Tag Archives: SRWMD

Update Rock Bluff Management Plan, renew Woods Ferry River Camp lease agreement @ SRWMD 2025-04-08

On the SRWMD Board Agenda for April 8, 2025, related to the Lands Committee proposal to convey three spring parks to Suwannee County, SRWMD hasn’t even finished its planned work on Telford Spring, and Falmouth Springs is still closed due to hurricane damage. See page 48 in the Land Management Update Report.

Telford Spring: In July, the District opened Telford Spring to the public. EUTAW, Inc has completed a conceptual plan to improve parking and public access. The initial phase to develop the parking lot is planned.
Storm Facility Repairs: Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene have damaged public use areas to varying degrees. Eight sites are currently undergoing plans for assessment and construction costs to repair. The sites under assessment are Suwannee Springs, Falmouth Springs, Owen Springs, Steinhatchee Falls, Blue Sink, Atsena Otie Key, and Lukens. FEMA conducted site inspections for 3 of the damaged facilities. Falmouth Springs remains closed due to damage to the boardwalk.

Collage, SRWMD Board Package 2025-04-08

Perhaps the most interesting items in the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Governing Board agenda for April 8, 2025, are these two items under “5. Consideration of the following Items Collectively by Consent:” Continue reading →

Give Suwannee, Falmouth, and Telford Springs Parks to Suwannee County –SRWMD Lands Committee 2025-04-08

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There’s nothing on the SRWMD agendas for Tuesday, April 8, 2025, about the proposal last month for a swap of the back of the SRWMD Ellaville Tract for Riverview Farms on the Withlacoochee River. Presumably negotiations are still in process. See the previous post for a petition against the swap and other things you can do:
https://wwals.net/?p=67339

But this month’s Lands Committee Agenda contains examples:

Of the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) asking the Florida Department of Environmental Proteciton (FDEP) for springs acquisition funds (as they could do to buy Riverview Farms instead of swapping for it).
This Avalon Woodlands Ravines is in Jefferson County in the Aucilla River watershed for a conservation easement with Tall Timbers Research, Inc., who would conduct all easement monitoring and compliance.
Of declaring SRWMD land surplus (as they already did years ago for the back of the Ellaville Tract).
This Turkey Island Tract is in Levy County near the Suwannee River, because “The parcel is isolated from the larger tract, with no adjacency to District lands and is located within a residential neighborhood.”

Collage, SRWMD Lands Committee 2025-04-08

Let’s concentrate on a proposal to transfer several SRWMD parks to a county: “5. Intergovernmental Agreement for Conveyance of Suwannee Springs Park, Falmouth Spring Park, and Telford Spring Park to Suwannee County,” all on or near the Suwannee River.

Why? SRWMD staff thinks these parks are too developed and intesively used for SRWMD’s passive parks model, and they would fit Suwannee County better.

And: “An estimated $35,000 will be saved per year in management expenses by conveying the properties to the county.”

This is the same Suwannee County that sold off the site of Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park to what has become perhaps the most intensively used private park in the county, just downstream and across US 129 from Suwannee Springs Park. So I wonder what Suwannee County wants to do with these three parks. The proposal does say transference would include a deed restriction that public access must be maintained. Continue reading →

SRWMD exchange back of Ellaville Tract for Riverview Farms Withlacoochee River land? 2025-03-29

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Update 2025-04-02: Update Rock Bluff Management Plan, renew Woods Ferry River Camp lease agreement @ SRWMD 2025-04-08.

Update 2025-03-29: See also Florida buys Hardee Spring on the Withlacoochee River.

Why not buy the riverfront property?

It’s easy to see why SRWMD would want the Riverview Farms tract: it’s between two Twin Rivers State Forest tracts on the Withlacoochee River in Madison County and directly across from another in Hamilton County.

SRWMD Land Swap: Gopher tortoises for riverfront, Ellaville Tract for Riverview Farms, Why not buy Riverview Farms?

And SRWMD is offering to trade is not riverfront property; it’s the back of the Ellaville Tract. But it still has gopher tortoises on it: a keystone species that harbors up to 300 other species in its burrows.

If you want to stop this land swap, here’s a petition to sign:
https://act.audubon.org/a/ellaville

And call or write your SRWMD Board member and show up at their next meeting.
https://www.mysuwanneeriver.com/133/Governing-Board

Larry Sessions represents the Upper Suwannee Basin, including both these tracts. Harry Smith and Charles Keith are at large. Chair Virginia H. Johns has to consider the entire District.

Even better, if you know grasstops who have the ear of that Board, such as timber company Rayonier and cattle company Lukes Brothers, ask them to contact the Board.

Craig Pittman called gopher tortoise burrows “Nature’s Condo,” Continue reading →

River water and groundwater interchange interacts with drinking water treatment 2025-03-26

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We all drink with straws from the groundwater here in the U.S. southeast coastal plain.

River water and groundwater interchange interacts with drinking water treatment in Georgia and Florida

So surface water interchange with groundwater produces problems for city and county drinking water treatment, and for E. coli contamination of private water wells. Continue reading →

Bradford County Local Mitigation Strategy Planning Committee 2025-03-20

Videos: Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting in Valdosta 2024-11-21

Water withdrawals in the SSRWPC region are almost entirely agricultural, noted Mark Masters of the Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center, Albany State University.

Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council 2024-11-21, at Wiregrass Tech, Valdosta, Georgia

This was at the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council meeting at Valdosta Tech in Valdosta, Georgia, November 21, 2024. Continue reading →

DOH-Madison Issues Health Advisory Near Withlacoochee River 2024-11-13

Update 2024-11-14: Bad Withlacoochee River, Sugar Creek, One Mile Branch and Alapaha River 2024-11-13.

