Category Archives: Quantity

Filthy Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-02-17

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Update 2026-02-21: Clean Santa Fe, Alapaha Rivers, cleaner Withlacoochee, New Rivers 2026-02-19.

WWALS got filthy river results on the Withlacoochee River at US 41 and Langdale Park Boat Ramp for Monday, but Valdosta Utilities got even worse at GA 133 and US 84 for Tuesday.

In between, WWALS got pretty bad on Hightower Creek, but the worst on Sugar Creek, both for Tuesday.

Yet downstream in Florida, WWALS got clean on the Withlacoochee River for Tuesday.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So this filthiness is probably first flush after the Sunday rains. That’s a utilities term: after a long drought, a big rain washes the woods, which animals have been using as a latrine.

If so, the waterways will clean up in a few days as the water runs. But I’d avoid all these for a few days.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Filthy Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-02-17, After big rains, But clean far downstream]
Filthy Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-02-17, After big rains, But clean far downstream

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. Continue reading →

Datacenter water use and Irwin County Planning Commission and Industrial Authority @ WALB TV 2026-02-16

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In an interview yesterday by WALB TV:

Meanwhile, WWALS Watershed Coalition Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said his own research raises concerns about what large-scale data centers could mean for local water resources and river health.

[Datacenter water use, Irwin County Planning Commission, and Industrial Authority @ WALB TV 2026-02-16]
Datacenter water use, Irwin County Planning Commission, and Industrial Authority @ WALB TV 2026-02-16

Quarterman said data centers typically require significant water for cooling and large amounts of electricity to operate, which he argues can indirectly affect water resources through increased demand on power generation. He said the Suwannee River Basin and surrounding aquifer systems are closely connected, meaning impacts to surface water can also affect drinking water supplies, agriculture and recreation.

[Whirlpak 2026-02-26 --WALB TV]
Whirlpak 2026-02-26 –WALB TV

Quarterman adds that water levels in some rivers and springs are already low during drought conditions, and he said he worries additional industrial demand could place further strain on natural resources.

See also the datacenter bills in Datacenter proposed, Irwinville, near Alapaha River 2026-02-26.

https://wwals.net/?p=69394

Taylor Lewis, WALB News 10, February 16, 2026, updated 6 PM, 2nd South Georgia county moves to dissolve industrial authority: What it could mean for future data center builds. Continue reading →

Nasty water, Alapaha River, GA 135 2026-02-16

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Update 2026-02-25: Solid Waste Open Dump Consent Order on Dwight Caton in Berrien County, GA 2025-12-22.

Update 2026-02-21: Clean Santa Fe, Alapaha Rivers, cleaner Withlacoochee, New Rivers 2026-02-19.

Mike Paulk sent this video of what he saw yesterday at GA 135 on the Alapaha River, south of Willacoochee, Georgia.

[Nasty water, Alapaha River @ GA 135, After big rain, Rose 1 foot in 3.5 hours]
Nasty water, Alapaha River @ GA 135, After big rain, Rose 1 foot in 3.5 hours

He said the river rose a foot in 3 and a half hours, and he’s never seen it look like that.

Here’s the video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1433056248290635

https://youtube.com/shorts/ppVqQc3FRkY

Anybody who has any information, please send it to us.

 -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/

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

4 Replies

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 →

So-called AI hallucinates no matter how good its training data –OpenAI 2025-09-18

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Update 2026-02-17: Sen. Carden Summers tries to amend to weaken GA SB 34 that would require datacenters to pay their own electric bills @ GA Sen. Comm. on Regulated Industries and Utilities 2026-02-12.

This is according to research by the creator of ChatGPT, the bot that started the “AI”boom.

Is this what we want in datacenters sucking up our water?

