The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13

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This is the letter I sent SRWMD and gave them on paper this morning.

You can see it in SRWMD’s own video on YouTube. Public Comments start at 20:28.

https://www.youtube.com/live/OwKstHuSHNg?si=nF1yXXiXayn91J7p&t=1228

My bit starts at 38:20.

https://www.youtube.com/live/OwKstHuSHNg?si=yJ_hyAkBR3r_JPR6&t=2300

[The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF --WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13]
The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13

Three other people spoke against WFNF in Public Comments, and there was more comment by the board members at the end, as well as some allusions during the Public Hearing about the Modified Phase II Water Shortage Order. You can see and hear those for yourself in the SRWMD video. I may blog some more of that later.

For much more about WFNF, including the letters and resolutions against it by towns, counties, and regional entities, as well as who you can contact and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Below is the text of the WWALS letter to SRWMD for their 9 AM meeting this morning.

I also sent a similar letter to SJRWMD for their 10AM meeting this morning.

Images of both letters are below.

Maybe some day they will stagger their board meetings so it is possible to attend both, as Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson asked them 9 years ago. Continue reading →

Full Blue Moon Paddle, Banks Lake 2026-05-31

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Join us for a leisurely Sunset and Full Moon Paddle on Banks Lake, our watery living room. If we’re lucky, there will be bats.

This is the second full moon of May, thus a Blue Moon.

When: Gather 7:45 PM, launch 8:15 PM, moonrise 9:14 PM, sunset 8:31 PM, end 9:45 PM, Sunday, May 31, 2026

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County, on the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT).

GPS: 31.034824, -83.096725

[Full Blue Moon Paddle, Banks Lake NWR 2025-05-30, Second full moon in a month is a Blue Moon]
Full Blue Moon Paddle, Banks Lake NWR 2025-05-30, Second full moon in a month is a Blue Moon

Continue reading →

Stagger SRWMD and SJRWMD Board meetings –Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson 2027-01-17

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Update 2026-04-14: The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13.

Nine years after Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson asked them to stagger their meetings, SRWMD and SJRWMD are still meeting the same day, three hours drive apart.

So tomorrow if you want to talk about Water First North Florida (WFNF), you much choose: SRWMD in Live Oak or SJRWMD in Palatka.

[Stagger SRWMD and SJRWMD Board meetings, 2017-01-17 --Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson @ joint meeting about NFRWSP]
Stagger SRWMD and SJRWMD Board meetings, 2017-01-17 –Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson @ joint meeting about NFRWSP

For much more about WFNF, including who else to contact, some questions to ask, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Here’s the WWALS video of Merrillee from January 17, 2017:

https://youtu.be/lCnR0Rw0BF8?si=V7Zpwc53S3__6CS6 Continue reading →

Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp, 2026-04-18

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Tupelo trees are blooming in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge so let’s paddle the tupelo lined Suwannee River from the Sill to Griffis Fish Camp.

The river is very low and slow so we’ll take our time on this beautiful wilderness trail. There could be some dragging where the water is too low but there should be enough water to float our boats.

Honey bees are very attracted to the blooms, anybody with bee allergies need to be aware.

When: Gather 9:30 AM, launch 10:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, April 18, 2026

Put In: Suwannee River Sill Ramp, From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to GA 177; turn left and travel towards Stephen C. Foster State Park. Go 11.2 miles and turn left on Suwannee River Sill.

GPS: 30.803978,, -82.418692

[Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable]
Tupelo Blossom Paddle, Suwannee River Sill Ramp 2026-04-18, to Griffis Fish Camp, Low water but doable

Continue reading →

Packet: Governing Board –SJRWMD 2026-04-14

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Update 2026-04-14: The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13.

Update 2026-04-13: Stagger SRWMD and SJRWMD Board meetings –Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson 2027-01-17.

You can talk about WFNF in Public Comment at the SJRWMD Board meeting tomorrow.

The agenda packet for Tuesday’s 10 AM SJRWMD Governing Board meeting is considerably lighter than the agenda the same day for SRWMD. There is nothing about Water First North Florida (WFNF) and no change to the previous Modified Phase II Water Shortage Order from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD).

You can’t go to both, unless you have a time machine, because SRWMD meets at 9 AM and SJRWMD at 10 AM and it’s a three-hour drive from Live Oak to Palatka.

But maybe you have friends or family who can go to the SJRWMD meeting and ask questions.

For some such questions and much more about WFNF, including a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[Packet: Governing Board --SJRWMD 2026-04-14, Palatka, FL, with Public Comment]
Packet: Governing Board –SJRWMD 2026-04-14, Palatka, FL, with Public Comment

Or you could write the the SJRWMD Board or Executive Director; see their web page. Continue reading →

Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2026-04-10

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Update 2026-04-18: Mixed Withlacoochee River 2026-04-13, Clean Santa Fe River 2026-04-14.

