Help Us Stop This:
What is going to happen to the St. John's River when the
siphoning off of the surface water begins? Read about the Apalachicola River where Georgia's water
removal is an example of things to come: Complete
Story and related information Excerpt: Georgia continues issuing permits for water....
after another 10 years or more of litigation, there may not be
water left for the Apalachicola River — the fish, the
floodplain and the seafood that provides jobs.
-------------------------
Read Brad Rogers
great editorial: "Awash in bad water policy" ......So, let's see, after adhering to an
outdated water policy that has allowed the aquifer to be
drained of all it can give without totally destroying it,
Florida's next water policy move is to drain its rivers and
lakes to the verge of environmental damage. And then what? Click
Here for more
"Florida is
being drained and burned to such an extent that it will soon
become a desert! Yesterday a botanical paradise. Tomorrow, the desert!"
John Kunkel Small from "Eden to Florida's
Tragedy"
1929
Two
GOP Govs. Go Green
CBS News - New York
City,NY,USA ... Scientists say that it's just a matter of decades
before Florida loses part of its coastline, putting many of
its beautiful beaches may be under water. ...
Contaminated
Water Reaches Florida's Offshore Keys Science Daily (press
release) - USA
The findings were presented Tuesday at a meeting of the
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Water Quality
Protection Program Steering Committee in ...
Weekend
rains in South Florida get water flowing back into Lake ...
Sun-Sentinel.com
- Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA
By Andy Reid | South Florida Sun-Sentinel July 25, 2007 For
the first time in eight months, water on Tuesday resumed
flowing from the Kissimmee River into ...
Don't drink that bottled
water! Save money, and the environment by re-using glass bottles
with good old tap water. (Which according to latest reports,
is probably what is in that expensive plastic bottle anyway)Click
Here for more on this Prices
vary greatly, but a typical cost is about $2 (U.S.) for 1,000
gallons. A gallon of tap water costs less than one penny. For
the cost of one bottle of designer water you could refill it
2,000 times with tap water. Plastic bottles hurt the earth.Click
here for more on the environmental impact of plastic bottles
---------------
Our mission: Saving
Florida's Water
........and the St. John's River
Raise awareness of the water crisis in Florida and work
towards solutions.
Enlist an army of grass roots
activists to work towards a solution.
Enlighten politicians and developers.
New updates: Saving the St.
John's River The
Plan is to pump as much as 262 Million Gallons of surface
water out of the St. John's River every day!
We will not give up!
Help us continue the fight..
This is just the beginning, there will be many more
permits to stop.
****Updates*****
4/16/09 Volusia County Council votes
YES
.....to share water and cost of Yankee Lake Project! The Volusia County Council has tentatively committed to join Seminole County in tapping the St. Johns River as a future water source. How much will Volusia have to pay?
"The check is coming for us to write," Connors added.
An initial payment of approximately $100,000 will be due and payable in June. "By October," she said, "you're looking at $2 million to $3 million."
The County Council narrowly voted to amend Volusia County's comprehensive plan to include Yankee Lake as a possible future water source. Bruno, Vice Chair Joie Alexander, and Council Members Jack Hayman and Carl Persis formed the majority.
The dissenting faction consisted of Council Members Andy Kelly, Pat Northey and Josh Wagner.
Full
Story
http://www.beacononlinenews.com/news/daily/1692
----------------------------------- 4/14/09 SJWMD
board approves permit! St. Johns River governing board approves permit to take 5.5 million gallons a day Orland Sentinel
Ludmilla Lelis | Sentinel Staff Writer 8:25 PM EDT, April 13, 2009
PALATKA - A water-governing board approved Seminole County's request for a permit to siphon 5.5 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River after hundreds of people showed up to oppose it.
Full
Story
--------------------------------
Central
Florida Water Pipeline Revealed Click
to see large image Deland
Public Services Director Riger: "there's no
environmental impact"
http://www.beacononlinenews.com/news/daily/1510
The water-transmission pipeline in
still in the conceptual stages.
