Tag Archives: Suwannee River Water Trail

WWALS Webinar: Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, peer-reviewed evidence, 2026-01-15

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Hahira, Georgia, January 12, 2026 — For thirty years it was suspected that the Okefenokee Swamp leaks water into the groundwater from which we all drink. Now we have much stronger evidence, that the Swamp leaks not a little but a lot of water into the Floridan Aquifer.

At noon by zoom this Thursday, you can watch the UGA professors who published it explain that evidence.

They will also mention some consequences, such as nearby water withdrawals pull more water from the Swamp into the Aquifer.

Lead author Prof. Jaivime Evaristo will explain the isotope evidence. Prof. Todd Rasmussen will explain the water level evidence.

Register to join with Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1z-dW1OESdqPj1W3BhwENA

At noon, January 15, 2026, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will give a brief introduction.

Prof. Evaristo and Rasmussen will speak for about 45 minutes.

Questions and answers will be at the end.

[Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15, Prof. Evaristo & Rasmussen]
Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15, Prof. Evaristo & Rasmussen

Here is more about their paper:

https://wwals.net/?p=69044

This paper is more incentive to pass Georgia House Bill 561 to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from mining, at least on its east side. Georgians, please ask your statehouse delegation to pass HB 561. Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do the same. Here’s how to contact Georgia Statehouse members:

https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

About the authors: Continue reading →

Lake City Wastewater Treatment Plant 2025-12-20

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Passing by on another errand, I took these pictures of a City of Lake City Wastewater Treatment Plant.

It’s apparently St. Margaret WTP, 527 SW St. Margarets Street, 32025.

The good news is it seems to have no violations for anything in recent years and no enforcement actions.

[Lake City, Florida, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Distribution & Collections, Columbia County, FL 2025-12-20]
Lake City, Florida, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Distribution & Collections, Columbia County, FL 2025-12-20

Blondie Dog helped sniff out the little creek that runs by, heading east towards Alligator Lake, which appears to drain into Clay Hole Creek. It’s in the Alligator Lake HUC 12-031102060601, which is in the Santa Fe River Basin.

That’s NPDES Permit Number FLA113956, according to FDEP. .

EPA ECHO thinks it’s NPDES Permit FLR05F468, at 750 St. Margarets Road, Lake City, FL 32025, 30.170877, -82.646918. That’s just the location of the entrance gate.

It’s across from Distributions & Collections, GIS Division, which is at 692 SW St. Margarets Street. Continue reading →

Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer peer-reviewed evidence, WWALS Webinar, 2026-01-15

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UGA Professors Jaivime Evaristo (isotope data) and Todd Rasmussen (water levels) review two lines of evidence that the Okefenokee Swamp leaks through the underlying limestone into the Upper Floridan Aquifer, and nearby water withdrawals draw more down.

This WWALS Webinar by zoom at noon will explain their recent scientific paper on this subject.

https://wwals.net/?p=69044

This paper is more incentive to pass Georgia House Bill 561 to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from mining, at least on its east side. Georgians, please ask your statehouse delegation to pass HB 561. Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do the same. Here’s how to contact Georgia Statehouse members:

https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

[Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15, Prof. Evaristo & Rasmussen]
Okefenokee Swamp leaks into the Floridan Aquifer, WWALS Webinar 2026-01-15, Prof. Evaristo & Rasmussen

When: 12-1 PM, Thursday, January 15, 2026

Register to join with Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/1z-dW1OESdqPj1W3BhwENA

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end. Continue reading →

Videos: Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

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History Instructor Vickie Everitte conducted a historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction to this WWALS Webinar. Questions and answers were at the end, including a distinguished guest.

[Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11]
Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11

Here is a zoom video of this WWALS Webinar:

https://youtu.be/ULUwKQEOh10

Her slides are on the WWALS website in PowerPoint and PDF. Images of each page are below.

Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1

As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian Removal Policy of the 1830s.

Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much, they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2

About the Speaker

Continue reading →

Water First North Florida wetland locations: unknown –SRWMD 2025-12-17

Update 2026-01-08: SJRWMD hired a consultant to plan piping treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin (Water First North Florida) 2025-11-12.

