Meet for an hour and then dip in the spring, or tube if you like.
If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition to get a constitutional amendment for Right to Clean Water on the Florida ballot in 2026.
https://wwals.net/issues/right-to-clean-water/
When: Gather 10 AM, launch 11 AM, end 2 PM, Sunday, September 8, 2024
Put In: Ichetucknee Headspring, at the Ichetucknee Springs State Park North Entrance, 8294 SW Elim Church Rd, Fort White, FL 32038.
Continue readingUpdate 2024-08-02: Three more Ashburn sewage spills reported more than a week late 2024-07-20.
Update 2024-07-26: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe Rivers 2024-07-25.
Thanks to the reporter for doing this story, especially for including the material about the stigma of sewage spills, which affects even Suwannee Basin rivers that are not even downstream from Valdosta, and about the economic damage of such stigma.
Please note that while Valdosta is the biggest sewage spill problem, because it is the most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin, it is far from the only city that spills sewage, and not all E. coli contamination comes from sewage; see other sources.
As noted in the story, Valdosta is spending millions of dollars to fix its sewage problems. Nobody will be happier when there are no more sewage spills than Valdosta staff and elected officials, many of whom are new since most of the notorious sewage spills happened. But that day is still some time in the future.
I’ve noted a few errata below, plus I’ve added some links and some more images.
Rylan DiGiacomo-Rapp, WUFT, July 23, 2024, North Central Florida river task force reactivated following raw sewage spills across Georgia state lines, Continue reading
Update 2024-02-17: Many more Pictures: Waterkeepers Florida, Santa River and springs 2024-02-08.
The fifteen Waterkeepers of Florida gathered on the Santa Fe River Thursday to see springs, parks, and submerged aquatic vegetation.
Well, eleven of them. And we also saw a wood stork, an anhinga, a hawk, buzzards, and many turtles.
![[Banners, Springs, Santa Fe River, Waterkeepers Florida 2024-02-08]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-08--wkfl-santa-fe-merrillee/igmany.jpg)
Banners, Springs, Santa Fe River, Waterkeepers Florida 2024-02-08
No manatees, though, despite the best efforts of expert guide Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson of the outfitter Rum138 and Our Santa Fe River (OSFR).
We were going to put in at Rum Island, but that county park was closed, it turns out to install the ostentatious swimming barrier you see pictured. So we put in at Merrillee’s house; thanks Merrillee.
We paddled into Gilchrist Blue Spring, Ginnie Springs, and many others.
Many more pictures later; these are some Merrillee sent.
As you can tell by the banner picture I took, WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper organized this outing.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/
Some people are interested in whether PFAS from titanium dioxide (TiO2) mines or other sources is getting into the New or Santa Fe Rivers in Florida.
For example, the new Chemours Trail Ridge South Mine southeast of Starke, Florida, appears to drain into Double Run Creek, which runs into the Santa Fe River.
![[PFAS in Santa Fe River from TiO2 Mines?]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-12-29--pfas-suwannee-river-basin/many.jpg)
PFAS in Santa Fe River from TiO2 Mines?
Detail from WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail.
We don’t know about those rivers yet, because nobody has tested them. We do have a few datapoints for a few city drinking water systems, and they’re all clean, although Newberry, just outside the Basin, is not.
No doubt it is possible to find that data in FDEP’s Oculus Document Management System, in the same way it is possible to win a jackpot in Las Vegas. If you already know about six very specific parameters, sure, Oculus will find it. Continue reading
Joanne Tremblay says, “I was inspired to create a visual of the river’s path so folks could get a better understanding of its changes it goes through before it becomes the spring-laden stretch that most are familiar with. All my own footage, paddles are a composite from my own at different times.”
My favorite is this slide, “I will not repeat this journey”, about Worthington to Bible Camp Road: “Seven miles through tangled woods”. Continue reading
Hahira, GA, September 25, 2023 — Hahira, Georgia, September 25, 2023 — Ten musicians wrote songs and seven sang them, about the delights of the waters of the Suwannee River Basin and the need to preserve them against numerous threats. Jane Fallon came all the way from Dunedin, Florida, to the Turner Arts Center in Valdosta, Georgia, to sing a story about legendary Sun Daughters reflecting on a proposed mine near the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee River. The three judges marked her high on storytelling and presenting the value of the waters, on originality of lyrics and music, and on performance, with extra credit for naming waterways. She took home First Prize in the Sixth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.
![[Winners: Suwannee Riverkeeper; Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Best Folk; Jane Fallon, First Prize; Bacon James, Best from Outside; Kyle Bird Chamberlain and David Rodock, tie for Best from Inside; Chamberlain, Best Blues; Rodock, Best AmeriKinda; Keven Stephenson, Best Country --Chuck Roberts]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-09-22--songwriting-pictures/big/cr-380814928_2021960774807831_444638986875412388_n.jpg)
Suwannee Riverkeeper with the Winners: Cindy Bear and Franc Robert, Best Folk; Jane Fallon, First Prize; Bacon James, Best from Outside; Kyle Bird Chamberlain and David Rodock, tie for Best from Inside; Chamberlain, Best Blues; Rodock, Best AmeriKinda; Kevin Stephenson, Best Country; and Robert Thatcher (not pictured). Photo: Chuck Roberts
Jane Fallon said, “Thank you for the honor in recognizing my song ‘Chant For The Okefenokee’ in your contest. It is always a special feeling to sing a song for an audience that truly understands its meaning. Thank you also for the work you do in trying to preserve the waterways. It is so important.”
