Thanks to Julie Shutters for training us at Reed Bingham State Park in water quality testing by Georgia Adopt-A-Stream methods.
As you can see, it was deadly serious. Maybe those of you who couldn’t make it this time can Continue reading
Tag Archives: quality
Veto Roads to Ruin toll expressway bill –90 Florida organizations to Governor DeSantis 2019-05-01
Update 2019-05-02: Please remember to send your letter to FL Gov. DeSantis.
SB 7068 passed today, 76 to 36. Please call or write Florida Governor DeSantis.
Sierra Club has already published a call urging Gov. DeSantis to veto this “Roads to Ruin” toll expressway bill. WWALS is a signatory, among the six Florida Waterkeepers signed on, with 90 total organizations.
Why is Florida even considering building more toll roads while the Panhandle’s homes, businesses, and agriculture are still in ruins after Hurricane Michael?
Photo:
PORT ST. JOE RESIDENT FOR PHILLYVOICE,
The destruction of Hurricane Michael on Florida’s Mexico Beach.
As the letter to Gov. DeSantis says: “Providing safe shelters for evacuees is a more practical and affordable response to extreme weather events than new toll expressways.”
For Immediate Release
May 1, 2019Contact: Frank Jackalone, frank.jackalone@sierraclub.org, 727-824-8813, x302; 727-804-1317
Paul Owens, powens@1000fof.org, 850-222-6277 x102, 407-222-2301STATEWIDE ALLIANCE URGES GOVERNOR DESANTIS TO VETO “ROADS TO RUIN” TOLL EXPRESSWAY BILL
Florida taxpayers, rural communities, the Everglades, and water quality are at riskTallahassee —Today 90 conservation organizations, civic groups, and businesses representing the Panhandle to the Keys sent a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis urging him to veto the Transportation Corridor bill, SB 7068, when it arrives on his desk.
The letter to the Governor follows similar letters sent to the Senate and House last week and will test the Governor’s post-inaugural declarations of dedication to protecting the Everglades, the springs, and the state’s water quality.
The letter:
Continue reading
Water trails, agriculture, urban goals, pipelines, water quality monitoring –WWALS to GA-EPD 2019-04-26
Attendees from the Suwannee River Basin were the majority at the first public meeting about Georgia EPD’s revisions to its Nonpoint Source Management Plan. Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman attended, as did Erica McLelland and Julie Shutters.
![[Timeline]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-04-26--wwals-ga-epd-nonpoint/20190329_101345.jpg)
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS (yes, I’ve ordered a new camera lens).
At the end of the public comment period, WWALS sent in the letter below (see also PDF), which brings in many issues, focusing them all on water quality testing.
April 26, 2019
Continue readingJim Tatum reports on FL Rivers Task Force meeting 2019-04-25
Thanks to Jim Tatum of OSFR for reporting from the April 25th meeting of the twelve-Florida-county Rivers Task Force meeting in Lake City. His Task Force on Valdosta Spills says the Task Force is asking Florida Senator Rubio to speed permitting for Valdosta’s WWTP catch basin. It doesn’t say whether they get the point that the other third of Valdosta’s December spills would not be affected by that.
It says they’re still agonizing about direct notification of spills. Our experience with Valdosta and that of many others is that it’s not worth wasting time expecting Valdosta to notify anybody except the state of Georgia, which is why it’s so useful that GA-EPD publishes Sewage Spill Reports each business day. That’s been going on since December 20, 2018, after 30 organizations in Georgia and Florida, including OSFR, signed a resolution asking GA-EPD to do that.
Photo: Jim Tatum for OSFR;
Darlene Velez of SRWMD explains the water quality missions of the state agencies.
The hot button at the moment is water quality monitoring and sampling. Thanks to OSFR’s Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and WWALS ‘ John Quarterman, it was revealed some time ago that water sampling has been less than adequate by our (and Georgia’s) agencies, lacking even a baseline for comparison in places.
Once called out, the agencies have been scrambling and Ms. Velez’ PowerPoint covered this wonderfully. Your writer did not know that Continue reading
75 organizations oppose proposed Florida toll roads: HB 7113/SB 7068 2019-04-25
Floridians, please call your Florida statehouse representative today. SB 7068 passed the Florida Senate already, so we all need to head off HB 7113 in the Florida House.
