Tag Archives: New River

Packet: WFNF opposition @ Union County BOCC 2026-05-18

Leave a reply

Update 2026-05-19: They passed it: https://www.facebook.com/SpringtownAuto/posts/pfbid02d4vZXw719avgP7DSRd4L7pzP3dKCwYLz158gjBKNCHh8SLQKPMiv1ByQc25wHmg9l

Assuming the Commissioners pass this at their 6 PM Monday meeting, Union County will become the seventh county (plus the Town of Branford) to pass a letter or resolution against Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin.

For which counties, the Task Force and NCFRPC resolutions that represent all 12 counties in the Suwannee District, and who you can contact, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[Packet: WFNF opposition to SRWMD @ Union County BOCC, 2026-05-18]
Packet: WFNF opposition to SRWMD @ Union County BOCC, 2026-05-18

See Agenda, Regular Meeting, May 18, 2026, 6:00 P.M.

https://union-clerk.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2026/05/14144906/5.18.26-Regular-Meeting-Packet-Web.pdf

Union County Board of County Commissioners
15 Northeast 1st Street, Lake Butler, FL 32054 * Phone: 386-496-4241 * Fax: 386-496-4240

Ms. Virginia Johns, Chair

Suwannee River Water Management District

9225 CR 49 Live Oak, Florida 32060

Re: Opposition to the Water First North Florida Project

Dear Ms. Johns:

Union County joins with its fellow members of the Middle and Lower Suwannee River and Withlacoochie River Task Force, as well as the numerous counties, municipalities, and citizen groups who who have all expressed concerns about, and opposition to, the proposed Water First North Florida Project. In the apparent rush to implement this project, local governments have gone uninformed and local voices in opposition have been largely ignored until just recently. We are grateful for legislative intervention that has, for the time being, stayed the execution of this project, but we remain alert to the potential for it to re-commence in the future and therefore wish to express our opposition.

It has long been understood by the scientific community that Continue reading →

Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Pumping –Dr. Bob Knight 2026-05-09

1 Reply

Published with permission, here is what Dr. Bob Knight ferreted out from USGS and the WMDs about groundwater pumping.

You’d think they would publish this information, but since they didn’t, WWALS is.

These slides (PowerPoint or PDF) don’t say anything about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the WMD and JEA plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee Basin, but this is the groundwater background to WFNF.

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

[Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Pumping Is Getting Worse --Dr. Bob Knight 2026-05-09]
Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Pumping Is Getting Worse –Dr. Bob Knight 2026-05-09

He sent these slides to various environmentalists on May 9, 2026, with this note. I asked him later in person if he minded WWALS publishing. He said go ahead.

All

Attached is an updated summary of Florida groundwater wells, permits, and reported extraction quantities from the Floridan aquifer. All data were provided by the water management districts and the USGS. But the summaries of those reams of data are my work and may not be complete and accurate in all cases. Surprisingly, the WMDs have differing data bases and few detailed summaries of these data. For now, I believe these may be the best data summaries out there. Historically (up to 2015) Richard Marella formerly with USGS reported a lot of Floridan aquifer detailed/summary data every five years. That important contribution ended in 2015 and there is no sign that it will be picked back up by the state or the USGS.

The inconvenient truth is that all groundwater extractions reduce spring flows and that data analysis indicates that the ratio is almost one to one. Measured spring flow reductions closely mirror these reported pumping totals and differ widely from groundwater flow model estimates.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Bob

Continue reading →

Leaf Area Index and Forest Water Yield, Matt Cohen, WWALS Webinar 2026-05-28

Dr. Matthew J. Cohen will present research about forest management to lower Leaf Area Index (LAI) and increase water yield.

WWALS Events Committee member Hailey Hall will give a brief introduction.

Dr. Cohen will speak for about 45 minutes.

Questions and answers will be at the end.

