Agenda: No WFNF but watch Outreach and Water Resources @ SRWMD 2026-05-12

Leave a reply

There’s nothing about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin, on the agenda for the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Governing Board next week.

But watch “28. Water Resources Division Updates”; that’s where I first heard about WFNF back in July 2025.

And maybe we’ll hear how poorly their attempts to sell WFNF are going in “20. Outreach and Communications Activity Summary”.

Also, “7. A. Hydrologic Conditions Report” is always interesting. That one will appear on the SRWMD website later.

[Agenda: No WFNF, but watch Outreach and Water Resources, Plus Hydrologic Conditions @ SRWMD 2026-05-12]
Agenda: No WFNF, but watch Outreach and Water Resources, Plus Hydrologic Conditions @ SRWMD 2026-05-12

Get there on time at 9 AM, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, for “4. Public Comment”. That’s at SRWMD HQ, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060.

Livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SRWMD

For more about WFNF, including other upcoming meetings, who you can contact, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf Continue reading →

Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

1 Reply

All three of St. Marys, Satilla, and Suwannee Riverkeeper will be at the May 5 6, 2026, meeting of Georgia’s Suwannee Satilla Regional Water Planning Council (SSRWPC), 10 AM-2:30 PM at Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Datacenters are on the agenda as a Discussion item. It’s not clear whether participants other than the Council will be allowed to discuss. But they will notice anybody who shows up. And there is Public Comment near the end.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06]
Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

SSRWPC includes part of the St. Marys River Basin, as well as the Satilla and Suwannee Basins, including of course the Alapaha, Willacoochee, Withlacoochee, Little, and New Rivers, with much concern about groundwater including the Floridan Aquifer.

According to their WATER & WASTEWATER FORECASTING TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM of March 2024, population growth projections have been decreased, causing water use and wastewater use also to be less.

Datacenters could reverse that trend.

FYI, Mark Masters is Executive Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC) at Albany State University and Laura Rack also works there “in a joint role with the River Basin Center at the University of Georgia.”

Caitlin Sweeney is listed by the Jones Center at Ichauway, also in the Flint River Basin, although the agenda says she is with GWPPC.

Here is the agenda:

Agenda
Georgia Suwannee-Satilla
Water Council Meeting
May 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Okefenokee Swamp Park — Waycross, GA

Objectives: Continue reading →

Lafayette County against WFNF and for desalination 2026-04-28

Leave a reply

Lafayette County on Tuesday became the sixth county to pass a letter or resulution against Water First North Florida (WFNF), the scheme by JEA, SJRWMD, and SRWMD to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

The other counties are Madison, Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton, and Baker, plus the Town of Branford, the Rivers Task Force, and the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council. The last two organizations each represent all twelve counties in the Suwannee River Water Management District.

[Lafayette County against WFNF & for desalination, April 28, 2026]
Lafayette County against WFNF & for desalination, April 28, 2026

There are better ways to address both lower flows and levels in the Suwannee Basin and JEA’s legal requirement to stop outflowing into the St. Johns River; see The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13.

For much more about WFNF, including upcoming county commission and city council meetings, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

RESOLUTION NO. 2026-04-06

A RESOLUTION OF THE LAFAYETTE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OPPOSING THE WATER FIRST NORTH FLORIDA AQUIFER RECHARGE PROJECT AND RECOMMENDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ALTERNATIVE WATER DESALINIZATION PROJECT

WHEREAS, Continue reading →

The AI Layoff Trap –Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas 2026-03-02

Leave a reply

After years of labor unions advocating for an 8-hour day and a 5-day week, Henry Ford finally saw his own self-interest and Ford Motor Company on September 25, 1926, made it company policy.

Why? Workers with free time and money to spend bought cars: long-term profit!

A century later, many companies are doing the opposite: laying off workers and replacing them with so-called AI: short-term profiteering. This trend only increases, because if competitors are doing it, every company has incentive to do it.

But companies are sabotaging themselves. Fired workers cannot easily find new jobs, so they can’t afford to buy. An economy with no purchasing is in trouble.

[The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 --Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it]
The AI Layoff Trap 2026-03-02 –Brett Hemenway Falk, Gerry Tsoukalas, No jobs means no buying, One policy works to stop it

There are other issues, such as firing experienced people means companies lose their ability to do new things or to deal with unexpected challenges, and fewer jobs mean people trying to join the job market find nothing, so there’s little new talent incoming and few left to train them. But the chase for short-term profits overrides all that.

Plus the proliferation of hyper-scale datacenters catering to this so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI), using much cooling water, either directly, or through new power plants. See:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

New research models this corporate behavior and finds that most proposed solutions do not stop it. Continue reading →

Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23 and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27

1 Reply

Update 2026-05-09: Clean Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek 2026-05-06.

Valdosta Utilities got a pretty good E. coli number for Monday at GA 133 (St. Augustine Road) on the Withlacoochee River, and a good result at US 84 that same day. That’s much improved from previous weeks.

WWALS results for Sugar Creek last Thursday were also OK.

And a WWALS result for Batterbee Branch, in Ray City, Georgia, upstream from Cat Creek, was OK.

Still no significant 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, if you can find any water.

Rain is predicted for this weekend, but it was predicted for yesterday, too, and didn’t happen.

If there is rain, maybe it will at least dampen some wildfires. Remember not to light anything outdoors.

