Tag Archives: agriculture

Suwannee Farms, Lakeland Sands, and Bill Gates in Suwannee County, FL

Why does a farm need an industrial wastewater facility permit? WWALS got an email alert from FDEP about such a permit request for Suwannee Farms LLC on June 11th. A bit of digging shows it’s apparently now owned by Bill Gates, along with many more nearby acres in center pivot agriculture.

Suwannee Farms, Suwannee River Terra, and Lakeland Sands Permit: Water – Industrial Wastewater Facility Permit
Project Name: SUWANNE FARMS LLC
Location Id: FLA470031
Location Name: Suwanne Farms LLC
County: Suwannee
Application Number: FLA470031-005

For further information, please contact the Northeast District permitting office in Jacksonville at (904) 256-1700

Suwannee Farms has its own Continue reading →

Video: WWALS outings on Chris Beckham drive-time radio WVGA 105.9 FM 7:30 AM 2016-01-15

Here’s WWALS video of the radio interview this morning on WVGA 105.9 FM. It’s an invitation to tomorrow morning’s events, both at 10AM:

Chris also got me to say a few words about why WWALS formed in the first place, and why you should all join WWALS; it has to do with the 700-year flood in 2009.

Plus some plugs for Valdosta’s wastewater fixes and their recent LiDAR flight.

The one thing I realized on the way out I forgot to mention, the one item that caused me to schedule this interview, was the workshop at VSU February 27th about the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, featuring the visual beauty of all WWALS’ rivers in an art exhibit and silent auction, the geology on display by Dennis Price, and the remains of past people and cultures still visible along the river by Tom Baird.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow morning on the Little River, or other WWALS members look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning on the Suwannee River. If not tomorrow, there’s plenty more to do on our beautiful south Georgia and north Florida blackwater rivers!

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →

WWALS outings on Chris Beckham drive-time radio WVGA 105.9 FM 7:30 AM 2016-01-15

Everybody listens to the radio in the car on the way to work, and Friday morning 8:30 AM I’ll be talking about paddling this Saturday morning 10AM on the Little River from GA 122 between Hahira and Barney to Lawson Millpond Road; it’s a nice brief 2.5 hour paddle along the Brooks-Lowndes County river border: you can do it!

When: 7:30AM Friday January 15th 2016

Where: 105.9 FM WVGA, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia

What: John S. Quarterman, president of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc., on Chris Beckham drive-time radio show

How: Continue reading →

Silver Springs, FL, benefit for Florida Springs Institute

WWALS is a member of the Florida Springs Council (FSC), which is headquartered at Florida Springs Institute (FSI).

The Florida Springs Institute is hosting its end-of-year benefit at Silver Springs this year on December 11 from 6-9 p.m.

and we would like to extend an invitation to all FSC organizations and their members to join us for this fun-filled event. Our keynote speaker for the evening is the former SJRWMD and SWFWMD Executive Director and current author of the blog, SWFWMD Matters (http://swfwmdmatters.blogspot.com/), Emilio “Sonny” Vergara. Tickets for the event are $75 and include admission to Silver Springs State Park and the Silver River Museum, food and drinks, and an opportunity to meet and hear from well-known springs advocates. There will also be a silent auction and a raffle for a Silver River boat tour for 20 people! All proceeds will benefit the work of FSI, a nonprofit organization.

Silver Springs is a famous example of water problems throughout Florida and south Georgia. Greg Allen, NPR, 13 April 2013, Now Endangered, Florida’s Silver Springs Once Lured Tourists, Continue reading →

Bill Gates land purchases, Florida Springs Council, and Adams Spring

The Florida Springs Council (FSC) is concerned about Bill Gates, 300x200 Still, in Adams Spring and Bill Gates, by Chris Mericle, for WWALS.net, 13 August 2015 Lakeland Sands and others investing in Florida and south Georgia Land for industrial farming operations, reports Chris Mericle, WWALS delegate to FSC. FSC, like WWALS, would like to know more, and is trying to contact Bill Gates to start a dialog about sustainable farming practices.

For example, Chris reports:

300x225 Land farmed all the way around the clump of trees and spring., in Adams Spring and Bill Gates, by Chris Mericle, for WWALS.net, 13 August 2015 There is a 300 acre parcel of Lakeland Sands property here in Hamilton Co. that has been cleared of the forest that was there except for a small island of trees in the center. Within this island of trees is a true hydrogeological wonder. A beautiful spring boils from the ground, the spring pool is 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 →

WWALS Goals for 2015

Boating on our rivers and water trails for them, issues and education: you can help with the fun and work of WWALS! Here’s much of what can be done laid out in a list of a dozen WWALS Goals for 2015. The board has at least one opening right now, and the committees always could use more members. You can apply through the online form.

See also the monthly newsletter, the news about WWALS, and of course the website with blog, facebook the page and group, and WWALS on twitter, Youtube, and the membership google group. You can become a member or corporate sponsor of WWALS online right now.

The WWALS Executive Committee 11 March 2015 recommended Continue reading →

EPA Clean Water Rule finalized

I still see EPA’s new Clean Water Rule as a good thing, since it protects drinking water, paddling, and fishing, while opponents remain quite vague about what might be wrong with it.

After last year’s comment period, U.S. EPA has posted a prepublication version of its final Clean Water Rule.

Katie Shepherd, L.A. Times, 27 May 2015, Under new EPA rule, Clean Water Act protections will cover all active tributaries, Continue reading →

Vallotton Farms upstream from Withlacoochee Sinks

Update 2017-09-13: The Lowndes County Commissioners surprisingly agreed to rezone “backwards” to Estate A gricultural (E-A) at their Regular Session of 14 April 2015.

300x172 Withlacoochee Sinks downstream from Cherry Creek and Vallotton Farms, in Vallotton Farms, by John S. Quarterman, for WWALS.net, 30 March 2015 A historic dairy farm wants to go back to the most agricultural zoning, upstream on Cherry Creek from the Cherry Creek Sink that leaks into the Floridan Aquifer. Vallotton Farms (both the part outlined in red that appears to be the subject of the rezoning and the bigger part west of Bemiss Road) includes quite a bit of Cherry Creek itself. Agriculture is probably better than other likely uses in such a location. Continue reading →