Dear FDEP, please raise no pollutant limits, do more water quality monitoring, and publish all testing results in days, not months.
Continue readingTag Archives: Orlando
![[More water quality monitoring]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-05-31--wwals-fdep-triennial-review/2019-05-30--WWALS-FDEP-Triennial-Review-0001.jpg)
SRWMD Water Quality Monitoring 2019-04-25
Confirmed today by telephone: FDEP is analyzing DNA and human tracers such as sucralose monthly at at least three stations: on the Withlacoochee and Alapahoochee Rivers at the Georgia-Florida line, and at the Withlacoochee River Confluence with the Suwannee River at Ellaville. Those are the top center left blue stars on this map.
![[Surface water Trend Stations]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-04-25--srwmd-fl-rivers-task-force-wq-monitoring/20190425-Water-Quality-Monitoring-Final-0005.jpg)
Confirmed by: Darlene Velez, Water Resources Chief, Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).
This is what Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) heard in Orlando on April 15th from Continue reading
Waterkeepers Florida met FDEP in Orlando about Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards 2019-04-15
FDEP is analyzing DNA and human tracers such as sucralose monthly at at least three stations: on the Withlacoochee and Alapahoochee Rivers at the Georgia-Florida line, and at the Withlacoochee River Confluence with the Suwannee River at Ellaville. This is what Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) heard in Orlando on April 15th from FDEP’s Tom Frick. I think he may have also said at the Alapaha Confluence with the Suwannee River.
FDEP, left to right: Tom Frick (DEAR), Ken Weaver (Standards), Dave Whiting (Laboratory), Darryl Joyner (WQSP).
I asked Tom Frick about that at the meeting FDEP requested with Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) about the Florida Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards,
Unlike in Georgia, Continue reading
Waterkeepers Florida meets FDEP in Orlando: Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards 2019-04-15
This Monday, April 15, 2019, Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) will meet with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) about the federally-required Triennial Review of state Water Quality Standards. As Suwannee Riverkeeper, I ask you our members of WWALS and the public what you think I should ask FDEP in that meeting.
![[WKFL meets FDEP]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-04-15--wkfl-fdep-orlando/fl-t3-wkfl.jpg)
FYI, so far I mainly plan to ask about water quality monitoring: the need for more of it, more frequently, and published more quickly, so as to find out Continue reading
Sabal Trail still can’t keep the gas flowing 2019-01-10
Like last winter, Sabal Trail can’t keep the gas flowing during the dead of winter, the only time Florida might need heating.
This data is from Sabal Trail’s Informational Postings, which are required by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
As you can see by the numbers on Sabal Trail’s current map, even at the other stations it is shipping less than half (393) of its currently stated capacity (813). At Reunion, even the capacity is lower (711), and the amount shipped (Nom) is a sixth of that. Continue reading
Paid permitting of paddle boats and boards Tuesday? 2017-11-28
One group wouldn’t do it, so its parent may: require paid permits for paddle boats and boards in Florida.
When: 9AM, Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Where:
Mission Inn,
10400 County Road 48,
Howey-in-the-Hills, 34737
That’s a golf club resort halfway between The Villages and Orlando,
rooms $179 to $246 for Monday night.
Who: Boating Advisory Council (BAC) of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)
Event:
On the agenda
under “Unfinished Business / Updates”:
“Non-Motorized Boat Working Group Recommendations Review — William Griswold”
TripAdvisor, Mission Inn Resort & Club, 10400 County Road 48, Howey in the Hills, FL 34737-3000
How to Comment: Continue reading
This is wind in our sails and could be the end of Sabal Trail –Suwannee Riverkeeper in VDT 2017-08-24
Update 2017-08-29: Fourth news roundup: From pipelines to renewable energy and efficiency –Sierra Club 2017-08-29
“This is wind in our sails and could be the end of Sabal Trail,” Quarterman said, on the front page of the newspaper of record in the largest city in the Suwannee Basin, the Valdosta Daily Times.
We got sails no one can see.
Suwannee Riverkeeper Vessel on the Suwannee River protesting Sabal Trail 2017-01-14
As Frank Jackalone says (see below), FERC has been getting away with murder. And now maybe they can’t.
Thomas Lynn, Valdosta Daily Times, 23 August 2017, Court decision to impact Sabal Trail pipeline, Continue reading
Presto, there’s plenty of water in Florida? –Jim Gross @ WiLFest 2017-06-17
Jim Gross showed at WiLFest in Orlando Gainesville what he described later in the Orlando Sentinel:
“It was known by everyone in the agency that we had more demand than groundwater. Did the science completely change overnight? Now, ‘Presto! There’s plenty?’”
Jim Gross showing central Florida as far over sustainable withdrawals at WiLFest in Orlando Gainesville 2017-06-17
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS
Lauren Ritchie, Orlando Sentinel, 30 June 2017, Commentary: Stop letting developments such as The Villages suck up water, Continue reading
Florida may require licensing of paddle boats and boards
Here’s a bad idea that doesn’t seem to die: making people pay to register non-motorized boats in Florida.
Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 29 January 2017, Florida may require licensing for kayaks, canoes, paddle boards,
No registration or permit needed for this
U.S. Coast Guard Vessel ID Sticker
A citizens panel assembled by state-boating authorities will meet in Orlando on Wednesday to explore what could become a path to adopting registration and fees for small boats powered by humans, wind and currents.
“That sounds like Continue reading
Protests across Florida against Sabal Trail, which is worse than reporters think
It’s not just two connected pipelines; it’s at least five just in Florida. Audubon Florida did endorse Sabal Trail starting with FPL’s first announcement. And sure, Ms. Grover, your “safety programs are designed to prevent pipeline failures”, but they haven’t actually stopped numerous incidents of corrosion, leaks, explosions, and compressor station blowouts. Other than those things, it’s a pretty good story.
Beth Kassab and Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 2017-04-01, Gas pipeline across Central Florida brings cheap energy and protests,
The WWALS Watershed Coalition, which advocates for protection of Florida and Georgia rivers, has staunchly opposed nearly every aspect of Sabal Trail, which crosses under the Suwannee, Santa Fe and many other rivers.
South to Suwannee River, HDD Suwannee County, RoW with pipe already buried, 30.4117310, -83.1566490
Coalition spokesman John Quarterman called the pipeline a profit bonanza for private companies and a boondoggle for utility customers.
Well, I said it’s a boondoggle for the utility, namely FPL, at the expense of its customers. Here’s why I say that, including Continue reading