Tag Archives: Santa Fe River

Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers 2025-05-25

Leave a reply

WWALS testers found the Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers clean this week.

Upstream of the Withlacoochee River, WWALS got surprisingly high E. coli results on Cat Creek and Beatty Branch for Thursday samples. Beatty Branch water at Cat Creek Road smelled like cattle manure. More tests will be necessary to see where that is coming from.

WWALS found Sugar Creek OK. But Valdosta once again got much higher results for Sugar Creek, Meanwhile, Valdosta and WWALS results upstream at US 41 and Langdale Park were pretty close together. And this week’s WWALS Sugar Creek results are similar to last week’s WWALS results. We’ve never seen this kind of discrepancy between Valdosta and WWALS results before.

Downstream on the Withlacoochee GA 133 was OK by Valdosta, which is strange considering Valdosta’s Sugar Creek results.

Valdosta had a tiny 2,000-gallon sewage spill onto dry land Monday at its Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). No other new sewage spills have been reported in the past week in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

Downstream from the WWTP at US 84 was OK by Valdosta. A WWALS test was even better farther downstream on the Withlacoochee River, near the Suwannee River.

There was no rain for a week before these samples, but it rained later Thursday, and more rain is predicted this weekend. So more contamination may wash into the waterways.

I’d avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, But if you can beat the rain, happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend.

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

[Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream]
Beatty Branch smelled like cattle manure, controversial Sugar Creek 2025-05-25, clean Alapaha and Santa Fe Rivers, Withlacoochee clean downstream

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 →

Request: Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone –Citizens to FWC 2025-07-29

Leave a reply

If you like Linda’s request for a Springs Protection Zone on the Lower Ichetucknee River, you can join many others in writing to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWC), using this handy form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYFArSQsstOauhRVYTCMoikXYIo0i_gDmkuDlbTC-7OSsgQQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=114012348461689332646

Or you can write to:

Captain Rachel Bryant <Rachel.bryant@myfwc.com>
Major Bill Holcomb <William.holcomb@myfwc.com>
Rob Klepper <Robert.klepper@myfwc.com>

[Request to Florida FWC, Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone, No Wake Zone, Turtles and Personal Watercraft]
Request to Florida FWC, Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone, No Wake Zone, Turtles and Personal Watercraft

Date: July 29, 2025

To: Captain Rachel Bryant (Rachel.bryant@myfwc.com)
Major Bill Holcomb (William.holcomb@myfwc.com)
Rob Klepper (Robert.klepper@myfwc.com)

From: Linda L. Weseman

Subject: Request to Create a Springs Protection Zone on the Lower Ichetucknee River

Current recreational use by motorized vessels on the lower half of the Ichetucknee spring run is resulting in shoreline erosion and turbidity that is detrimental to the overall health of the spring run. These issues are primarily and predominantly caused by motorboats and personal watercrafts (PWCs). It is recommended that the Commission establish a Springs Protection Zone that creates a no wake zone on the Ichetucknee from the boundary of Ichetucknee Springs State Park to the confluence at the Santa Fe River, the “lower Ichetucknee”. It is additionally recommended that personal watercrafts, PWCs, be restricted from operating on this section of the Ichetucknee spring run.

The purpose of establishing a no wake zone on the lower Ichetucknee is to Continue reading →

Clean Santa Fe River 2025-09-10, Filthy Sugar Creek, Dirty upstream Withlacoochee River 2025-09-11

2 Replies

Update 2025-09-19: Filthy creeks, Clean downstream Withlacoochee River 2025-09-17.

Introducing new WWALS testers Bob Mills and Kurt Hurzeler, who got zero (0) E. coli at Mills Dock on the Santa Fe River for Wednesday, September 10.

We also have not pretty Valdosta Utilities results for September 11 for Valdosta creeks and upstream at US 41 on the Withlacoochee River. Sugar Creek at Gornto Road was back up to several times the 1,000 alert limit less than a week after WWALS tester Suzy Hall got an OK result at Gornto Road on Sugar Creek. There had been no rain, so this is puzzling.

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

No rain is predicted until Monday.

So avoid Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River near it, and happy paddling, boating, swimming, and fishing.

We’ll have another water quality report Friday.

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

[Clean Santa Fe River and downstream Withlacoochee 2025-09-10, Filthy Sugar Creek and Dirty upstream Withlacoochee 2025-09-11]
Clean Santa Fe River and downstream Withlacoochee 2025-09-10, Filthy Sugar Creek and Dirty upstream Withlacoochee 2025-09-11

Continue reading →

Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? –Grist 2025-09-04

Update 2025-09-05: Clean Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-09-04.

