WWALS signs on to Global Frackdown

Ban fracking before it spreads, and ban it quickly enough to stop new pipelines! WWALS signed the Global Frackdown organized by Food and Water Watch:

Fracking threatens the air we breathe, the water we drink, the communities we love and the climate on which we depend.

The specific message WWALS added when signing 29 June 2015 was:

Fracking is driving a company from Houston, Texas to try to gouge a pipeline across our fragile watersheds and drinking water aquifer. Georgia is already the fastest-growing U.S. market for solar power, and just passed a solar financing law that will make it grow even faster. Meanwhile, a shale gas basin has been discovered under south Georgia and north Florida. Ban fracking before it spreads, and ban it quickly enough to stop new pipelines!

Remember, WWALS supports a fracking ban in Floirida, and Continue reading →

Annual Report, Board and Officer Elections, and Committee Appointments at Two Meetings 2015-07-08

Everyone is invited to two meetings Wednesday evening July 8th, both at IHOP, 1200 W 4th St, Adel, GA 31620, (229) 896-2662.

  • At 7PM, the Annual Member Meeting (Agenda) with the Annual Report and election of board members. There are two open slots, and you can still apply. All WWALS members who attend can vote for board members.
  • At 7:30 PM, the Quarterly Board Meeting (Agenda) with the annual election of officers, plus Committee Chair and member appointments, this time with missions for each Committee, including the new Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail Committee. We’ll be tuning and explaining the WWALS Mission, celebrating becoming a WATERKEEPER® Affiliate, and talking about outings, events, speakers, native and invasive species, wastewater, pipelines, fracking, and many related topics.

You can help support WWALS by becoming a member today. To be on the board or a committee, you must be a member of WWALS.

-jsq

Mayday to Statenville paddle trip on the Alapaha river.

Alapaha River Water Trail Committee Chair  Chris Graham went with a few friends to paddle this scenic section of the Alapaha River Water Trail. We saw many wildlife and no invasive species on this section of this blueway, plus we saw a couple of small springs and one of them was an amazing waterfall.   Continue reading →

Agricultural land bought by west coast investors

Investment firms owned by Bill Gates have bought thousands of acress of agricultural land in counties in or near WWALS watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida, all above the Floridan Aquifer, near the Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Withlacoochee, and Suwannee Rivers, as part of a nationwide buying spree of a quarter million acres.

Here’s a summary of what we’ve found thus far. Any more recent posts should be found through this search.

These purchases of hundreds and thousands of contiguous acres are all after Bill Gates announced in 2012 he was going to “fix” agriculture in conjunction with Monsanto and Syngenta.

And it’s not just Bill Gates. Continue reading →

EPA coal plant emission limits still in place during legal cost review

Justice Scalia never said the EPA emissions rule was struck down, rather the Supreme Court sent it back to a lower court to get a cost analysis from EPA. 300x305 Mercury, in Improving Air Quality in Georgia, by Georgia Power, 30 June 2015 Meanwhile, many of the emissions controls are already in place on coal plants (including Plant Scherer), other coal plants have closed or are closing, and investors are abandoning coal in droves. So what Scalia wants may or may not be impossible for EPA to deliver, but EPA actually already has helped sink dirty coal. Meanwhile, Georgia Power finally is helping the sun rise on Georgia. So the prognosis is good for less mercury in the Alapaha River.

Emily Atkin, ThinkProgress Climate, 29 June 2015, What Everyone Is Getting Wrong About The Supreme Court’s Mercury Pollution Ruling, Continue reading →

Supreme Court rules on cost against EPA coal plant emission limitations

The EPA should account for all costs before making a ruling on mercury or other coal plant emissions, according to a 5:4 majority of the Supreme Court. The dissenting minority points out not only are costs usually figured in during the follow-on process for specific limits, but that actual costs can’t even be computed without knowing those limits. So Coal Plant Scherer mercury in the Alapaha River can’t be limited without figuring all the costs first, says the SCOTUS majority, although EPA and the Court minority point to numerous well-known medical problems caused by mercury. Are profits for a few big utilities and coal companies more important than clean water and public health, especially now that there are cleaner, safer, faster-to-build, and less expensive renewable energy sources available in solar and wind power?

According to today’s SCOTUS ruling, Continue reading →

Burnt Church in Lakeland to Hotchkiss in Stockton –Chris Graham 2015-06-20

Alapaha River Water Trail Committee Chair Chris Graham went with a few friends down the middle section of this Blueway:

Which is roughly 12 river miles. It was amazing epic river trip. Continue reading →

Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources –Theodore Roosevelt

Thanks for sharing the letter from Pope Francis. I hope people sit up and take notice! As you pointed out in your post, with the quotes from MLK Jr., it is not the first time we have heard this. Here is an even older Quote from Teddy Roosevelt:

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
—Theodore Roosevelt

When are we going to listen.

cjm

Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail Committee members wanted by WWALS Watershed Coalition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail Committee members wanted by WWALS Watershed Coalition

Hahira, June 23rd 2015 – WWALS Watershed Coalition is pleased to announce the formation of the Withlacoochee River Water Trail (WRWT) Committee. With the Alapaha River Water Trail well on its way to completion, WWALS is ready to take on the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers. We are looking for people to take an active part in developing a recreational water trail for all to enjoy.

Chris Graham, Chair of the Alapaha River Water Trail, said:

“I feel I have accomplished a good deal in our area. Now that the Alapaha River Water Trail brochures are printed and WWALS is starting on the Withlacoochee River Water Trail, I feel it is time for someone in the Little River or Withlacoochee River watersheds to have an option to join the WWALS board to do something good for their river.”

WWALS has already started mapping and gathering information for the Withlacoochee River Water Trail,

/maps/withlacoochee-river-water-trail/

WWALS co-sponsors the “Big Little River Paddle Race” at Reed-Bingham State Park each spring on the Little River, a tributary of the Withlacoochee River. There is the potential for another paddle race on the Withlacoochee in the fall, and we’re looking for ideas for where and who wants to help.

Some of the benefits of a water trail include:

Continue reading →