Category Archives: WFNF

SRWMD rescheduled, not Hamilton County 2026-03-19

SRWMD at North Central Florida Regional Planning Council 2026-02-26

Update 2026-02-25: NCFRPC E.D. Scott Koons called to say Amy Brown of SRWMD will be speaking about drought conditions, not WFNF. Everyone is still welcome to come speak in Public Comment at the end of the meeting.

Update 2026-02-25: SRWMD rescheduled, not Hamilton County, for a WFNF meeting at SRWMD HQ 2026-03-19.

The agenda doesn’t say what Amy Brown of SRWMD will be speaking about at 7 PM Thursday, but chances are it will be Water First North Florida (WFNF), the SRWMD and SJRWMD project to pipe treated Jacksonville wastewater into Suwannee River Basin wetlands.

Yes, that’s the same day and an hour later than the SRWMD schedule appearance in Jasper.

There will be a meeting of the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council on February 26, 2026. The meeting will be held as a hybrid meeting in-person at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, Suwannee Room, 213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard, Lake City, Florida, and via Communications Media Technology at 7:00 p.m.
To join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone:
https://meet.goto.com/309895045
DIAL IN NUMBER: Toll Free: 1.877.309.2073
ACCESS CODE: 309 895 045
MEETING STARTS AT 7:00 P.M.
Please email koons@ncfrpc.org by February 25, 2026 to let us know if you will be attending the meeting in-person or via communications media technology. THANK YOU.

SRWMD at North Central Florida Regional Planning Council 2026-02-26, Guest Speaker: Amy Brown of SRWMD, Doesn’t say WFNF, but probably is

This is the relevant agenda item:

VI. | GUEST SPEAKER – Amy Brown, Deputy Executive Director Suwannee River Water Management District

Plus this item:

X. PUBLIC COMMENTS
The Council welcomes you to this meeting. This time is set aside for our citizens and general public to address the Council. If you would like to address the Council, please complete a form, come to the podium when you are called, speak into the microphone and state your name for the record. Please also limit your comments to not more than three minutes. Your participation is welcomed.

Please remember to Ask for explanations or to stop the projects. Continue reading →

JAX treated wastewater into Suwannee Basin @ Hamilton Co. Courthouse –SRWMD 2026-02-26

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SRWMD is going all-out in PR for Jacksonville treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin, this time with a meeting the District is holding:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
The Suwannee River Water Management District will hold a public meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 26, 2026, at the Hamilton County Courthouse Annex, Auditorium, 1153 US Highway 41, NW, Jasper, Florida 32052. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and answer questions regarding the implementation of the Water First North Florida project which was recently approved to address regional water supply and environmental needs. The public is encouraged and invited to attend this important meeting.

JAX treated wastewater into Suwannee Basin, @ Hamilton Co. Courthouse –SRWMD 2026-02-26

This project would pipe treated wastewater from the JEA Buckman wastewater treatment plant in Jacksonville into wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin to be absorbed into groundwater, to increase levels and flows in the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers and their springs, such as the Ichetucknee headspring.

WATER FIRST NORTH FLORIDA, Potential treatment wetland locations and recharge locations, 2025-07-08 –SRWMD

But those wetlands wouldn’t remove PFAS forever chemicals, pipes break, and the project would cost a billion dollars and take more than a dozen years.

The biggest reason for lower levels and flows is Jacksonville wastewater withdrawals. Easier, cheaper, and faster would be seawater desalination to reduce or eliminate JAX withdrawals.

Please ask your elected and appointed officials, local, state, and national, for explanations or to stop this project.

For a change.org petition follow this link or the qrcode below:

https://c.org/8CgGBpLv7r Continue reading →

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

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Update 2026-02-24: SRWMD at North Central Florida Regional Planning Council 2026-02-26.

A few pullquotes sum it up:

“The entire area JEA serves uses 120 million gallons. Remember that Texas plant, one plant does 100 million gallons. There’s no reason it has to be all in one place,” said Quarterman. “It doesn’t have to take more than a dozen years to come online.”

Around 50 people attended the town hall, with the majority of attendees being older. None of the attendees who spoke out favored the Suwannee River Water Management District’s plan to strengthen the water supply. The main concerns of the project were over where funding would come from, project logistics, and the safety behind drinking recycled water.

“One of my biggest concerns with this project is that it’s introducing contamination that’s extremely expensive to test for, to even know it’s there, much less manage and treat,” said Hailey Hall, a groundwater monitor.

Area resident Ed Lee expressed his dissatisfaction with the plan approved by the Suwannee River Water Management District in November 2025 to address potable water issues. “Nobody has talked anything about money,” said Ed Lee. “Today you’re talking $1 billion. What the hell do you think it’s gonna cost with the time it gets there? It’ll be $15 billion.”

The article has more.

Nobody liked Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee Basin at a Live Oak meeting 2026-02-05, News by WUFT 2026-02-19

Jessica Wilkinson, WUFT, February 19, 2026, Suwannee County residents unhappy with a $1 billion dollar water supply plan,

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Almost everyone attending a Suwannee County GOP town hall on Feb. 5 again opposed a plan to recharge the Floridan aquifer with treated Jacksonville wastewater.
Continue reading →

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

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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

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

3 Replies

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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

1 Reply

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

Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.

Category Archives: WFNF

SRWMD rescheduled, not Hamilton County 2026-03-19

SRWMD at North Central Florida Regional Planning Council 2026-02-26

JAX treated wastewater into Suwannee Basin @ Hamilton Co. Courthouse –SRWMD 2026-02-26

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

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

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

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

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

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