What is overflowing in that floodwater from those five Chemours mines on Trail Ridge at the top of the Santa Fe River Basin?

“If I lived near Chemours, I’d be paranoid too,” said John Quarterman, who serves as the Suwannee Riverkeeper, a staff position for an organization of the same name that advocates for conservation of the numerous watersheds within the Suwannee River Basin. “Some of the stuff they’re paranoid about is probably actually happening, but it’s hard to document which of it is and which of it isn’t.”

Until the Florida Department of Environmental Protection takes frequent measurements up and down the state’s rivers, Quarterman said, it will be difficult to pin down the impact of Chemours’ activities. And without such studies, he said, it’s difficult to identify bad actors — let alone hold them accountable.

WWALS has a volunteer water quality monitoring program, and two recently-trained testers may start testing in the Santa Fe River Basin soon.
https://wwals.net/issues/testing

[Is Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? --Grist 2025-09-04]
Is Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? –Grist 2025-09-04

Sachi Kitajima Mulkey, Ayurella Horn-Muller, Grist, September 4, 2025, Waterlogged and contaminated: In rural Florida, locals suspect a mining company is to blame for their flooding troubles: Residents are trying to connect the dots between hurricanes, high radium levels, and a mineral mining giant next door.

The storm had passed, but the water kept rising. In September 2017, Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida, causing tides to surge and dumping about a foot of water across much of the state. A few days later, Jane Blais stood on a bridge with her neighbors near her High Springs ranch, watching the Santa Fe River below swell higher and higher.

“We had zero notice,” Blais said, Continue reading →

SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining –SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11

Update 2025-09-05: Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? –Grist 2025-09-04.

SRWMD knew the mineral rights were already leased for mining by Chemours when SRWMD bought the Double Run Creek property from Rayonier. SRWMD did not intend to use the property for public access or recreation.

SRWMD writes, “The primary goal of the acquisition was to support Camp Blanding military buffers, while subsequently exploring the opportunity for flood abatement and water resource development projects.”

So why didn’t Armory Board State of Florida buy it, since that’s the entity that owns the rest of Camp Blanding? And what sort of “flood abatement and water resource development projects” were contemplated?

[SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining, SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11]
SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining, SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11

Here’s an excerpt from a reply to Carol Mosley by Troy Roberts, Office Chief, Communications and Outreach, Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD):

To answer your questions, the mining rights for the Double Run Creek property were not available for purchase at the time of acquisition and were not offered as part of the transaction. The rights were previously leased by a third party with the intent that mining operations would continue, which the District was aware of at the time of acquisition. Any subsequent transactions regarding the mining rights would not fall under District jurisdiction.

The primary goal of the acquisition was to support Camp Blanding military buffers, while subsequently exploring the opportunity for flood abatement and water resource development projects. This language is expressly listed in the District’s resolution for the land purchase, which the Board approved. Recreation and public access were not included as primary goals of the acquisition.

The management plan references public access and recreation, only if the opportunities do not interfere with a project. The site is still considered a project area.

Because the property is managed by the Florida Department of Military Affairs, any public access to the property would be initiated and led by that agency. Questions regarding future access and timing should be directed to the Florida Department of Military Affairs, per the management agreement.

If the purchase was to support Camp Blanding, why didn’t Armory Board State of Florida buy it, since that’s the entity that owns the rest of Camp Blanding?

What sort of “flood abatement and water resource development projects” would those be?

And here is Carol Mosley’s followup, sent by her to WWALS with permission to post. Continue reading →

SRWMD & SJRWMD aquifer recharge project update @ SRWMD 2025-07-08

Update 2025-08-31: SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining –SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11.

A billion dollars to run Jacksonville and JEA treated wastewater through wetlands in the Suwannee River Basin and into the Floridan Aquifer: this proposal was presented to the SRWMD Board this month.

Nevermind that sewage effluent carries PFAS forever chemicals into wetlands. After contaminating all the wetland wildlife, PFAS would continue into the Florida Aquifer, from which we all drink.

[SRWMD & SJRWMD aquifer recharge project update @ SRWMD 2025-07-08, What about PFAS? and limits on water withdrawals?]
SRWMD & SJRWMD aquifer recharge project update @ SRWMD 2025-07-08, What about PFAS? and limits on water withdrawals?

A SRWMD Board member pointed out that desalination of seawater would cost less. Another pointed out that Jacksonville would just suck the water back out of the aquifer. More on board comments below.

