Sabal Trail to Gulfstream, Martin County, and where? 2018-01-18

Sabal Trail ramped up the last couple of days, to 196 thousand Dekatherms/day (MDTH/day) today. Most of that they’re shipping out to Gulfstream at Osceola. with a bit through FSC to FPL’s Martin County power plant, and the rest somewhere.

Why now? During the last cold spell, they spiked briefly in the first week of January, but dropped back to zero while there was snow on the ground in Florida.

So what are they up to now?

From the various pipeline’s FERC-required daily postings, Gulfstream shows Continue reading →

Resolution against state fee diversions discussed at Valdosta City Council 2018-01-11

For our waters, last Thursday, Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll recommended (Video) a resolution in support of a resolution in the Georgia state legislature to stop state fee diversions.

Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE) at Valdosta City Council, Thursday, January 11, 2018.

Newly elected Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Tooley wanted to know whether Continue reading →

PCS Phosphate Mine Special and Renewal Permits, Jasper, FL 2018-01-23

While residents of Union and Bradford Counties, Florida try to fight off the proposed HPS II phosphate mine on the New and Santa Fe Rivers, Hamilton County faces renewal and modification of permits for the PCS Phosphate mine, near White Springs and the Suwannee River.

When: 6PM, Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Where: County Commission Meeting Room, County Courthouse,
207 Northeast First Street, Jasper, Florida

What: North Florida Public Notices, search for PCS Phosphate finds notices for two public hearings the same evening:

Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS on Southwings flight 2016-10-22.

1. 1/11/2018
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CONCERNING APPLICATION FOR MODIFICATION TO MASTER MINING PLAN AND SPECIAL PERMIT BY THE PLANNING AND ZONING BOARD OF HAMILTON COUNTY, FLORIDA, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, Continue reading →

Hahira Honeybee Saturday 2017-10-07

With 25,000 of our closest friends at the Hahira Honeybee Festival. Maybe it was the Morrocco Shriners, but it was magic.

For comparison, Hahira’s 2016 population was 2,937.

Lined up down Main Street, Driving

Continue reading →

Skillet Festival, Quitman, Brooks County, GA 2017-10-21

A fine day, good food, raffles, and lots of interest in water trails, cleanups, outings, etc. at Brooks County Skillet Fest.

Raffle kayak and Gretchen, WWALS booth

In addition to the then-ongoing kayak raffle, Gretchen bought a skillet that we raffled off. Continue reading →

Georgia Adopt-A-Stream

First in a series of Where is the existing water quality data? In Georgia, it’s in Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’s database, online maps, charts, etc. And Adopt-A-Stream is not just for Georgia anymore.

Suwannee River Basin, Maps

The data record for the Suwannee River Basin is embarrassingly empty.

TN, SC, GA, FL, Maps

However, it turns out there’s data in Tennessee, South Carolina, and in Florida way down to Key West. So Georgia Adopt-A-Stream is a candidate for keeping Suwannee Riverkeeper data. Of which there turns out to be quite a bit already for Florida, Continue reading →

Less than Zero: Sabal Trail Gas 2018-01-10

If Sabal Trail gas isn’t needed continuously when there was snow in Florida during the coldest week of the winter, when is it needed? This week when it’s warm Sabal Trail gas went to less than zero (-2 MDTH/day Nominated Capacity). So apparently it’s needed never. Shut it down.

This month 2018-01-01 to 2018-01-10, Graph

To review, Sabal Trail’s gas dropped to zero November 14, 2017, and stayed there for seventeen days, before going up slightly, dropping back to zero, bursting in the first week of January, shipping most of that gas to other pipelines and peaking power plants, then dropping back to almost nothing and then less than nothing. Continue reading →

Douglas, GA: SGRC Regional Plan Update 2018-01-18

Received January 8, 2018. I think this is the last workshop, so if you haven’t been to one….

Good Afternoon Everyone,

This email is a quick reminder to attend the 4th Regional Plan Update Workshop in the City of Douglas, Georgia, on:

January 18th, 2018 10:00 a.m. to 12:30p
City of Douglas City Hall,
224 East Bryan Street, Douglas, GA 31533,
912-389-3401

Photo: Mjrmtg on Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

This fourth workshop will cover the following topics: Continue reading →

Earl Wetherington Foot Bridge

Maybe this bridge was named for Earl Wetherington Foot, since it has vehicular traffic. Since I can’t find any mention of such a person, maybe it was named for Earl Wetherington (1925-2013) and once upon a time was a foot bridge. Anyway, it’s on Gornto Road in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, over Sugar Creek, slightly upstream from the Withlacoochee River.

Bridge, Over Sugar Creek

It was closed in the “700-year” flood of 2013, which followed the “700-year” flood of 2009 (I think it was closed then, too). Continue reading →

Lanier County Commission passes Resolution urging Georgia legislature to stop state fee diversions 2018-01-08

When you pay a state fee, be it for a license plate or for use of a landfill, chances are much of it is being diverted to some unrelated purpose. The Lanier County Commission today passed a resolution urging the Georgia legislature to dedicate state fees to their statutorily-designated programs.

Lanier County Commissioners Paul Brockington (District 1), Susan Bowling (District 3), Harold Simpson (District 2), Dennis Fender (District 4), and Alex Lee (Chairman). Neil Ginty (County Administrator) in pink shirt.

The Commissioners’ only question after I briefly spoke was to the County Administrator as to whether the county attorney had reviewed this resolution: she had. Thanks to Continue reading →

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