I don’t know why it took them a week to do this.

DOH-Madison Health Advisory Near Withlacoochee River 2024-11-13 due to a wastewater overflow in the City of Valdosta, Georgia

November 13, 2024

Florida
HEALTH

DOH-Madison Issues Health Advisory
Near Withlacoochee River

Contact:
Lisa Hayes
Lisa.Hayes@flhealth.gov
850-879-0683

Madison, Fla.— The Florida Department of Health in Madison County (DOH-Madison) has issued a health advisory to residents and visitors near the Withlacoochee River in North Florida due to a wastewater overflow in the City of Valdosta, Georgia, that resulted in E.coli levels exceeding the 235 MPN/100ml threshold. It is recommended that residents and visitors avoid coming in contact with the impacted water, such as swimming or fishing.

DOH-Madison, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and Suwannee River Water Management District are working together to assess and closely monitor the situation. As these assessments continue, we will provide updates to the public.

DOH plans to conduct sampling and testing this week along the Withlacoochee River.

Until further information is known regarding possible bacterial contamination of the river, residents and visitors in the area are urged to take precautions when in contact with the Withlacoochee River.

Water contaminated with elevated fecal bacteria presents several health risks to humans. Microbes normally found with fecal bacteria could cause gastrointestinal issues and other conditions.

Anyone who comes in contact with the river water should wash thoroughly, especially before eating or drinking. Children and older adults, as well as people with weakened immune systems, are particularly vulnerable to disease, so every precaution should be taken if in contact with the river water.

For more information about the potential health effects of wastewater overflow, contact DOH- Madison at 850-973-5000 or visit Madison.FloridaHealth.gov.

### Continue reading →

Pictures: Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30

Update 2025-04-03: BMAP Webinars: Lower and Middle Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, Silver and Rainbow Springs 2025-04-10.

I got to the Suwannee Basin BMAP meeting late, because I had been at SRWMD HQ talking about water trails. Still, this seemed sparsely attended.

Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30 Much like Santa Fe BMAP and no closer to solutions

Other than a few IFAS people, almost everybody there seemed to be the same usual suspects from the Santa Fe BMAP meeting two days before in Lake Butler. So that was an opportunity to talk to many of them without much interruption.

I promised them some comments, which I will send to Chandler B. Keenan <Chandler.B.Keenan@FloridaDEP.gov>

For example, asking why SRWMD made no mention of the Manatee Springs BMAP when issuing an ERP for a road in the area of the big PUD rezoning that Chiefland City Commission approved mostly in flood zones next to Long Pond, in the springshed of Manatee Springs. Continue reading →

Pictures: Santa Fe River BMAP meeting, Lake Butler, FL 2024-10-28

There was better communication than last time, but of course that was a low bar.

You can follow up after that meeting, and the next ones: here are some ideas.
https://wwals.net/?p=66108

The other two BMAP meetings are today (see below).

Santa Fe River BMAP Meeting, Lake Butler, FL 2024-10-28 Better communication than last time

At the Santa Fe BMAP meeting in Lake Butler, none of the people from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) volunteered an answer to the most basic question: how has the situation improved since the BMAPs started?

Thanks to the graph Ryan Smart of the Florida Springs Council (FSC) brought, showing “Changes in pounds of nitrogen at spring vent”, several of them did agree that in fact the situation has gotten worse. Continue reading →

Help fix the broken BMAPs to clean up Florida waters 2024-10-30

Update 2024-11-05: Pictures: Suwannee River Basin BMAP meeting in Live Oak 2024-10-30.

Update 2024-10-30: Pictures: Santa Fe River BMAP meeting, Lake Butler, FL 2024-10-28.

FDEP has announced rescheduled dates for some BMAP meetings after the hurricanes.
https://floridadep.gov/dear/water-quality-restoration/content/bmap-public-meetings

Please go and say why you think the Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs) are broken. But don’t stop there, or they will just mark down x number of people came, so public outreach was successful.

Here are more things you can do at the meeting and afterwards.

Wear blue, so we can all be seen together, as recommended by Sarah Younger of the Suwannee-St. Johns Group of Sierra Club Florida.

Ask for metrics for improvement since the BMAPs started, such as how much less nitrate leaching from irrigated fertilizer into springs and rivers.

Turn their poster session format into a grassroots town hall. Video your question and their answer. Post your video on social media with a hashtag: #BMAPSantaFe, #BMAPSuwannee, or #BMAPSilverRainbow (see below).

If they say go look at some obscure website, ask them to tell you the metrics now.

If the FDEP person refuses to answer, video that, and post it.

For the Suwannee BMAP, ask them why SRWMD did not mention the Manatee Springs BMAP when it issued an Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) for a road inside the 2,109-acre rezoning area for a development in floodplain.

For the Rainbow BMAP, ask them why SWFWMD did not mention the Rainbow Springs Springshed when it issued an ERP for the sand mine.

Ask them what the BMAPs are doing to get farmers to convert from Monsanto-seed Glysophate-spraying over-fertilized water-sucking over-irrigated agriculture to methods more friendly to Florida’s waters.

Be polite. The specific FDEP employees there are probably just trying to do their job. The problem comes from higher up. See below for what to do about that after the meeting.

Help fix Florida BMAPs to fix Florida polluted waters 2024-10-28-30

Three meetings are of particular interest. Continue reading →

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