Instead, how about Jacksonville and JEA treat their effluent to drinking water standards and reuse it for themselves? The money they save from pumping it to any of those recharge areas would be enormous. That would use less groundwater, so there would be less need for recharge.

The excuse for this project is increasing population needing more water. Continue reading →

PFAS in sewage effluent used to restore wetlands 2025-07-18

Update 2025-07-25: SRWMD & SJRWMD aquifer recharge project update @ SRWMD 2025-07-08.

It’s well-established that ordinary wastewater treatment does not remove PFAS forever chemicals. Yet two Florida Water Management Districts want to use treated wastewater from Jacksonville into wetlands to “restore” levels and flows in the Santa Fe River and many springs in the Suwannee Basin.

[PFAS in sewage effluent used to restore wetlands, Maybe into Nutrien Phosphate Mine wetlands on Swift Creek]
PFAS in sewage effluent used to restore wetlands, Maybe into Nutrien Phosphate Mine wetlands on Swift Creek

See the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) YouTube video of its July 8, 2025, Governing Board meeting:
https://www.youtube.com/live/9pousRkUayc?si=R8KNhx524INgVNW-&t=4120

It’s hard to tell from that project’s map, but it sure looks like one of the target wetlands is at the top of Swift Creek in the Nutrien Phosphate Mine in Hamlton County. Continue reading →

Nitrate monitoring and mining on SRWMD land –Suwannee Riverkeeper to SRWMD Board 2025-07-08

Update 2025-07-21: PFAS in sewage effluent used to restore wetlands 2025-07-18.

I did get answers from the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) about nitrate testing for springs, but no response about the Chemours application to mine on SRWMD land in Bradford County in the Santa Fe River Basin, using mineral rights retained by Rayonier.

[Nitrate monitoring of springs and Mining on SRWMD land, --Suwannee Riverkeeper to SRWMD Board 2025-07-08]
Nitrate monitoring of springs and Mining on SRWMD land, –Suwannee Riverkeeper to SRWMD Board 2025-07-08

Surprisingly, nobody showed up to speak at the recent SRWMD Board meeting in item 6. Public Comment. See SRWMD’s YouTube video at 15:28.
https://www.youtube.com/live/9pousRkUayc?si=VoUYIbT4Ak8SKlGV&t=928 Continue reading →

Agendas: WWALS Annual Member Meeting and Quarterly Board Meeting 2025-07-13

Here are the agendas and zoom parameters for the two meetings Sunday evening, July 13, 2025.

Zoom Registration Required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/OBgEA_jQTpKP3NKu8o8TPw

WWALS Annual Member Meeting

When: 6 PM, Sunday, July 13, 2025

What: Presentation of Annual Report, and WWALS members elect some board members.

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting

When: 6:30 PM, Sunday, July 13, 2025

What: WWALS Board members elect officers for one year terms, and do the usual board business.

Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/711860431701498/

[Annual Member Meeting & Quarterly Board Meeting, Election of some Board Members, Election of Officers 2025-07-13]
Annual Member Meeting & Quarterly Board Meeting, Election of some Board Members, Election of Officers 2025-07-13

AMM

PDF of agenda for the Annual Member Meeting. Continue reading →

Florida Triennial Review –FDEP 2025-06-27

Every three years Florida reviews its standards for surface water quality.

The comment period this time is open from June 27 to July 18, 2025.
https://flrules.org/Gateway/View_notice.asp?id=29715385

[Florida Triennial Review --FDEP 2025-06-27 to 2025-07-18, Threatened and Endangered Species in Suwannee, Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, New Rivers]
Florida Triennial Review –FDEP 2025-06-27 to 2025-07-18, Threatened and Endangered Species in Suwannee, Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, New Rivers

This Triennal Review is being conducted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

There was a public workshop back on September 10, 2024; best to review its agenda, presentation, and Public Comment Compilation. That presentation notes there is at least one proposed rule change for springs, in RULE 62-303.354, F.A.C., NITRATE-NITRITE IN FRESHWATER SPRING VENT.

The only upcoming public meeting about this Triennial Review in FDEP’s Water Quality Standards Meeting Calendar is ERC Adoption Public Hearing for the Triennial Review of Florida’s Water Quality Standards, 9 AM, September 25, 2025, at FDEP’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Building, Conference Room 137, 3900 Commonwealth Blvd. Tallahassee, FL 32399.

So get your comments in during the comment period.

Most of it is about the rest of Florida outside the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, but a few rules and documents under review are specifically about those. Continue reading →