The pipeline would carry water produced at the Yankee
Lake and Taylor Creek plants on the St. Johns River in
Seminole County, and water drawn from the Lower
Ocklawaha River, in addition to any plant built on the
river at DeLand.
The overall cost? More than $1 billion, perhaps
several billion. Hence the necessity to pool
resources.
The system would be able to transport water from any
connected source to any connected demand center. That
way, if a hurricane knocked out one water plant, water
could be routed in a different direction, from another
plant.
Phase 1
Approved!! 1/15/08
Now to SJWMD for it's stamp of approval.
Judge
OKs water withdrawals from St. JohnsFlorida
Times-Union A state
administrative judge Monday rejected the arguments of
Northeast Florida governments and the St. Johns
Riverkeeper that a Central Florida utility should not
be allowed to withdraw water from the St. Johns River
for its customers.
The ruling clears the way for the St. Johns River
Water Management District to permit withdrawals by
Seminole County that were criticized by activists who
said the river’s ecology could be damaged
downstream, as less water flowed toward the ocean at
Mayport. Administrative Law Judge J. Lawrence Johnston
recommended that the management district approve the
permit .....
The permit at hand involved withdrawing 5.5 million
gallons of water daily. Most
of that would be used for watering lawns, but
some would be processed for drinking water...... More
Judge
OKs Water Withdrawal From St. Johns
MSNBC -
Jan 13, 2009
A Florida administrative law judge
has recommended that the St. Johns River
Water Management District approve Seminole
County's plan to withdraw 5.5 million ...
The Plan:
The St. John's Water Management District claims that it is
okay and safe to remove up to 262 million gallons of water a
day from the St. John's River and one tributary (the
Ocklawaha).
That is equivalent to the discharge of 4 1st magnitude
springs (a 1st magnitude spring has a discharge of about 64
million gallons a day). There are only 3 (three) 1st
magnitude springs on the St. John's: Blue Springs, Alexander
Springs, and Silver Glen Springs.
They claim it is safe but who knows the consequences of such
actions?
How many times in the past has the government made huge
mistakes when it comes to the environmental impacts....look
at the Everglades.
What will happen to the fragile ecosystem of our Great Lake
- Lake George where the salinity content allows for a one of
a kind mix of salt and fresh water species to live side by
side?
Jimmy Orth, the St. John's
Riverkeeper Executive Director, has indicated that latest projections indicate localities along the river want as much as 399 million gallons of water a day.
------------
And the reason.....most of the water will be used to water
lawns in Seminole, Orange, and Volusia Counties!
What an outrage!
------------ Look Left: Keep up to date with the "In the News" section on
the left sidebar of this page which has links to all the
newest stories on this issue.
----------
Help us to stop this before it begins for
once it starts, we will never be able to turn back the
mighty pumps that will drain our river.
------------
Today....write your state legislators and congressmen, and
your local government and tell them that you oppose this
plan and will make it known with your vote if they continue
along this path. Please Help:
Sign our Petition in two clicks:
Click
Here
Also:
Take 10 minutes of your time right now and contact your
elected representatives.......email or call
then, or call and email them! Just tell them you oppose the
pumping of the St. John's River, you don't have to go into
detail.
You can start with these
links:
Volusia County: Contact County Officials Click Here
A complete list of all
of Central Florida's Politicians, commissioners, county
managers, etc.
Listed by county, can be found by clicking
here.
You can copy and paste the short note below or
write your own letter.
----------------------
I oppose the pumping of the surface water
of the St. John's River or any of it's
tributaries.
I will use my vote to make sure that the only
politicians that get elected will oppose this as
well.
Again, I strongly oppose the pumping or removal of the
surface water of the St. John's River!
-------------------
Other
Ways To Help: 1. Print copies of our petition and
get others to sign it....take it with you to the super market, church, PTA,
anywhere folks congregate and please ask them to sign. After you get them
signed. Mail them to us and we'll see that the right officials get
them.
