

Thanks to all who participated, this webinar turned into a 45-minute online town hall, after the the two-minute introduction by WWALS Treasurer Sara Squires Jones and the 32-minute slide presentation by Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Many questions were asked about s the plan by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) and the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) to pipe output from the JEA Buckman wastewater treatment plant into wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin, to recharge springs and rivers.

We now know much more about why JEA wants to do this, especially thanks to Joe Squitieri, Rick Lanese, and Hailey Hall.

Here is the zoom video:
https://youtu.be/Df3dJzq2_7Y

[Video: Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar, online by zoom 2026-02-12]
Video: Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar, online by zoom 2026-02-12

The slides are on the WWALS website in PDF and PowerPoint. The slides are slightly updated to clean up a few glitches and especially to add four slides about what JEA gets out of this project.

Images of each slide are below.

Notes on the Q&A are at the end of this post, and you can see and hear for yourself in the video.

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. Continue reading →

JEA approved $400 million for WFNF treated wastewater into Suwannee Basin 2025-11-19

Update 2026-02-13: Video: Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12.

JEA already approved 40% of the purported cost of $1 billion for the Water First North Florida plan to pipe Jacksonville treated wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin.

This paragraph is interesting:

According to JEA, minimum flows and water levels stipulate how much water can be drawn from certain sources to avoid environmental damage from groundwater pumping. Because the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers have not met those MFLs, the region has created Water First as its solution.

Who is this “the region”?

Floridians, do you remember voting for this project?

Do you remember voting for any candidate who said they were for this project?

So who is this “the region” who created WFNF?

And why should the Suwannee Basin provide wetlands for “further purification” of Jacksonville wastewater?

Those are more questions you can ask your elected officials, local, state, and national.

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

[JEA approved $400 million for treated wastewater 2025-11-18 into Suwannee Basin, Water First North Florida]
JEA approved $400 million for treated wastewater 2025-11-18 into Suwannee Basin, Water First North Florida

Marcela Camargo, new4jax.com, November 19, 2025, JEA board approves $400M for project to recharge Floridan Aquifer, restore springs, ensure sustainable water supply: The board also approved $260.3 million increase to power purchase agreement with FPL,

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The JEA Board of Directors approved on Tuesday millions of dollars in funding for a project that aims to recharge the Floridan Aquifer, restore springs and river flows, and ensure the region’s sustainable water supply.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the board gave its approval to participate in the Water First North Florida Partnership, a long-term project that will help North Florida meet the upcoming Minimum Flows and Levels (MFL) rule by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Continue reading →

Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12

Update 2026-02-13: Video: Jacksonville Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12.

2026-02-06: JEA approved $400 million for WFNF treated wastewater into Suwannee Basin 2025-11-19.

Come hear some questions about SRWMD and SJRWMD’s billion dollar plan to pipe treated wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin.

The Suwannee River Basin in Florida is downstream from Valdosta’s wastewater spills. Should it also be downstream from Jacksonville?

That’s the plan by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) and the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) to pipe output from the JEA Buckman wastewater treatment plant into wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin, to recharge springs and rivers.

But what about the PFAS forever chemicals, drugs, and artificial sweeteners wastewater plants do not remove?

Since Jacksonville withdraws more groundwater than anything else in the affected area, why not have JAX limit its own withdrawals? Maybe by seawater desalination, like California, Texas, and south Florida already do?

Come hear these and many more questions, such as eminent domain for that 60-plus-mile pipe, who would pay, and effects on tourism.

Register for the zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XKKtXMvEQCaTCN4_rHSuyQ

At noon, Thursday, February 12, 2026, WWALS Board member Sara Squires Jones will introduce Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

He will speak for about 45 minutes.

Questions and answers will be at the end.

[Jacksonville Treated Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12, Questions by Suwannee Riverkeeper]
Jacksonville Treated Wastewater into Suwannee Basin, WWALS Webinar 2026-02-12, Questions by Suwannee Riverkeeper

Continue reading →

North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan in SRWMD presentation to NCFRPC –Columbia County Observer 2023-10-09

Thanks to Stew Lilker for recording and analysis of a presentation about water planning in the Suwannee and St. Johns River Basins.