Here is the first half of her lyrics: Continue reading
“It was a good group, and it went well,” said WWALS Executive Director and Water Quality Testing Trainer Gretchen Quarterman.
![[WWALS Water Quality Training at Suwannee River State Park 2023-08-25]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/gretchen/2023-08-25--wwals-water-quality-testing-training/many.jpg)
WWALS Water Quality Training at Suwannee River State Park 2023-08-25
This training was in Florida at Suwannee River State Park on the Suwannee River.
WWALS trains by Georgia Adopt-A-Stream methods. These are not as pricey as the Florida standard of sending every sample to a lab to test.
We are aware that to be legally actionable in Florida, the Florida method must be used. However, with the AAS methods, WWALS can test more places and more frequently, to detect more problems, and to follow contamination as it flows downstream. Plus we can follow up by sending samples to a lab.
Thanks to all the trainees. And thanks to Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) for taking an interest.
Looking forward to all of you starting testing. Continue reading
The mermaid likes it.
Florida registered voters, please sign the petition to get
a state constitutional amendment for Rights to Clean and Healthy Waters
on the ballot:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org
![[The Mermaid says sign the RTCW petition]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-26--mermaid-rtcw-fl/many.jpg)
The Mermaid says sign the RTCW petition
This picture of Mermaid Danielle Shmalberg with the RTCW petition and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman was taken at the 2023 OSFR Songwriting Contest, part of RiverFest by Our Santa Fe River.
WWALS has shamelessly copied that idea for years.
Join us Friday evening, September 22, 2023, for the
sixth annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest
as part of the first-ever WWALS gala fundraising dinner,
WWALS River Revue:
https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwalsriverrevue2023/ Continue reading
After many years of massive opposition, HPS II Thursday withdrew its application for a phosphate mine “without the County taking any formal action on it.”
Union County, where HPS II also wanted to mine, rejected its application there, changed the Union County Comprehensive Plan to limit mining, and, with the assistance of Alachua County, maintained legal defense against the mine, until HPS II dropped its lawsuit last June.
So it seems safe to finally say the HPS II phosphate mine is dead.
Congratulations to all the opponents, especially Bradford Environmental Forum, Citizens Against Phosphate Mining, Sierra Club, and Our Santa Fe River (OSFR).
Suwannee Riverkeeper has opposed this mine since 2017, because it drains ito the New River and the Santa Fe River in the Suwannee River Basin, above the Floridan Aquifer. Update 2023-01-24: Added detail. Our opposition has included attending demonstrations, speaking at County Commission meetings in Union and Bradford Counties, writing letters to those Commissions, organizing Southwings small plane overflights of the mine site with opposition members from Union County and OSFR, publishing photographs from such overflights, attending coordination meetings as far away as Tampa, and attending nationwide meetings against phosphate mining. See https://wwals.net/issues/phosphate-mining/. In December 2018, the first official action of the newly-formed Waterkeepers Florida was a a Resolution Against Phosphate Mines in Florida.
HPS II withdrawing their rezoning application does raise questions about where phosphate miners will aim next. Continue reading
Update 2022-10-04: WWALS response to FERC on opposition comments of Pivotal LNG about small, inland LNG Rulemaking 2022-10-04.
Here’s how you can comment or intervene on the FERC Rulemaking on small inland LNG export facilities:
https://wwals.net/?p=59062#tocomment
It’s easy to comment or intervene, so you can do it by the deadline of September 20, 2022. Public Citizen and Food and Water Watch have already intervened. We guess they are preparing comments to convince the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to resume the responsibility it abdicated in 2015, of environmental oversight of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export facilities even when are not located where they can directly load LNG onto ocean-going tanker ships. Instead, those inland facilities send highly compressed and explosive LNG in trucks and train cars down public highways past schools, business, churches, and homes, through counties none of which have adequate emergency plans. And where-ever that gas eventually gets burned, in Europe, Caribbean, or Asia, it adds to the atmosphere more methane, a worse greenhouse gas than CO2, cooking the planet and raising sea levels. You are affected, even if you do not have an LNG export operation near you.
![[LNG tanker truck on I-75 turning onto I-10 for Jacksonville, LNG export map by WWALS]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-09-13--one-week-to-comment-FERC-LNG/many.jpg)
LNG tanker truck on I-75 turning onto I-10 for Jacksonville, LNG export map by WWALS
If you comment or intervene, we will invite you to join us and our co-signers in the series of zoom meetings we’re having with the FERC Office of Public Participation (OPP). You can help find out what OPP is actually doing. At least they’re asking for Continue reading
![[Water Protectors Meet and Greet, Sunday, 10-11 AM, 2024-09-08, Ichetucknee Springs S.P. North Entrance]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-09-08--water-protectors-meet-greet/456592692_874340434606782_4087561503827164546_n.jpg)
![[Downstream dozen Florida counties task force reactivated after raw sewage spills across Georgia state line --WUFT 2024-07-23]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-07-23--wuft-pbs-task-force/many.jpg)
![[Cover]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-11-03--exploring-the-santa-fe-river-origins/many.jpg)
![[Letter, Map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-01-19--hps-ii-withdraws-phosphate-mine-application/many.jpg)