Tag Archives: Santa Fe River

Colossal aggregation of Redeye Chubs 8 years ago –Ken Sulak 2015-08-15

Back in the day—15 Aug 2015—Gilchrist Blue Spring, before the boardwalk and steps were damaged by a storm and removed.

I was there the next day—phenomenal aggregation—not seen again by me since there or elsewhere. Spawning?? Feeding?? The bottom of the run then was carpeted by Hydrilla about 1-2″ high, having been munched to a Hydrilla-turf carpet by Suwannee Cooters which arrived that summer in the hundreds to munch. That changed my mind about Hydrilla removal—maybe better to leave it alone as turtle pasture. I would like to see the chubs and turtles like that again.

[Gozillions of Redeye Chubs! Photo by diver/photographer Danielle Shmalberg from Orlando.] Gozillions of Redeye Chubs! Photo by diver/photographer Danielle Shmalberg from Orlando, Now Danielle Marsh, actually from Gainesville.

Back in 1994-1998 big schools of chubs were present in the Val bed right at the kayak launch at Iche St. Park. These minnows are highly associated with submerged aquatic vegetation, typically living within the Val forest, but have greatly declined in abundance now. Loss of habitat I suppose.

Ken Sulak

 -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/

Clean Rivers and some dirty creeks 2023-10-26

Update 2023-11-03: Clean rivers, dirty Sugar Creek 2023-11-02.

This was another week with no rain, and the rivers were mostly clean: the Withlacoochee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers. Not clean were Franks Creek that runs into the Little River and Sugar Creek that runs into the Withlacoochee River. Crawford Creek of the Withlacoochee was just below the E. coli one-time test limit. That’s 11 WWALS test sites on three rivers and three creeks in two states.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-26]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-26

Joanne Tremblay got clean results at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 and at US 27, both on the Santa Fe River.

Reina Lingle got very clean results at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford and at Royal Springs, both on the Suwannee River.

New WWALS tester Debbie Smith got too-high results for Franks Creek at GA 122 just west of Hahira. Which is interesting, because that is upstream of Hahira’s Land Application Site.

Cindy Vedas got good results at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (well, OK results there), Staten Road, and Langdale Park, on the Withlacoochee River. She photographed the trash still at Langdale Park Boat Ramp from at the WWALS Langdale Park Withlacoochee River Cleanup of last Saturday. I will nudge Lowndes County Public Works to pick it up.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, and got too-high results. She also double-checked everybody else’s results. And the other testers cross-checked each others’ results.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

And, as previosly noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Mostly Clean Rivers 2023-10-19

Update 2023-10-27: Clean Rivers and some dirty creeks 2023-10-26.

With no rain this week, the rivers were mostly clean: the Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, plus Sugar Creek in Valdosta and Alligator Lake in Lake City. Except not clean were Langdale Park Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River, and Crawford Creek upstream.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-19]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-10-19

Please welcome new WWALS testers Joanne Tremblay and Reina Lingle.

Joanne got very clean results at High Springs Ramp @ US 41 on the Santa Fe River.

Reina got very clean results at Ivey Metropolitan Park in Branford on the Suwannee River.

Kimberly Tanner got very clean results at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach on the Alapaha River.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall tested Sugar Creek, just upstream from the Withlacoochee River, and got suprisingly clean results.

Cindy Vedas was out sick, but she reviewed most everybody else’s results. I tested her sites at Franklinville, Crawford Branch (bad), and Langdale Park (worse), plus Hagan Bridge and GA 133, all on the Withlacoochee River, and Troupville Boat Ramp on the Little River.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman tested at Clyattville-Nankin and State Line Boat Ramps, plus Sullivan Launch, all on the Withlacoochee River, and at Alligator Lake Boat Ramp in Lake City, where she taught some students and delivered a test kit to Joanne.

About Nankin, she notes, “The pile of trash just off to the side of the turn around drive is still there.” Continue reading →

North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan in SRWMD presentation to NCFRPC –Columbia County Observer 2023-10-09

Thanks to Stew Lilker for recording and analysis of a presentation about water planning in the Suwannee and St. Johns River Basins.

To answer his question: No, there won’t be enough water, unless water withdrawals are limited, which neither of the Suwannee nor St. Johns River Water Management Districts seem inclined to do.