Update 2026-01-03: Ask Florida statehouse and Water Districts to explain JAX treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin or to stop it 2026-01-02.

Here’s a bit more about the Water First North Florida (WFNF) billion dollar project to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

The Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) seems to know surprisingly little about this joint project with the St Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD).

They don’t know where the water would go into wetlands to “clean” it up some more, and they don’t know where it would go to infiltrate into the Floridan Aquifer.

They don’t have a pilot study and they don’t have wetland site assessments.

Turns out there are a couple of reasons why SRWMD does not know or have those things. But I have found out a few things.

And I have leads to find out much more.

[Water First North Florida wetland locations: unknown, No Pilot Study or Wetland Assessments, But here is the RFQ --SRWMD]
Water First North Florida wetland locations: unknown, No Pilot Study or Wetland Assessments, But here is the RFQ –SRWMD

Back on July 8, 2025, SRWMD Deputy Executive Director of Water Resources Amy Brown gave her board a Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Project Update. It included a few slides on the WFNF, aka North Florida Regional Recharge Project. Continue reading →

Where does southwest Waycross drain? 2025-11-23

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Suwannee River Basin starts in Waycross, Georgia, around a line south down Gibbs Street, east on Walker Road, south on Gilmore Street, south down Swamp Road, then east along Washington Drive.

[Where does southwest Waycross drain? Through Lees Branch, into Middle Fork, Suwannee River]
Where does southwest Waycross drain? Through Lees Branch, into Middle Fork, Suwannee River

But what about the drainage canal you can see running southwest from Brunel Street across Gibbs Street?

Looks to me like that goes into the Suwannee River Basin.

People who live in Waycross, tell me if I got this right.

[Map: SW from Brunel Street --SRWT 2025-11-23]
Map: SW from Brunel Street on the WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail (SRWT).

North across Washington Street, there is a network of ditches that drains into Caney Branch into the Satilla River. Continue reading →

Chiefland, FL, force main sewer spill 2025-11-12

Here’s a new one: Chiefland, Florida, had a sewage spill.

Somebody drilled into a 6-inch force main downtown. That’s nowhere near any waterway. The nearest is Long Pond, which indirectly ends up in Manatee Spring on the Suwannee River, but it is very unlikely any of this sewage got into any of those waterways.

[Chiefland, Florida, sewage spill 2025-11-12, Levy County, FL, force main break]
Chiefland, Florida, sewage spill 2025-11-12, Levy County, FL, force main break

This report is from the daily-updated Pollution Notice of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

Incident Name: City of Chiefland Force Main Break

Incident Report: On 11/12/2025 at approx. 3:45pm, a fiber boring contractor drilled into our 6-inch force main causing a break. We immediately arrived on scene to assess the situation. We began shutting down lift stations through town as others gathered, pipe, tools, and equipment to repair the break. The wastewater department was assisted by our water department as well. Work began immediately to dig and repair the break. At approx. 5:50pm, a permanent repair was made and stations were being turned back on quickly as personnel watched the repair to ensure no leaks. Once we determined the repair was solid, we lime the hole and partially backfilled to help stabilize the force main through the night. The next morning, fresh fill dirt was hauled in to put the affected area back to normal.

Report Date/Time: 11/14/2025 04:09 PM

Facility Name: Near Huddle House

Continue reading →

Ichetucknee Polar Plunge and Paddle to see SPZ 2026-01-10

Update 2026-01-08: The Park has gotten much more strict about food. You can’t carry any, only one non-breakable water container. Unless you’re diabetic and you ask, then you get one snack. You can, however, take food and any other legal refreshments on the WWALS shuttle to TREPO Point Park and leave them there for after the paddle.

Don’t take the Park shuttle: come on the WWALS Point Park shuttle. Be at North Launch Ichetucknee Springs State Park by 10 AM to drop off your boats, then we take most of our vehicles to Point Park, leave them there, and drive back in as few vehicles as possible.

If you do not have a boat, you can rent one right there at the Launch.