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

[Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23, and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27, No rain, no sewage spills]
Pretty clean Sugar Creek 2026-04-23, and Batterbee Branch and Withlacoochee River 2026-04-27, No rain, no sewage spills

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 →

Statewide Drought Response Level 1 –GA-EPD 2026-04-27

Leave a reply

Georgia starts to catch up with Florida in drought declarations.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division Declares Drought Response Level 1

On April 27, 2026, after consideration of the drought severity and the water resource impacts, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) declared a state-wide Drought Response Level 1 for public water systems using surface water and/or groundwater. EPD has been closely monitoring drought conditions in Georgia for months, and on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, EPD held conference calls with public water systems to discuss current water supply and EPD’s consideration of issuing a Level 1 drought response. Following the conference calls, the public water systems had three days to submit any additional feedback before EPD could proceed with a drought response declaration.

[Statewide Drought Response Level 1 --GA-EPD, April 27, 2026]
Statewide Drought Response Level 1 –GA-EPD, April 27, 2026

As a result of the Level 1 Drought Response, public water systems must implement a public information campaign including, at a minimum, notice regarding drought conditions and drought-specific announcements in one or more of the following ways: newspaper or online ads, bill inserts, social media, and notices in public libraries. This public information campaign is designed to help citizens better understand drought, its impact on water supplies, and the need for water conservation.

Outdoor water use between the hours of 4 PM and 10 A.M. is still Continue reading →

Way down upon this Florida river, pollution and water withdrawals spell double trouble –Craig Pittman 2026-04-23

Leave a reply

A wide-ranging story, which includes springs, the Nutrien phosphate mine, Stephen C. Foster, Ray Charles, Pilgrim’s Pride, WFNF, dairy farms, and Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs).

For much more about WFNF, see

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

First, some pullquotes:

Even blunter was John S. Quarterman, who’s been the Suwannee Riverkeeper for a decade. He told me, “It certainly IS endangered.”

Sheesh! Having your state’s most famous river classified as endangered is like having the governor’s limo towed because it’s a clunker. It reflects badly on all of us — especially whoever sits in the driver’s seat.

…

[Way down upon this Florida river, pollution and water withdrawals spell double trouble, --Craig Pittman, 2026-04-23]
Way down upon this Florida river, pollution and water withdrawals spell double trouble, –Craig Pittman, 2026-04-23

One of the largest drains on the Suwannee: Jacksonville. Water from the Suwannee is being pumped out of the ground to benefit folks who live nowhere near the river.

The water district has a plan to fix this. But it’ s so controversial, Quarterman said, that all the counties in the Suwannee River basin are opposed to it.

The flaw in the flow

The cover of the American Rivers report on the 10 most endangered rivers in America is an image of the flowing Suwannee.

Smack dab in the middle is a pipeline dumping waste into the river. Quarterman identified the pipeline’s owner as Pilgrim’s Pride, a chicken processing plant in Live Oak.

According to the water management district, the solution to the Suwannee’s dwindling flow lies in building a bigger, longer pipeline, this one stretching all the way to Jacksonville.

Although it’s called “Water First North Florida,” this project does not, in fact, involve water. It involves treated wastewater.

Continue reading →

WFNF resolution on the agenda, Lafayette County, FL, BOCC 2026-04-28

Leave a reply

Water First North Florida (WFNF) is on the agenda for Lafayette County, Florida, BOCC:

  1. Consider adopting Resolution No. 2026-04-06, concerning the Water First North Florida Aquifer Recharge Project.

That’s at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in the County Commissioners Meeting Room, second floor, Lafayette County Courthouse, 120 West Main Street, Room #206, Mayo, Florida.

[WFNF resolution on the agenda, Lafayette County BOCC, 5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026]
WFNF resolution on the agenda, Lafayette County BOCC, 5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026

We don’t know what the resolution says, since, as near as I can tell, Lafayette County BOCC only posts its agendas, not its board packets.

For what other elected bodies have passed, as well as who you can contact, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf Continue reading →

Pictures: Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Upstream, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29

2 Replies

This is part 2 of the Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup of Sunday, March 29, 2026.

Part 1 was downstream.

Here we go upstream, with Brianna Schawalder of Trails4Valdosta in her canoe, helping pull limbs aside and photographing, and Russell Hassenstab of Kona Ice paddling the Suwannee Riverkeeper Old Town Canoe, while Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman chainsaws.

[Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Langdale Park BR, Towards US 41 Bridge, Sunday, March 29, 2026]
Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Upstream from Langdale Park BR, Towards US 41 Bridge, Sunday, March 29, 2026

Here are some video snippets.

https://youtu.be/JstBEtdI8qU

Thanks to Continue reading →

Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem –Tana Silva 2026-04-19

2 Replies

Like Tana Silva, you can write a letter to the editor of your local, state, or national newspaper, or ask your local radio or TV station to interview you, or post on social media.

Better yet, call or write your elected and appointed officials, and sign the petition:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Tana Silva, Alachua Chronicle, April 19, 2026, Letter: Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem, not a solution
https://alachuachronicle.com/letter-refilling-the-aquifer-with-wastewater-is-a-problem-not-a-solution/

April 19, 2026

Letter to the editor

[Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem (WFNF) --Tana Silva 2026-04-19]
Refilling the aquifer with wastewater is a problem (WFNF) –Tana Silva 2026-04-19

Until the 1970s, Jacksonville pumped sewage straight into the St. Johns River and allowed dumping industrial waste there as well. The mayor elected in 1967, local advocates, and the Clean Water Act of 1972 helped to at least send wastewater to treatment plants before releasing it to the river. That practice, too, is restricted by state law now, but raising springwater levels through recharging projects is another goal in state law that opens a path to reusing wastewater, a risky and irreversible choice.

Jacksonville, the largest city, water consumer, and wastewater producer in northern Florida, is again looking to offload its wastewater, this time far to the west, in rural springs country.

Local residents and governments and the 12-county regional planning council that includes Alachua County say no: Continue reading →