Tag Archives: Suwannee Riverkeeper

WWALS at Florida Folk Festival, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park 2026-05-22

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Join us on the banks of the Suwannee River on Memorial Day Weekend for Florida Folk Festival.

The festival is a three-day celebration of the music, dance, stories, crafts and food that make Florida unique.

Come talk to us about water quality testing, water reservations, Water First North Florida (WFNF), sewage, trash, detention centers, datacenters, and other advocacy as well as outings and water trails.

And of course our own WWALS River Revue, coming up Saturday, September 12, 2026, including the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, at the 4-H Camp in Lake Park, Georgia.

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026/

When: 10 AM, Friday, May 22, through Sunday, May 24, 2026

Put In: Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, 11016 Lillian Saunders Drive, White Springs, FL 32096.

GPS: 30.332884, -82.769513

[Florida Folk Festival, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center SP, White Springs, Florida, May 22-24, 2026]
Florida Folk Festival, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center SP, White Springs, Florida, May 22-24, 2026

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Pictures: WWALS Booth at Florida Folk Festival 2025-05-24

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Last year at the Florida Folk Festival on Memorial Day Weekend in White Springs at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park.

The festival is a three-day celebration of the music, dance, stories, crafts and food that make Florida unique.

We’ll be back this year, Friday through Sunday, May 22-23, 2026, on the banks of the Suwannee River.

https://wwals.net/?p=70272

[Pictures: WWALS Booth at Florida Folk Festival, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center SP, White Springs, FL 2026-05-23-24]
Pictures: WWALS Booth at Florida Folk Festival, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center SP, White Springs, FL 2026-05-23-24

Thanks to Michael Bachrach, Gee Edwards, Mark Coppage, and Gretchen Quarterman for talking to people about Right to Clean Water, BMAPs, opposing a strip mine permit too near the Okefenokee Swamp, sewage, trash, and other advocacy as well as outings and water trails.

And of course our own WWALS River Revue, which last year was September 6, 2025, including the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest.

This year it’s 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026, at the 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia.

https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2026/

For more Continue reading →

Smoke at Lakeland Boat Ramp 2026-05-06

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Yesterday morning the smoke was thick at Lakeland Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, and smokey haze continued all the way past Waycross to Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Rain a few days ago helped, but it was only a few inches, and fires can smolder for many days.

More rain is predicted for four days starting today: maybe that will finally put that fire out, and the many others.

Meanwhile, don’t burn outdoors, eh?

[Smoke at Lakeland Boat Ramp, Pineland Road Fire 2026-05-06, Suwannoochee Creek, Suwannee River Basin]
Smoke at Lakeland Boat Ramp, Pineland Road Fire 2026-05-06, Suwannoochee Creek, Suwannee River Basin

The smoke was probably mostly from the Pineland Road Fire in Clinch and Echols Counties. The creek in its middle is Suwannoochee Creek, which is the county line and runs into the Suwannee River downstream from Fargo.

Here’s the big picture. Continue reading →

WWALS River Revue with Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2026-09-12

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Join us at the 4-H Club in Lake Park, Georgia, for the WWALS River Revue sit-down dinner with speakers from Georgia and Florida, music from Finalists in the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, and Headliner Joe First, last year’s winner. Plus a silent auction, online and in person.

If you like what we’re doing, with water quality testing and water trails and river and lake outings and hikes and cleanups and chainsaw cleanups, come on down and support WWALS and have some fun! We support rights to clean water and solar power in appropriate places, and we oppose unnecessary mines and datacenters, detention centers, and Jacksonville treated wastewater into the Suwannee Basin (Water First North Florida or WFNF).

[WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026]
WWALS River Revue, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, 4-H Club, Lake Park, GA, 5-9 PM, Saturday, September 12, 2026

Tickets: $65 each:

https://app.betterunite.com/wwals-wwalsriverrevue2026

MC Tim Carroll, a former trumpet player and Valdosta City Council District 5, will introduce the speakers, the Headliner, and the Judges, Anna Stange (Madison, FL), Tony Buzzella (Lake City, FL), and Norm McDonald (Live Oak, FL).

Songwriters, don’t wait until August 12 to send in your song! It can be about any river, creek, spring, sink, swamp, or pond in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin or Estuary, or underground water such as the Floridan Aquifer. Continue reading →

Santa Fe River Paddle, U.S. 27 Ramp 2026-05-10

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There will be spots to break with springs to see and early takeout at Rum Island Park (or Poe, Gilchrist, Ginnie). Rum and FL 47 Ramp cost money.

The lunch stop includes an optional yoga session instructed by Annie Isabella.

Please pack a responsible lunch eco friendly.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end 6 PM, Sunday, May 10, 2026

Put In: U.S. 27 Ramp

GPS: 29.844121, -82.6309

[Santa Fe River Paddle, U.S. 27 Ramp to Hollingsworth, by Poe, Gilchrist, and Ginnie Springs, Sunday, May 10, 2026]
Santa Fe River Paddle, U.S. 27 Ramp to Hollingsworth, by Poe, Gilchrist, and Ginnie Springs, Sunday, May 10, 2026

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Two moratoriums: detention centers and WFNF –Hailey Hall to Alachua BOCC 2026-05-05

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The Alachua County BOCC meets this morning, May 5, 2026, at 10 AM, County Administration Building – Grace Knight Conference Room 12 SE 1 Street, 2nd Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601.