If not, see a previous post for some bills in the Georgia legislature.

https://wwals.net/?p=69394

[So-called AI hallucinates, no matter how good its training data --OpenAI 2025-09-18]
So-called AI hallucinates, no matter how good its training data –OpenAI 2025-09-18

Gyana Swain, Computerworld, September 18, 2025, OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws,

In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, acknowledged in its own research that large language models will always produce hallucinations due to fundamental mathematical constraints that cannot be solved through better engineering, marking a significant admission from one of the AI industry’s leading companies.

The study, published on September 4 and led by OpenAI researchers Adam Tauman Kalai, Edwin Zhang, and Ofir Nachum alongside Georgia Tech’s Santosh S. Vempala, provided a comprehensive mathematical framework explaining why AI systems must generate plausible but false information even when trained on perfect data.

“Like students facing hard exam questions, large language models sometimes guess when uncertain, producing plausible yet incorrect statements instead of admitting uncertainty,” the researchers wrote in the paper. “Such ‘hallucinations’ persist even in state-of-the-art systems and undermine trust.”

The admission carried particular weight given OpenAI’s position as the creator of ChatGPT, which sparked the current AI boom and convinced millions of users and enterprises to adopt generative AI technology.

Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers; Dirty New River upstream 2026-02-12

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Update 2026-02-18: Filthy Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-02-17.

WWALS got good river results on the Withlacoochee, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers this week, as did Valdosta Utilities on the Withlacoochee.

But new WWALS tester Isis Swartz got too-high E. coli results on the New River at 18th Street in Tifton, Georgia.

We have no new creek test results.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

The weather prediction for Saturday is mostly sunny with rain on Sunday. So if you can find a river with enough water, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Clean Withlacoochee, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers; Dirty New River upstream, 2026-02-09-12]
Clean Withlacoochee, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers; Dirty New River upstream, 2026-02-09-12

Or come with WWALS tomorrow (Saturday), on the Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek to Troupville 2026-02-14.

https://wwals.net/?p=69369

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. 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]
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 →

Clean Alapaha, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-02-04

Update 2026-02-13: Clean Withlacoochee, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe Rivers; Dirty New River upstream 2026-02-12.

WWALS got good river results on the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers for Wednesday.

Valdosta Utilities also got good E. coli results for the Withlacoochee for Monday.

We have no new creek test results.

No new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia.

But there were two in Florida. The Florida Pollution Notices map is broken again, but WWALS is signed up for alerts so we got them by email. High Springs spilled Monday near the Santa Fe River, and Live Oak spilled Tuesday near the Suwannee River. Both were small spills and not very near any major waterway.

The weather prediction for Saturday and Sunday is warmer and sunny. So if you can find a river with enough water, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

Or come with WWALS tomorrow (Saturday), to find the site of the old Drew Mansion, on Ellaville Hike, Withlacoochee River 2026-02-07.

https://wwals.net/?p=69082

This image is an illustration. Scroll down for the details.

[Clean Alapaha and Santa Fe, Rivers 2026-02-04, Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-02-02]
Clean Alapaha and Santa Fe, Rivers 2026-02-04, Clean Withlacoochee River 2026-02-02

Alapaha River

WWALS tester Heather Brasell got a pretty good 333 cfu/100 mL for the Town of Alapaha wastewater plant outflow creek, and 166 for the Alapaha River just upstream from Sheboggy Boat Ramp on US 82, both for Wednesday, February 4, 2026.

Santa Fe River

WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler for Wednesday at Mills Dock, a bit upstream from Poe Springs Ramp, bot a quite clean 66 cfu/100 mL, with 12.8 C air temperature and 16.3 C water temperature.

Withlacoochee River

Valdosta Utilities for Monday (we don’t know why not for Wednesday) got pretty good 320 at GA 133 and pretty clean 100 at US 84, both below the 410 one-time test limit.

Follow this link for the WWALS composite spreadsheet of water quality results, rainfall, and sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida:
https://wwals.net/issues/testing/#results

The image below is a current excerpt from that spreadsheet. 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 →