Please sign the petition to get Right to Clean and Healthy Waters on the ballot:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org

[SRWMD, NFRWSP]
SRWMD, NFRWSP

Stew Lilker, Columbia County Observer, October 9, 2023, North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan: Just a Suggestion – Will There Be Enough Water in the Future?

Updated – October 11, 2023  2:55 am – mixed SRWMD slide deck with Observer audio for a clean presentation by Amy Brown, Ph.D. Downloading the slide deck (pdf) keeps all links at the end of the presentation live.

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (the east side of the Suwannee River Water Management District and the top half of the St. Johns River Water Management District) is being updated. The Plan focuses on the sustainability of resources. It is just a plan, and water users “are not required to implement” any options identified in the Plan.

Well, slide 24 seems to indicate some requirements. Maybe local governments don’t have to implement exactly what NFRWSP says, but I’d bet they will be strongly recommended to do so. Continue reading →

Packet: Agricultural Water Use Monitoring Report and Practical Community Resilience @ SRWMD Board 2023-09-12

There are a couple of interesting items in the SRWMD Board agenda for next week.

[Agricultural Water Use and Practical Community Resilience @ SRWMD 2023-09-12]
Agricultural Water Use and Practical Community Resilience @ SRWMD 2023-09-12

The Agricultural Water Use Monitoring Report says most agricultural water wells 8-inches or larger in diameter are being monitored. But it doesn’t say what the results are. More flow? Less? To be continued, I suppose.

The SRWMD Practical Community Resilience through Enhanced Risk MAP Outreach for the Suwannee River Water Management District is a plan based on federal funding. It has a map showing all the Florida Suwannee River Basin counties are Florida Statute Fiscally Constrained Counties. Maybe it will have some results later.

What: SUWANNEE RIVER WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD MEETING AND PUBLIC HEARING
The Public Hearing is about millage.
The PDF for that, as well as the board packet, is on the WWALS website.

When: 3 PM, Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Where: District Headquarters, Live Oak, Florida

GoTo Webinar Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1360284333254296661

Public Comment Form Link: www.MySuwanneeRiver.com/Comments

Pictures of the two reports mentioned, plus the agenda, are below. Continue reading →

Hurricane Idalia landing in Florida, more Georgia counties on Hurricane Watch 2023-08-30

Cedar Key is getting high winds from Hurricane Idalia, and Steinhatchee’s weather camera is offline, while the National Weather Service has added more Georgia counties to its Hurricane Watch; all Florida Suwannee River Basin Counties were already in Hurricane Watch.

If you’re in Florida, hunker down. If you’re in Georgia, you may have time for some last-minute preparations. Either way, most schools and businesses are closed today in the Hurricane Watch counties, so there’s not much need to go out in the rain and wind.

Also, don’t buy water in plastic bottles. Fill pots, jugs, buckets, and bathtubs with tap or well water.

Watch your local county or city Emergency Management Agency. Have your power utility outage number handy.

Dear central and south Florida urban sophisticates: we know you’re used to this. In the rural Suwannee River Basin a Category 3 hurricane is unusual, especially one making landfall where it is, and likely to stay a hurricane so far inland.

Also, many of us remember Hurricane Michael, which only five years ago devastated the Florida Big Bend and trashed Albany, Georgia, on a path only a bit farther west than Hurricane Idalia. So this is not a joke to those of us who live here.

Better safe than sorry.

[Hurricane Watch in more Georgia Counties, High winds at Cedar Key, Hurricane Idalia, 2023-08-30 06:00]
Hurricane Watch in more Georgia Counties, High winds at Cedar Key, Hurricane Idalia, 2023-08-30 06:00

Since our last post, NWS JAX has added to the Hurricane Watch Suwannee River Basin Georgia counties Thomas, Cook, Berrien, Atkinson, and Coffee, along with more counties northeastward, Jeff Davis, Bacon, Pierce, Brantley, Apppling, Appling, Wayne, Tatnall, Long, Evans, and along the coast McIntosh, Liberty, Bryan, and Chatham Counties. All the Florida Suwannee River Basin Counties were already on Hurricane Watch.

