Tag Archives: Law

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

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 →

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

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 →

Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA 2026-04-24

Update 2026-06-01: Review, Project Arrowhead, DRI 4689, Irwin County, GA –SGRC 2026-05-14.

Update 2026-05-13: Project Arrowhead in Irwin County considered risk to Alapaha River and Floridan Aquifer –WWALS to SGRC about DRI 2026-05-11.

Everyone has two weeks, until Monday, May 11, 2026, to review and comment on the Development of Regional Importance (DRI) application by Project Arrowhead to build a huge datacenter in Irwin County, Georgia, near Irwinville and the Alapaha River.

The attachments SGRC sent are on the WWALS website, with images of each page below.

https://wwals.net/pictures/2026-04-24-dri-irwin-county-project-arrowhead

I see nothing from the applicant that WWALS hasn’t previously posted, such as when the DRI application appeared on April 10.

The Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC) has helpfully annotated the Kimley-Horn site maps we saw back in March, and added other useful maps.

Plus SGRC points out the most significant part of the Data Center Ordinance the Irwin County Commission passed on April 6: the table permitting a Data Center as a Special Exception (SE) allowable use in the Agriculture (A-U), Heavy Industrial (H-I), and the Adult Commercial (C-A). I’m not sure that ordinance added SE for A-U, but it certainly called it out.

For much about what we do not know, such as who the real applicant is, or what closed loop cooling means in this case, see Who is Project Arrowhead in Irwin County, GA? –Vesper 2026-04-16.

https://wwals.net/?p=70067

For much more about Datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA, Comment to SGRC by May 11, 2026]
Review and comment: DRI for Project Arrowhead Datacenter, Irwin County, GA, Comment to SGRC by May 11, 2026

Received by email Friday, April 24, 2026, at 7:32 PM: Continue reading →

Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06

It looks like the Irwin County Commission added a few things about water, power, and enforcement to their draft datacenter ordinance before they passed it.

The final version, received today in response to a WWALS open records request, is on the WWALS website.

For comparison, a copy of the original draft is here:

https://wwals.net/?p=69663

Do you see any other differences?

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06, Changes to Water, Energy, Enforcement]
Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06, Changes to Water, Energy, Enforcement

Subclause (3) is new on page 4:

(d) Water Usage Standards.

(1) Only closed-loop cooling systems are permitted in Irwin County.

(2) There shall be no discharge of cooling water into public sewers or ground without treatment.

(3) Before a certificate of occupancy is provided, all data centers shall submit a hydrogeologic study conducted by an independent third-party engineering firm showing estimated annual water usage. Such report should compare estimated water usage to the prior owner/user of the subject property or of that of similar surrounding areas.

Also on page 4, this subclause (1) is new: Continue reading →

FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or 2044 to divert its wastewater –Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02

Wastewater professional Joe Squitieri pointed out that 2032 may not be the real deadline for wastewater outflows to stop going into rivers according to FL SB 64.

Extensions could be granted until 2039, or maybe even 2044. So JEA could keep outflowing into the St. Johns River after 2032.

[FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or later to divert its wastewater --Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02]
FL statutes give JEA until 2032 or 2039 or later to divert its wastewater –Joe Squitieri @ SCRP 2026-04-02

Here’s the video:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1329841519196016/

https://youtu.be/qsp91kAdL5E

He also reminded us that the JEA Buckman wastewater plant is under a Florida Consent Order for exceeding a range of contaminant limits.

Plus, even when that plant is in compliance, it produces quite a bit of nitrates and other contaminants. It failed a test that involves putting fish in the outflow: none of them survived, he said. Then there are PFAS forever chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

“They really don’t know what they’re doing,” he said.

He recommended if they can clean it up enough, they should turn their wastewater into potable reuse.

For much more about Water First North Florida (WFNF), including all the local and regional elected letters and resolutions against, who you can contact, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

For the other speakers at that meeting, see Continue reading →

Georgia legislature fails to rein in datacenters –AJC 2026-04-03

If datacenters are so great, why can’t they pay their own way?

You’d think their billionaire backers could afford it.

For more about datacenters, including a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Possible Datacenter Sites, Lowndes County, GA, Irwin County, GA, 2025 and 2026]
Possible Datacenter Sites, Lowndes County, GA, Irwin County, GA, 2025 and 2026

Drew Kann and Kristi E. Swartz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 3, 2026, Georgia lawmakers leave data center tax breaks intact, punt on energy costs
Consumer advocates call inaction ‘disgraceful,’ while Georgia Power and data center groups tout benefits they say the industry will bring Georgians.

When the General Assembly convened in January to begin its legislative session, few issues seemed to get more attention from lawmakers than data centers.

A flurry of data center bills emerged in the session’s early days, from moratoriums on new developments to measures aimed at the facilities’ energy infrastructure costs and rolling back the lucrative tax breaks the state offers to lure them to the Peach State.