Florida FWC decided against the SPZ on November 10, 2025. But there may be further proposals. Come see what we are all trying to conserve.

Plus this paddle is now free to everyone, due to a newly-discovered park rule.

Update 2025-11-19: Bad news from FWC about the Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone 2025-11-10.

Come see what the Ichetucknee Springs Protection Zone (SPZ) is about. Swim in the itch head spring. Then join us for a leisurely paddle 4 miles downstream in crystal clear waters with the possibility of seeing manatee, several types of gar and bird species.

Thanks to Linda Dicker, who proposed the SPZ, for leading this expedition, and for arranging takeout at the private TREPO Point Park.

Thanks to WWALS water quality tester Christiaan Ard for assisting leading this outing.

The Ichetucknee River is great paddling in the park. From there down to the Santa Fe River, power boats abound, producing wakes, endangering humans and wildlife, and eroding shorelines. The SPZ would require a No Wake Zone and maybe ban personal watercraft.

You can write 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

When: Gather 9 AM, shuttle 10 AM, launch 11 AM, end 4 PM, Saturday, January 10, 2026

Put In: Dip in Ichetucknee Headspring, then paddle starting at North Launch Ichetucknee Springs State Park, Ichetucknee S.P. North Entrance, 8294 SW Elim Church Rd, Fort White, FL 32038, in Columbia County.

GPS: 29.98292, -82.76053

[Ichetucknee Polar Plunge and River Paddle 2026-01-10, to see SPZ, Springs Protection Zone]
Ichetucknee Polar Plunge and River Paddle 2026-01-10, to see SPZ, Springs Protection Zone

Continue reading →

Pictures: Sugar Cane Festival, White Springs, FL 2025-11-08

It was fun in White Springs, Florida, at a festival of crafts, music, and dancing.

Thanks to Russ Tatum of Hamilton County for helping at the WWALS booth, where we talked to many people and moved some stickers, hats, and an aerial Suwannee River Basin poster.

Many children played the froggy toss and got candy for each beanbag they got in the lily pad hole.

[WWALS Booth at Sugar Cane Festival, White Springs, FL, 2025-11-08]
WWALS Booth at Sugar Cane Festival, White Springs, FL, 2025-11-08

Thanks to Suwannee Hardware & Feed for hosting this event, with demonstrations ranging from glass blowing to sugar cane grinding. Continue reading →

Videos: Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11

Veronica Kelly-Summers, a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, talked about the Okefenokee Swamp, its history, significance, places to go, things to do, and what’s next, in this largest and best-preserved freshwater wetland in the U.S.

The Swamp is the headwaters of two rivers: the St. Marys that forms the border between Georgia and Florida, and the Suwannee, which flows through Georgia and the Florida state song.

[Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11]
Okefenokee Swamp by Veronica Kelley-Summers, a WWALS Webinar by Zoom, 2025-09-11

Here is the WWALS video of Veronica’s webinar, from noon-1 PM, Thursday, September 11, 2025:
https://youtu.be/pvLU8wPLsZc

The WWALS campout at Floyd’s Island in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp has unfortunately been cancelled due to low water. So you can watch Veronica’s presentation instead.

WWALS Board Member Janet Martin gave a brief introduction. In questions and answers at the end, Veronica elaborated on what it means for the Okefenokee NWR to become a World Heritage Site: more visibility, more visitors, but no additional federal funding.

Veronica Kelly-Summers is a dedicated Visitor Services Manager with over 15 years of experience in protecting natural resources and connecting people with nature. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in forestry from Southern Illinois University with a focus on forest recreation and wildlife habitat management. Her career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken her to eight national wildlife refuges from the woods and swamps of southern Illinois to the Loess Bluffs of Iowa and Missouri, the Florida Everglades, and she’s now stationed at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. She works closely with staff and partners to provide leadership and strategic direction for the Visitor Services program including managing visitor facilities and recreational opportunities for camping, boating, interpretation, environmental education, special events, outreach, hunting, fishing, managing volunteers, and much more. When not at work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their pets, a yellow lab named Charlie and a spicy tuxedo cat named Tino.

Continue reading →