All the nearby Georgia and Florida counties are on Tropical Storm Warning, as far west as Albany in Dougherty County. Continue reading →

Georgia declares State of Emergency for Hurricane Idalia 2023-08-29

Update 2023-08-30: Hurricane Idalia landing in Florida, more Georgia counties on Hurricane Watch 2023-08-30.

The Georgia governor has declared a State of Emergency about Hurricane Idalia for the entire state.

[Georgia State of Emergency, Hurricane Watch Counties 2023-08-29 14:27]
Georgia State of Emergency, Hurricane Watch Counties 2023-08-29 14:27

Like the earlier Florida State of Emergency, this Georgia one mobilizes numerous state agencies and enables cooperation with relevant federal agencies.

The Executive Order does not name any counties, but the press release names almost all the Suwannee River Basin Counties on the GA-FL line (Brooks, Lowndes, Echols, Clinch, Ware, and Charlton), plus Lanier, but not Thomas. Continue reading →

Tell FDEP: stop withdrawing our springs 2023-08-28

According to a 2016 Florida state law, FDEP is supposed to “adopt uniform rules for issuing permits that prevent groundwater withdrawals harmful to the water resources and a uniform definition of the term “harmful to the water resources” to provide water management districts with minimum standards necessary to be consistent with the overall water policy of the state for Outstanding Florida Springs.“

The department’s writeup even says, “The rule is likely to affect consumptive use permitting in the Northwest Florida, Suwannee River, St. Johns River and Southwest Florida water management districts.”

Well, it won’t limit permitting in its current form.

[Agenda for 2023-08-28 and Madison Blue Spring 2022-06-04]
Agenda for 2023-08-28 and Madison Blue Spring 2022-06-04

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is holding a workshop on development of this rule.

You can ask them to actually follow the law and protect our springs.

That’s 11 AM, Monday, August 28, 2023, at the
Alachua County Headquarters Library, Meeting Room A,
401 E University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601.

Sierra Club Florida has an RSVP form

Here is the agenda: Continue reading →

FL Gov signed sprawl bill: need Rights to Clean Water 2023-06-08

Thanks to everyone who asked the Florida Governor to veto the sprawl bill, HB 359 / SB 540. But he signed it anyway, so now anyone who sues to stop a comprehensive plan change and loses has to pay the other side’s legal bills.

And the Supreme Court drastically limited the scope of the Clean Water Act in its decision in Sackett II.

Now we really need Right to Clean Water in Florida as a constitutional amendment. Please sign the petition and ask all your Florida registered voter friends and relatives to do so.
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/petition

With enough signatures, the RTCW petition can get a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2024, and there is nothing the legislature or governor can do to stop it.

[Right to Clean Water, FL SB 540]
Right to Clean Water, FL SB 540

Georgians, please encourage Floridians to sign the petition.

Here’s an explanation of why other means won’t work,
“Floridians who’ve been following along know that we are not going to achieve anything remotely resembling such protections through legislative action, which is why supporting this amendment is a no-brainer.”

Cheryl Lasse, Palm Beach Post, June 8, 2023, New Florida law and court ruling leave state’s waterways in peril, Continue reading →

SRWMD recommends seven springs projects for Florida state funding 2023-05-16

These springs protection recommendations presumably took place at the SRWMD Board’s May 9, 2023, meeting in Live Oak: they were on the agenda.

[Springs and WWTF --SRWMD Board Package 2023-05-09]
Springs and WWTF –SRWMD Board Package 2023-05-09

SRWMD Press Release, May 16, 2023, Seven area projects recommended for Springs funding by SRWMD Governing Board,

LIVE OAK, FLA., MAY 16, 2023 — The Suwannee River Water Management District (District) Governing Board this month recommended seven projects to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) for Springs funding. 

The seven projects – two local government projects and five projects to a non-profit organization – total $6,106,441. This funding request is part of FDEP’s Springs and Watershed Restoration program which provides funding for projects that improve the quality and quantity of the state’s water resources. FDEP works with the water management districts, local governments, and other stakeholders to identify and implement springs projects that achieve these goals. 

“Florida is a great place to live and do business; because of this, the state continues to see tremendous growth,” said Hugh Thomas, executive director of the District. “With that growth comes the need to identify innovative ways to grow while also protecting our natural resources. Funding for projects like these is beneficial to ensuring the preservation of our local springs for generations to come.” 

Projects include:  

Continue reading →