Click Here to get a copy in a Microsoft Word Doc.
Click Here to get a copy of a one page explanation of the situation that you can
hand out in a Microsoft Word Doc.
Send signed petitions to:
Save the St. John's River
P O Box 430
Seville, FL 32190
2. Stick up a notice, a warning, refer folks to our web site, just try something.
3. How about a bulletin board?
4. Take any info from our web site and use it....Please!
5. Over dinner with friends....bring up the subject.
6. Neighborhood meetings...talk about it.
7. Does your community have a newsletter? Type up a short
article.
We do not need to water lawns, if you want green,
GO GREEN
Read: Faux Grass Lawns spreading
across the country.
1. Eliminating watering
2. Eliminating mowing - did you know that mowers give off more green house gas
than cars?
3. Eliminate sound (quiet neighborhoods) blowers and mowers and enjoy the
silence!
4. Eliminate Fertilizer
______________________________
Florida's
Overall
Water Problem:
Population increases and
water decreases.
With our population
explosion and dwindling water supply it is crucial that we
do everything in our power to save our water.
Politics, Growth, and Water Floridians think that they can have it all....paradise
and growth and endless resources.
Our government is responsible for this mistaken belief,
instead of educating the public about this crisis, they are
shortchanging us, our children and future generations.
They don't seem to understand the problem.
As they push one way, they are pulling in the other.
Yes, our economy needs growth, but without a water use plan
and system to save this vital resource, the future is
obvious.
Not enough water.
Do we build desalinization plants and continue to water our
lush lawns and golf courses or do we start moving toward
zero landscaping and increasing the cost of water with a
tiered system that turns the highest water users in to water
savers?
Help us answer these questions. Help solve this crisis.
Get involved.
How did the wettest
state become one of those with the greatest shortage of
fresh water?
It's a long story. Read Cynthia Barnett's
recent book "Mirage - Florida and the vanishing water
of the eastern U.S." to get a better idea our disastrous
situation.
How much water does a person use?
Does anyone really know??? On 7/29/2007, the
Daytona News Journal published two articles, one was an
editorial called: "Ripple Effect: We need to change the
way we think about water" and "The Liquid of
Life" Our water sources, crystal springs, hide a dark
truth". These articles we right on target about our
need for changes. (link)
One problem we found in the article was that the St. John's
Water Management District's assessment of daily groundwater
usage of 76.64
million gallons per day, which comes out to 154.9
gallons per person. Based on population (2005) of 494,649.
This comes from their: Annual Water Use Survey The St. John's Water Management District determines this
number by estimating the amount drawn by wells, surface
water and lots of other sources and there is a .pdf file
with all the stats.(link)
That number seems low based on the research cited below. About the Annual Water Use Survey
If you read the information contained in that .pdf file, the
SJRWMD notes the following disclaimer about their
statistics:
SJRWMD is not the source of the data reported in the Annual Water Use Survey.
This data is obtained from multiple sources, including raw water withdrawal data submitted via
SJRWMD EN50 forms, treated water data from Florida Department of Environmental Protection regulation monthly operating reports (MORs), data communicated via mail, e-mail, and phone surveys, and the data stored in the reclaimed water destination database. SJRWMD attempts to compile the
best available data but cannot assure that the contributors use consistent measurement
techniques or quality control standards.
In most cases, the data has not been quality-assured by the SJRWMD and is reported as received.
Let's consider other research data and apply
it to Volusia County:
According to Cynthia Barnett author of "Mirage",
citing the analysis by Palm Beach County Water Utilities
Department and that of Belle Glade (link), the daily average use per household in Palm
Beach is 13,000 gallons. If an average household is 4 people
(the University of Florida says the average household is 2.9
but let's be overly optimistic and use the number 4), then
going back to Volusia county, the population estimate of
494,649 divided by 4 equals 123,662 households and if each
used 13,000 gallons a day, that would equal
1,607,609,250!