For Immediate Release (PDF)
April 25, 2019
Contact: David Cullen, cullenasea@aol.com, 941-323-2404
Diana Umpierre, diana.umpierre@sierraclub.org, 954-829-7632
John S. Quarterman, contact@suwanneeriverkeeper.org, 850-290-2350
75 ORGANIZATIONS, BUSINESSES URGE HOUSE TO STOP TOLL ROADS
Transportation Corridors bills are bad deal for Florida taxpayers
Legislature’s planned road project could benefit Florida’s richest man,
by Julie Hauserman, Florida Phoenix,March 21, 2019.
Tallahassee — Today 75 conservation organizations, civic groups, and businesses representing every corner of the state sent a letter to the Florida House of Representatives urging a no vote on the Transportation Corridor bills (SB 7068/HB 7113).
The letter to the House follows a similar letter sent to the Senate on Monday and will be followed by a separate letter to Governor DeSantis urging a veto of the toll road plan if the House does not put the brakes on the legislation passed by the Senate on Wednesday.
The letter: Continue reading
Valdosta Water Quality Testing Data 2019-04-23
Fecal coliform in Onemile Branch was way above the Georgia state limit of 200, in Valdosta’s followup water quality monitoring after their spill of more than 100,000 gallons of raw sewage at Wainwright Drive, just downstream from Valdosta State University.
![[2018-02-03 Wainwright Drive Onemile Branch]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-04-23--vld-wq-data/2018-02-03--wainwright-drive-onemile-branch.jpg)
2018-02-03 Wainwright Drive Onemile Branch
We know this because, in response to a Georgia Open Records Act request from WWALS, Alys Hannum of GA-EPD sent this data, on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. She wrote: Continue reading
Georgia Water Coalition Spring Partner Meeting 2019-04-24
Naturally, what happened in the Georgia legislature is the most prevalent topic at the Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) Spring Partner Meeting, such as about coal ash and trust funds. I provoked extended discussion of the value of Capitol Conservation Day: even if it’s hard to get to see a legislator when that many people are there, the mere fact that so many people are there affected legislation.
There are also breakout sessions on the Georgia Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards. (You can sign up to help upgrade our Suwannee River Basins.) All the Riverkeepers of Georgia are involved, and Water Trails are very relevant.
Speaking: Rena Peck Stricker, E.D., Georgia River Network
WWALS Ambassador Dave Hetzel is second row from the back, second from the right.
My Georgia Beer Co. hat is on the left (have I mentioned they are the top-level sponsor of our Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest and a sponsor of our BIG Little River Paddle Race)),
two rows in front of Gordon Rogers’ Save the Flint shirt.
After Continue reading
Rivers Task Force meeting, Lake City, Florida 2019-04-25
Agenda (PDF):
AGENDA
MIDDLE AND LOWER SUWANNEE RIVER AND
WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER TASK FORCEApril 25, 2019
4:00 p.m.Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites
213 Southwest Commerce Boulevard
Lake City, Florida
- INVOCATION
- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
- INTRODUCTIONS
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES – February 28, 2019*
- REPORT ON ACTIVITIES
- Florida Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee Testimony
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary and Governor’s Staff Meeting
- Joint Task Force and City of Valdosta City Council Workshop
- WATER SAMPLING SCHEDULE AND DATA
- NEXT STEPS
* See Attachments
See also:
Training for Water Quality Testing, RBSP after BLRPR 2019-04-27
Update 2019-05-02: Pictures.
After the BIG Little River Paddle Race this Saturday morning, also at Reed Bingham State Park, you can get trained to do water quality testing, at 2PM Saturday afternoon. This is both chemical and bacterial training.
When: 2PM, Saturday, April 27, 2019
Where: Shelter #3, Reed Bingham State Park, 542 Reed Bingham Rd, Adel, GA 31620
Sign up: Please use the google form to sign up so we’ll know how many are coming, Continue reading
Better bacterial levels in Valdosta WQ data 2019-04-02
All of Valdosta’s water quality sampling stations were below the Georgia state limit for E. coli for the first week of April. Valdosta no longer samples weekly, only once a month. It also no longer samples at the state line.
We got this monthly Valdosta WQ data via open records request, as usual. As I said at the April 10, 2019 meeting between Valdosta and the dozen Florida counties, I also filed the next day open records requests for Valdosta’s permit-required spill-followup test data, and for the engineering study they said they had related to how big the new catch basin needs to be. Yesterday I got the latest monthly data a day late, but only a “working on it” about the other two requests. I will now Continue reading