There is nothing on their agenda about either of the moratoria that Hailey Hall requested on April 28, 2026, after their last meeting:

[Two moratoriums: detention centers and WFNF --Hailey Hall to Alachua BOCC, 2026-04-28]
Two moratoriums: detention centers and WFNF –Hailey Hall to Alachua BOCC, 2026-04-28

Hello Commissioners,

Thank you for your efforts and for allowing everyone to speak today at the meeting.

I am requesting that you enact two separate moratoriums.

  1. A moratorium prohibiting construction of new, non-municipal detention centers as Kansas City has done.
  2. A moratorium against further development and construction of the Water First North Florida pipeline project.

Please see the attached ordinance from Kansas City and resolution from Town of Branford.

Thank you and take care,

Hailey Hall

You’ve already seen the Branford resolution.

https://wwals.net/?p=69710

Here is the Kansas City ordinance: Continue reading →

The promoters bear the burden of proof –WWALS to Alachua BOCC 2026-04-20

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There is nothing about Water First North Florida (WFNF) on the Alachua County BOCC agenda for this morning, May 5, 2026, at 10 AM, County Administration Building – Grace Knight Conference Room 12 SE 1 Street, 2nd Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601.

But there is Public Comment near the end. And you can watch on facebook, YouTube, or Alachua County’s Video on Demand.

For much more about WFNF, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

Here is what I sent the Alachua BOCC on April 20, 2026. Continue reading →

Agenda: No WFNF but watch Outreach and Water Resources @ SRWMD 2026-05-12

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There’s nothing about Water First North Florida (WFNF), the plan to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin, on the agenda for the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Governing Board next week.

But watch “28. Water Resources Division Updates”; that’s where I first heard about WFNF back in July 2025.

And maybe we’ll hear how poorly their attempts to sell WFNF are going in “20. Outreach and Communications Activity Summary”.

Also, “7. A. Hydrologic Conditions Report” is always interesting. That one will appear on the SRWMD website later.

[Agenda: No WFNF, but watch Outreach and Water Resources, Plus Hydrologic Conditions @ SRWMD 2026-05-12]
Agenda: No WFNF, but watch Outreach and Water Resources, Plus Hydrologic Conditions @ SRWMD 2026-05-12

Get there on time at 9 AM, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, for “4. Public Comment”. That’s at SRWMD HQ, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060.

Livestreamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SRWMD

For more about WFNF, including other upcoming meetings, who you can contact, and a petition, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf Continue reading →

Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

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All three of St. Marys, Satilla, and Suwannee Riverkeeper will be at the May 5 6, 2026, meeting of Georgia’s Suwannee Satilla Regional Water Planning Council (SSRWPC), 10 AM-2:30 PM at Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Datacenters are on the agenda as a Discussion item. It’s not clear whether participants other than the Council will be allowed to discuss. But they will notice anybody who shows up. And there is Public Comment near the end.

For more about datacenters, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/datacenters

[Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06]
Agenda: Datacenters and planning priorities, Suwannee-Satilla Water Council at Okefenokee Swamp Park 2026-05-06

SSRWPC includes part of the St. Marys River Basin, as well as the Satilla and Suwannee Basins, including of course the Alapaha, Willacoochee, Withlacoochee, Little, and New Rivers, with much concern about groundwater including the Floridan Aquifer.

According to their WATER & WASTEWATER FORECASTING TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM of March 2024, population growth projections have been decreased, causing water use and wastewater use also to be less.

Datacenters could reverse that trend.

FYI, Mark Masters is Executive Director of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center (GWPPC) at Albany State University and Laura Rack also works there “in a joint role with the River Basin Center at the University of Georgia.”

Caitlin Sweeney is listed by the Jones Center at Ichauway, also in the Flint River Basin, although the agenda says she is with GWPPC.

Here is the agenda:

Agenda
Georgia Suwannee-Satilla
Water Council Meeting
May 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Okefenokee Swamp Park — Waycross, GA

Objectives: Continue reading →

Lafayette County against WFNF and for desalination 2026-04-28

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Lafayette County on Tuesday became the sixth county to pass a letter or resulution against Water First North Florida (WFNF), the scheme by JEA, SJRWMD, and SRWMD to pipe treated wastewater from Jacksonville into the Suwannee River Basin.

The other counties are Madison, Columbia, Suwannee, Hamilton, and Baker, plus the Town of Branford, the Rivers Task Force, and the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council. The last two organizations each represent all twelve counties in the Suwannee River Water Management District.

[Lafayette County against WFNF & for desalination, April 28, 2026]
Lafayette County against WFNF & for desalination, April 28, 2026

There are better ways to address both lower flows and levels in the Suwannee Basin and JEA’s legal requirement to stop outflowing into the St. Johns River; see The promoters bear the burden of proof about WFNF –WWALS to SRWMD 2026-04-13.

For much more about WFNF, including upcoming county commission and city council meetings, see:

https://wwals.net/issues/wfnf

RESOLUTION NO. 2026-04-06

A RESOLUTION OF THE LAFAYETTE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OPPOSING THE WATER FIRST NORTH FLORIDA AQUIFER RECHARGE PROJECT AND RECOMMENDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ALTERNATIVE WATER DESALINIZATION PROJECT

WHEREAS, Continue reading →