That's 1.6 billion gallons a day.
If we take a more moderate figure like that of Belle Glade,
a much poorer community where they use an average of 1,000
gallons a day, apply that to the 123,662 households in
Volusia County (using again the average of 4 people per
household), 1,000 X 123,662 = 123,662,000.
123 million gallons per day divided by the population of
494,649 = 248.6 gallons per day per person.
All these numbers do not seem to confirm the St. John's
Water Management's estimate of only only 154.9 gallons gallons per day per
person. Nationally, on average, according to University
of New Hampshire (link), it
is claimed that each American consumes more than twice the
worldwide average, enough to fill the average backyard swimming
pool 18 times in a year.
Let's look at that, the average pool holds 18,000-20,000
gallons.
Using 18,000 X 18 = 324,000 divided by 365 = 887 gallons a
day per person.
Apply that to the Volusia County Population of 494,649 X 887
= 438,753,663
438.7 million gallons per day.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, United States, freshwater withdrawal is about 1,300 gallons per person per
day. Click
Here for more on this .pdf file.
Let's compare Volusia County data
results:
1. St. John's Water Management's data: 154.9
gallons a day
2. Using Belle Glade usage data: 248.6 gallons a day
3. Using Palm Beach usage data: 3250 gallons a day
4. Using University of NH National data: 887 gallons a day
5. Using U.S. Geological Survey National data: 1,300 gallons
a day
6. Using Florida Average data from APIRS:
481 gallons per person per day Aquatic
Plant Information Retrieval System (APIRS) Click
Here
7. U.S. Geological Survey's chief hydrologist: Robert M.
Hirsch says (2004 article): Usage of 408 billion gallons per
day (in the US) represents 1,430 gallons per person, though
most of that is for industry and agriculture. Household use,
he said, is about 100 gallons a day per person. Click
Here
Who's right?
The truth is probably somewhere in
between 155 and 1,300
..............................................but who
knows?
Are we counting the wells?
What about water pumped directly
from canals, rivers, and lakes for watering?
Does anyone know for sure?
Does anyone have a close estimate?
We are talking about
our future here, right?
Note about Hotels and
their water usage:
"The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook," adventurer and environmentalist David de Rothschild indicates that In a given year, a single hotel room uses more than 80,000 gallons of water and according to the Daytona Beach area Convention and Visitors Bureau, there are 12,866 hotel rooms in Volusia County.
Let's see: 80,000 X 12,866 = 1,029,280,000 (1 billion, 29 million, 280 thousand) per year divided by 365 days a year = 2,819,945 per day
According to the DBACVB hotel rooms occupied at a rate of about 63% so that comes out to about 8106 rooms rented 365 days a year.
8106 X 80,000 = 648,480,000 (648 million, 480 thousand) gallons per year. Divided by 365 = 1,776,657 gallons per day.
What can we do as
individuals?
Conserve water
Join together
Educate our friends, neighbors and families
Write to our politicians
Attend county meetings and growth summits.
Write articles for newspapers, letters to the editors,
etc.
Here are some tips to help get your ideas out:
---------
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Guess what???
It will almost always be published!
Look up your local newspaper web site and find the
"letters to the editor" submission page.
Don't be afraid to put it down on paper.
Don't rush it, type it, review it, keep it a day or two, and read it again, edit
it, find some facts to support your ideas and then send it in.
This is a great way to help educate others.
Does your community have a newsletter? Type up a short
article. Steal info from our web site! Please!
How about a bulletin board?
Stick up a notice, a warning, refer folks to our web site, just try something.
Over dinner with friends....bring up the subject.
Neighborhood meetings...talk about it.