To answer his question: No, there won’t be enough water, unless water withdrawals are limited, which neither of the Suwannee nor St. Johns River Water Management Districts seem inclined to do.

Please sign the petition to get Right to Clean and Healthy Waters on the ballot:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org

[SRWMD, NFRWSP]
SRWMD, NFRWSP

Stew Lilker, Columbia County Observer, October 9, 2023, North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan: Just a Suggestion – Will There Be Enough Water in the Future?

Updated – October 11, 2023  2:55 am – mixed SRWMD slide deck with Observer audio for a clean presentation by Amy Brown, Ph.D. Downloading the slide deck (pdf) keeps all links at the end of the presentation live.

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (the east side of the Suwannee River Water Management District and the top half of the St. Johns River Water Management District) is being updated. The Plan focuses on the sustainability of resources. It is just a plan, and water users “are not required to implement” any options identified in the Plan.

Well, slide 24 seems to indicate some requirements. Maybe local governments don’t have to implement exactly what NFRWSP says, but I’d bet they will be strongly recommended to do so. Continue reading →

Draft 2023 North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP) workshop 2023-09-21

Update 2023-09-14: Now with Agenda.

Return of the massive 2017 North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP) that did nothing to stop lowering water levels or nitrates leaching into springs and rivers.

DATE AND TIME: Thursday, September 21, 2023, Posterboard Session starts at 5:45 p.m. and the Webinar Presentation starts at 6:30 p.m.

Where: SRWMD, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060

Or by webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2570768570283041622

[Potential evaporation map 2019-08-01 with joint SRWMD SJRWMD NFRWSP approval meeting 2017-01-17]
Potential evaporation map 2019-08-01 with joint SRWMD SJRWMD NFRWSP approval meeting 2017-01-17

As I wrote SRWMD and SJRWMD this January, “I have some issues with another level. I noticed repeated assertions in the public meeting that demand or projected demand are just taken as givens. So basically anybody who wants to build a golf course, or start another titanium mine, or plant almond trees that need lots of water, that’s just a given, that’s demand.”

I continue to agree with Dennis J. Price, P.G., of Hamilton County, Florida (now a WWALS Board member), Continue reading →

Water budget, limit water withdrawals, do better aquifer recharge –WWALS to NFRWSP 2023-01-31

Update 2023-09-14: Draft 2023 North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP) workshop 2023-09-21.

Sent as PDF.

January 31, 2023

To: SRWMD, SJRWMD, partnership@sjrwmd.com

Re: Water budget, limit water withdrawals, do better aquifer recharge, NFRWSP

Dear Water Management Districts,

Thank you for the opportunity for public input.

[Not every demand needs water withdrawals]
Not every demand needs water withdrawals

At the November 15, 2022, public meeting about the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP), I thanked the presenters for all the hard work they had put into the details, such as in the North Florida-Southeast Georgia (NFSEG) regional groundwater flow model .

I have some issues with another level. I noticed repeated assertions in the public meeting that demand or projected demand are just taken as givens. So basically anybody who wants to build a golf course, or start another titanium mine, or plant almond trees that need lots of water, that’s just a given, that’s demand.

Continue reading →

Phosphate and titanium mining, water withdrawals, and trash @ NCFRPC 2023-01-26

The North Central Florida Regional Planning Council had several public speakers cram topics into their three minutes each.

[Phosphate and Titanium Mines, and Trash @ NCFRPC 2023-01-26]
Phosphate and Titanium Mines, and Trash @ NCFRPC 2023-01-26

Two directly-affected women and Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, a board member of Our Santa Fe River (OSFR), talked about the Cornerstone Crossings mega development on top of Clay Hole Creek and Cannon Creek confluence, a part of the Ichetucknee Trace, which is in the Southwest quadrant of I-75 and SR 47 Hwy interchange, due south of Lake City in Columbia County, Florida. Merillee wondered about the development’s water withdrawal permit, and how much PFAS it might unleash into the waterways and the underlying Floridan Aquifer. She displayed LiDAR maps she got from SRWMD that clearly show the Ichetucknee Trace. Continue reading →