Standing room only last night for
two hours of how to oppose Sabal Trail and help the sun rise on Florida and the southeast,
7 PM, Thursday, January 12, 2017
at The Woman’s Club of Live Oak,
called by Suwannee Riverkeeper.
Here are links to each of the videos, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Please share widely, and you can reuse any of these videos; just cite the source, WWALS Watershed Coalition. Continue reading
SRWMD did post responses to comments from WWALS and others on the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP). A week before the planned NFRWSP adoption, same as for the agenda for the joint SRWMD-SJRWMD meeting next Tuesday in Alachua. After OSFR and WWALS posted critical blog posts, SRWMD Executive Director Noah Valenstein sent us and others an offer to meet this Friday in Live Oak to discuss. While many (including me), thanked him for his collegial offer, nobody took him up on it. See you in Alachua Tuesday (facebook event).
Below are Noah Valenstein’s letter and my response. Continue reading
Update 2017-01-19: Videos: NFRWSP Plan passed at joint SRWMD-SJRWMD Board Meeting 2017-01-17.
Update 2017-01-12: SRWMD did post responses to comments on the NFRWSP: they posted them a week in advance of planned adoption. Come on down to Alachua Tuesday!
Next week in Alachua without further public meetings or response to those who wrote in, SRWMD and SJRWMD plan to approve the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP), as the only item on the agenda.
When: 11AM Tuesday 17 January 2017
Where: 15100 NW 142nd Terrace, Alachua, FL 32615
Event: facebook
WWALS never got a response to our letter about the NFRWSP, not about less water withdrawal, nor about better modeling and data, nor about more water retention, nor specifically about ditching the Rube Goldberg Falling Creek Aquifer Recharge Project for Dennis Price P.G.’s more cost-effective solution, nor with any mention of participation from farther afield in Florida nor in Georgia, for that matter.
The language of the memorandum accompanying the agenda is rather Orwellian:
The NFRWSP has identified sufficient sources of water to meet the needs of the environment and the projected demands through 2035.
That sounds like the environment is making projected demands. Actually, the maps in the NFRWSP are pretty clear that Jacksonville is making the most demands for water, along with other cities and corporate agriculture, and the plan would take from the environment, mostly from the Suwannee River Basin, to get that water.
Our Santa Fe River sums it up pretty well: Continue reading
Update 2017-10-13: WWALS Videos of all the speakers.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Live Oak, Florida, January 4, 2017
—Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas is drilling its 36-inch fracked
methane pipeline under the Suwannee and Withlacoochee (south) Rivers
in Florida right now. It already caused a frac-out of drilling mud
into the Withlacoochee River in Georgia and a sinkhole, plus more
sinkholes where it drilled under the Santa Fe River in Florida. How
did this happen? What can we do to stop this unnecessary,
destructive, and hazardous corporate boondoggle?
Suwannee Riverkeeper calls water protectors to rally in Live Oak
against the Sabal Trail pipeline and for our property rights,
rivers, and the Floridan Aquifer.
When: 7 PM, Thursday, January 12, 2017
Where: The Woman’s Club of Live Oak, 1308 11th Street SW, Live Oak, FL 32064
Agenda: Continue reading
Update 17 Dec 2016: What would you add? Comment here or send email to wwalswatershed@gmail.com. There will be a longer second version of this post.
Many new people and organizations are joining the opposition to the Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail fracked methane pipeline.
Many of them ask me: why are we opposing this pipeline?
It’s simple: our water, land, and air are more important than
profit for a few utility executives and a few fossil fuel companies from Houston, Texas and Alberta, Canada.
Solar power is now cheaper, faster to install, and far less destructive than any other power source, so the Sunshine State should turn directly to the sun.
Three years ago FPL said Sabal Trail was needed for new Florida electricity. FPL’s 2016 Ten Year Plan says Florida needs no new electricity until 2024 at the earliest. So why should we accept any destruction or risk for an unnecessary pipeline?
We were assured by Sabal Trail and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s one witness testified under oath in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP: Continue reading
Georgia EPD found Sabal Trail out of its right of way at Okapilco Creek in Brooks County,
and an enforcement action is being prepared.
This was while investigating the
possible wetlands and water violations reported by WWALS.
So reports do sometimes work, although sometimes for violations different
than the ones you thought you were reporting.
Update 21 Dec 2016: Please report potential violations.
This afternoon GA-EPD called me to provide a preliminary report on what they found when they inspected the possible violations WWALS reported December 8th 2016. The call came from Tommy W. Fowler, Program Manager, Southwest District, Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). These are my notes on what he said, in order from the WWALS complaint filing: Continue reading
Update 2016-12-08: Complaint filed with GA-EPD, USACE, FERC:
PDF.
We didn’t see any silt fences where Sabal Trail has red pipe laid out across Okapilco Creek and Little Creek,
north of Coffee Road, west of GA 333 in Brooks County, Georgia, between Barwick and Barney.
Red pipe, Okapilco Creek Middle Bridge, Sabal Trail, 30.9174160, -83.5892520
The crowd was very attentive to every word about
wastewater and flood prevention,
with officials from the City of Valdosta presenting in
the first of a new quarterly WWALS speaker series.
If you didn’t come, you can see and hear in these videos
Henry Hicks
about wastewater,
Emily Davenport
about flood prevention,
Tim Carroll
about solar power,
and Sementha Mathews
about how to get more information from Valdosta.
WWALS Treasurer and acting Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman
opened
and
closed the meeting.
Each talk had many small but important stories, so we will probably blog more posts about those. Meanwhile, here are the videos: see for yourself! Continue reading
It does rain some times. Back in September at Hagan Bridge on GA 122 over the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County, Georgia on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail. The USGS gage at Skipper Bridge read 8 feet (128.5 NAVD).
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Very dry, and this was a week ago Sunday, with a bit more than 23 feet on the Nobles Ferry USGS gage.
Surprisingly, the water’s not much lower now according to that gage.
Somebody asked us at Suwannee River Roots Revival: why is the Suwannee River so low? He was from the Atlantic coast of Florida, where they just had hurricanes, and didn’t realize: none of that rain fell upstream inland in Florida and Georgia up to the Okefenokee Swamp.
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Continue reading