Florida Aquifer The major source of ground water supply in Florida is the Floridan Aquifer System, which underlies the entire state. In the far western panhandle and in southern Florida, the Floridan aquifer system is deep, and produces salty and mineralized water. In these areas, the shallower Sand-and-Gravel Aquifer (in the west) and the Biscayne Aquifer (in the south) are used for water supply. The Surficial Aquifer System and the Intermediate Aquifer System generally produce less water, and, with some exceptions, are used primarily for domestic and smaller public supply wells. Where there are clay layers in the intermediate system, it can serve as a confining unit, slowing the movement of water and, potentially, contaminants from the surface.
Save
Willow Point - By buying it!
12+Acres For Sale on Lake George
700 feet on the Lake Click
Here
Save the Stingray too! Little Known Fact
Did you know that only place in North America to find the
freshwater stingray is in the St. John's River and the St. Johns River populations are unique because they are the only known populations of the Atlantic stingray that reproduce and complete their life cycle in a freshwater environment.
Will they still be around after the government siphons off the surface water?
Will they or their food supply still exist? Don't we have an obligation to preserve this creature? Read Dr. Peter Piermarini's Article Click
Here More here His home page: here Recently in a telephone interview, he said that Lake George is a gold mine
that has never been studied.
When he was studying the stingray and catching them in Lake George he was
frequently catching additional species of fishes that were completely unexpected
for a freshwater lake.
We add: There are so many varieties of species in this fragile eco-system that
to tamper with it's salinity content or reduce the flow of the river into it
will cause unknown consequences. We should study this "one of a kind" system before we disturb or
destroy it.
---------
Florida Water Crisis
Before the government starts spending millions upon millions of
dollars to pump water along pipelines from rivers and lakes from one part of
Florida to another, maybe we should actually start measuring the amount being
pumped out of the ground and making the users pay per gallon. All across
Florida, there are wells that have no meters.
Businesses and property owners just pump the water as they desire with no consequences.
No government entity is measuring how much water is being pumped from our
aquifer. Sometimes the wells service the entire property and sometimes they are
just used for sprinklers and sometimes the pumps get the water directly from
canals, rivers and lakes. In addition, well
users do not pay for the water. Right, not only is it not measured, but it is FREE.
Where is the incentive to conserve under this system? There is none.
If you live in an area that is serviced by your county or private water utility,
you are charged for the water you take via your trusty water meter. But if you
have a well, no one is looking at your usage. If we don't accurately
know how much water is being pumped out of the
aquifer, and who is pumping it, and who is paying for their water and who is
getting it free.... How can we legitimately plan for long pipelines and desalinization plants? It's time to make
changes:
1. Put meters on all wells.
This can be easily paid for by the revenue gained by charging these users for
the water they pump.
Yes, start charging well owners for every gallon pumped out of the aquifer!
2. Setting a minimum price for water usage throughout the state.
3. Creating a tiered pricing system for usage rates: the more you use, the
higher your rate per gallon.
Won't you help push this idea forward?
Contact your local and state government leaders and tell them you support
"Meters on all wells"
------------
"Everyone must pay for water, no free pumping"
-----------
"Tiered water pricing based on usage". This is not rocket science, it is common sense!
---------
Here are some tips to help get your ideas out:
---------
Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
Guess what???
It will almost always be published!
Look up your local newspaper web site and find the "letters to the
editor" submission page.
Don't be shy - put it down on paper. In your words.
Don't rush it, type it, review it, keep it a day or two, and read it again, edit
it, find some facts to support your ideas and then send it in.
This is a great way to help educate others.
Does your community have a newsletter? Type up a short
article. Steal info from our web site! Please!
How about a bulletin board?
Stick up a notice, a warning, refer folks to our web site, just try something.
Over dinner with friends....bring up the subject.
Neighborhood meeting...talk about it.
In Volusia County:
To send a letter to the Daytona News Journal, start by clicking
here To send a letter to the West Volusia Beacon Newspaper, start
by clicking
here
Buy and Read
Cynthia Barnett's Book "Mirage"
"Mirage is the finest general study to date of the freshwater-supply crisis
in Florida."
Property Tax increase forces sale of
12+ Acres on
Lake George
To learn more:
Click
Here