When: 12-1 PM, Thursday, May 28, 2026

Register to join with Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Vd2_7sR3RyWtl4fuKQ3w9g

[Leaf Area Index and Forest Water Yield, Dr. Matthew J. Cohen, WWALS Webinar 2026-05-28]
Leaf Area Index and Forest Water Yield, Dr. Matthew J. Cohen, WWALS Webinar 2026-05-28

Continue reading →

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

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 →

Tabled: Sheriff’s lease for an ICE detention center –Bradford County Commission 2026-04-16

Forty people spoke against, and not one for, the proposed ICE detention center in Starke, Bradford County, Florida. They came from all across north Florida, from Tallahassee to St. Augustine. As Mary Bauer from Gainesville said, this is really a national issue.

Several of them brought up water and sewage issues such as in the WWALS letter to Bradford County of April 6.

Sheriff Gordon Brown claimed people who came to him were three to one for it.

Outside his bubble, four of five Bradford County Commissioners said that last meeting they asked for all options for the Douglas Building to be considered, that putting only the ICE option on the agenda the previous day, with the lease and operating requirements added only 24 hours before this meeting, was rushed, and they could not vote for it. Continue reading →

WFNF discussion on the agenda –Union County Commission 2026-04-20

The agenda doesn’t say much about it, but Water First North Florida (WFNF) is on there:

9. Water First Discussion… Mac Johns

That’s on the for Union County, FL, Board of County Commissioners, 6 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026, in the Board Meeting Room, Union County Courthouse, 55 W. Main St., Lake Butler, FL 32054.

[Water First North Florida discusion on the agenda at Union County Commission, 6 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026]
Water First North Florida discusion on the agenda at Union County Commission, 6 PM, Monday, April 20, 2026

Union County sits between the New River and Olustee Creek on the Santa Fe River, which flows to the Suwannee River.

The county website link for agendas, https://unioncounty-fl.gov/agendas/, gets 404 “Page Not Found”.

But you can find the agenda on the Clerk of Court and Comptroller website. Continue reading →

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

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 →

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2026-04-12

Here is the draft agenda and the zoom parameters for the WWALS Quarterly Board meeting Sunday evening, April 12, 2026.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting

When: 6:00 PM, Sunday, April 12, 2026

What: The usual board business.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1630092761633059/

[Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees]
Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, By zoom, 6-8 PM, 2026-01-11, Advocacy, outings, events, Board, Staff, and Committees

Here is the agenda (see also Continue reading →

Baker County opposes Water First North Florida 2026-04-07

Either I just didn’t seen it when I looked a few days ago, or they added it since I looked:

VI. NEW BUSINESS

  1. Approval of Opposition Letter- Water 1st N Florida; Sara Little

Even though that’s on the agenda as “Info Only”, the Agenda Item Request Form on page 157 says “2. Recommended Motion/Action: Approve the opposition letter as submitted.” and “ASAP”

The Baker County Commission meeting started at 5 PM today, so presumably they have already approved this letter.

Thanks to St. Marys Riverkeeper Emily Floore for the tip, and she confirms Baker County did pass the motion.

[Baker County opposes Water First North Florida 2026-04-07, Environment, Public Health, Agriculture, Economy]
Baker County opposes Water First North Florida 2026-04-07, Environment, Public Health, Agriculture, Economy

For similar letters and resolutions from other counties and regional bodies, for who you can contact, including a peitition, and for much more about WFNF, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Here is the Baker County agenda for today and the relevant pages from the board packet: Continue reading →

Clean New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-03-26

Update 2026-04-04: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2026-04-01.

The rivers look clean in the test results we have: New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers.

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

Happy paddling, swimming, fishing, and boating this weekend.

Come join us tomorrow, Saturday, for Cleanup, One Mile Branch, Azalea Trail 2026-03-28.

https://wwals.net/?p=69636

Or Sunday, for Langdale Park Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2026-03-29, in conjunction with Trails4Valdosta, who will be cleaning up along the river banks.

https://wwals.net/?p=69784

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

[Clean New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers; Happy paddling, 2026-03-26]
Clean New, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers; Happy paddling, 2026-03-26

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 →