More waterbodies heard from since the Friday weekly water quality report:

Sugar Creek tested clean for the first time anybody can remember, and the Alapaha River also clean.

Still no rain, and still no new sewage spills have been reported this week in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida or Georgia.

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

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

[Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling]
Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2024-04-10; No rain; no spills: Happy Paddling

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 →

Packet: with Public Hearing on Modified Phase II Water Shortage Order @ SRWMD 2026-04-14

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Update 2026-04-14: The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13.

Update 2026-04-13: 10 AM that same day, three hours drive away in Palatka: Packet: Governing Board –SJRWMD 2026-04-14.

SRWMD is avoiding going to a Phase III Water Shortage Order by modifying their Phase II Order of last month.

[Packet: with Public Hearing on Modified Phase II Water Shortage Ordinance @ SRWMD 2026-04-14]
Packet: with Public Hearing on Modified Phase II Water Shortage Ordinance @ SRWMD 2026-04-14

The new Order does add some mandatory requirements, on agricultural uses, golf course irrigation, and utilities.

There is nothing on the agenda directly about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the SRWMD and SJRWMD plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin to rehydrate wetlands and raise levels and flows in rivers and springs, and also so Jacksonville’s water utility JEA can meet the letter of 2021 SB 64 that says it can’t keep outflowing treated wastewater into the St. Johns River starting in 2032. But this Modified Phase II Order is related.

For much more about WFNF, including the letters and resolutions against it by towns, counties, and regional entities, as well as who you can contact and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Be on time by 9 AM, Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at SRWMD HQ, 9225 County Road 49 Live Oak, FL, United States, Florida 32060, to comment at this meeting of the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).

While the agenda says there will be a Public Hearing about this Order, nothing in the agenda says that will call on members of the public to speak on that agenda item.

WATER RESOURCES
Amy Brown, Deputy Executive Director

  1. Water Resources Division Updates
  2. Public Hearing for Approval of Order Number 26-003, Modified Phase II Water Shortage

So best to follow the letter of the SRWMD policy in the agenda (see below) and fill in a comment card saying you want to speak on item number 10.

If you can’t go, you can watch the meeting live or later on the District’s YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@SRWMD

Somebody may also want to examine the agenda of the Audit Committee Meeting, which will happen “Following Board Meeting”. Maybe you can glean some clues as to what the District has spent on WFNF thus far.

https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1744

Also, given the Exceptional Drought that covers almost all of the Suwannee River Basin, Continue reading →

Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application, Irwin County, GA 2026-04-10

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The Irwinville datacenter is back and bigger, this time called Project Arrowhead for 4,220,000 SF, Approximately 1066 acres.

The Irwin County government on April 10, 2026, submitted an application as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (GA-DCA).

The new five-tract campus includes the old one and extends farther east, across Ponderosa Drive to Pinetta Road.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters/#irwinco

[Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application 2026-04-10, Irwin County, GA, near Alapaha River]
Project Arrowhead Datacenter DRI application 2026-04-10, Irwin County, GA, near Alapaha River

According to the Initial Form, the location is “31°35&min;57.00&sec;N, 83°22&min;2.79&sec;W. Parcel numbers 0018 0007, 0026 0001, 0026 0003, 0026 00040AA, and a p”

That’s right, the last parcel is truncated. But it must be the one where the latlong leads, which is parcel 0035 0009, owned by Marcus D Fletcher Trust, trustee Angie F Bryan, 641.67 acres. That east parcel conveniently has a power line on it.

It’s connected to the former land west of Ponderosa Drive through parcel 0026 0040AA, owned by Sirrom Farms, LLC, 120.19 acres. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07

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Update 2026-04-12: Clean Alapaha River 2026-04-09 and Sugar Creek 2026-04-10.

With no rain to wash contamination in, the Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers still look clean in the test results we have.

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

As always, we can only advise with the results we have. Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

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

[Clean Withlacoochee 2026-04-06, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07, So far as we know, Happy paddling]
Clean Withlacoochee 2026-04-06, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-07, So far as we know, Happy paddling

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 →

A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River, Gaskins Forest Education Center 2026-04-11

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Come see us in the woods near Alapaha, Georgia, at A Day in the Woods, an annual event by Gaskins Forest Education Center (GFEC), near the Alapaha River.

WWALS members can help with the WWALS booth.

[A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2026-04-11, Gaskins Forest Education Center, A friendly festival]
A Day in the Woods, Alapaha River 2026-04-11, Gaskins Forest Education Center, A friendly festival

Thanks to Heather Brasell of GFEC for holding this festival.

When: Gather 12 PM, launch 1 PM, end 5 PM, Saturday, April 11, 2026

Put In: Gaskins Forest Education Center, 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd., Alapaha, Georgia 31622

GPS: 31.345454, -83.178356 Continue reading →