But as the legislature adjourned in the wee hours of Friday morning, the robust debate that began beneath the Gold Dome earlier this year ended in relative silence, at least as far as data centers are concerned.

In the end, none of the legislation consumer advocates said was needed to protect Georgians from the onslaught of data centers successfully cleared both chambers.

Continue reading →

Videos: Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County Board of Commissioners 2026-03-17

Update 2026-04-20 Signed Irwin County Datacenter Ordinance 2026-04-06.

Here are WWALS videos of the first Irwin County Commission Public Hearing about a Data Center Ordinance, on March 17, 2026.

The next Public Hearing will be March 30, 2026 at 5:45p.m in the Irwin County Courthouse, located at 301 South Irwin Avenue, Ocilla, Georgia.

The third and last Public Hearing will be April 6, 2026, before the Irwin County Commission meeting, presumably also at 5:45 PM and at the Courthouse.

[Videos: Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance --Irwin County BOCC, 2026-03-17]
Videos: Public Hearing about Datacenter Ordinance –Irwin County BOCC, 2026-03-17

Among the many good points brought up by citizens at the March 17 Public Hearing were the need for much more due diligence, tuning the ordinance to prevent specific harms, enforcement of the ordinance, as well as specific concerns of cost of wells, water levels, water quality, vegetative buffers, waste disposal, air quality, noise levels, wildlife, electric power, property values, agriculture, the Alapaha River, and limits on the size of any datacenters.

Despite a persistent rumor, the Irwin County Commission definitely did not vote on the previous datacenter application, because the applicant withdrew the application, so there was nothing to vote on.

See also Continue reading →

Suggested additional sections for Irwin County datacenter ordinance –WWALS 2026-03-17

This is what I sent to Irwin County before their Public Hearing on a draft datacenter ordinance.

As you may recall, the datacenter proposed near Irwinville and the Alapaha River was withdrawn by applicant at the Irwin County Commission meeting on March 2, so there was nothing for the Commissioners to vote on at that time. But they are prudently working up a datacenter ordinance.

For more about datacenters, see:

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

[Suggested additional sections for Irwin County datacenter ordinance, by WWALS 2026-03-17]
Suggested additional sections for Irwin County datacenter ordinance, by WWALS 2026-03-17

Dear Irwin County,

Please permit me to compliment you on the draft data center ordinance.
I especially like that it permits only closed loop cooling systems.

May I suggest that it could benefit by some additional sections, perhaps like those in the attached model ordinance.
Specifically sections like those on: Continue reading →

WWALS Chainsaw Cleanups clear passage, leaving habitat 2026-03-23

We aim to clear a wide and deep enough passage for canoes, kayaks, and jon boats. Sometimes we will clear more if it’s obviously going to just fall back into the passage, or if it will be a problem at a different water level. But we remove only what we must.

We leave most of the rest as habitat for fish, turtles, otters, birds, and other wildlife. Shade, eddies, pools, and general variation in river flow result; all good for wildlife. You may notice that experienced fishers often cast near woody debris for this reason.

[WWALS Chainsaw Cleanups clear passage, leaving habitat, 2026-03-23]
WWALS Chainsaw Cleanups clear passage, leaving habitat, 2026-03-23

As a reminder, to join WWALS on any river outing you must listen to the safety lecture and sign the insurance waiver. Every person in a boat, no matter their age or size or experience, must wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD).

Here are more than 50 examples of WWALS chainsaw cleanups:

https://wwals.net/outings/chainsaw-cleanups/

You can see plenty of habitat beyond where TJ is sawing in this picture. Continue reading →

Town of Branford Resolution against WFNF 2026-03-01

Branford is at the mouth of the Santa Fe River, and downstream of the Ichetucknee River, both of which Water First North Florida (#WFNF) purport to help.

For more about WFNF, including the other local and regional government opposition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[Town of Branford, Resolution against WFNF 2026-03-01, Water First North Florida, JAX treated wastewater]
Town of Branford, Resolution against WFNF 2026-03-01, Water First North Florida, JAX treated wastewater

RESOLUTION NO. 2026-003

A RESOLUTION OF THE TOWN OF BRANFORD, FLORIDA, OPPOSING THE FIRST NORTH FLORIDA (WENF) PIPELINE PROJECT AS CURRENTLY PROPOSED; REQUESTING AN IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM PENDING INDEPENDENT STUDY; AND DIRECTING TRANSMITTAL TO STATE OFFICIALS

WHEREAS, the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Suwannee River Water Management District approved elements of the Water First North Florida (WFNF) project in November 2025, which includes a proposed approximately 90-mile pipeline to transport highly treated reclaimed water from facilities in the Jacksonville metropolitan area to wetlands within the Suwannee River Basin for purposes of aquifer recharge; and

WHEREAS, the project is estimated to cost between $1.0 and $1.1 billion, including approximately $400 million in funding from JEA, and proposes to recharge the Floridan Aquifer with more than 40 million gallons per day; and Continue reading →