Withlacoochee River Task Force Meets – Gives Unanimous Thumbs Down on Water First North Florida Plan
March 19, 2026 10:30 am | 5 min read
Photo: Jason Hawke via Unsplash
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – Water First North Florida was on the mind of the Middle and Lower Suwannee River and Withlacoochee River Task Force (Task Force) when the Task Force met on Wednesday at midday to discuss its opposition to the Water First North Florida plan to pipe 40 million gallons a day of treated Jacksonville wastewater into the Suwannee River Basin.
The Task Force was established on September 27, 2018, to “develop a strategic action plan to address the issue of raw sewage spills by the City of Valdosta, Georgia” (minutes-North Central Florida Regional Planning Council “NCFRPC” Exec. Com). It is unclear if the Planning Council is going to retroactively update its charge to include more than “raw sewage spills” at its next meeting.
The Task Force is composed of a county commissioner from each of the 11 counties in the Suwannee River Basin: Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Suwannee and Union.
The Task Force Meeting
The Task Force convened to discuss and vote on Resolution 2026-01. This resolution formally opposes the "Water First North Florida Aquifer Recharge Project," a proposal by St. Johns River Water Management District to pipe 40 million gallons of treated wastewater daily from Duval County to North Central Florida for injection or into spray fields for intrusion into the Floridan Aquifer.
There
are five candidate counties (Baker, Bradford, Columbia,
Hamilton, or Union) for the end of the wastewater pipe.
The resolution alternatively recommends desalination as a sustainable water source for the Northeast region.
Discussion
A month ago today, your reporter asked the Water Management District’s Assistant Director, Dr. Amy Brown, what the effect on the aquifer would be if Jacksonville drank its treated wastewater instead of pumping 40 mgd out of the aquifer. She said it wouldn’t make that much of a difference, but would get back to me in a couple of days with something written. She never did.
However, according to Scott Koons:
The Suwannee River Water Management District staff has indicated that their modeling is that Northeast Florida, Jacksonville area, JEA contributes approximately 30 to 40% of the drawdown in our aquifer and reduced flow from our springs and rivers. If they stopped using water from North Central Florida, that would fix nearly half the problem.
Commissioners expressed concerns about the lack of communication from JEA and both the St. Johns and Suwannee River Water Management Districts.
Important Quotes from Task Force Members:
Rick Davis (Chair, Madison County) on regional solidarity against the JEA project: "The resolution is very, very important for our region. Shows unity of all of our counties... with our Suwannee River Basin and our aquifer."
Don Hale (Suwannee County)on safety risks of direct wastewater injection: "There's no proven scientific method that this is good water, clean water... This is just going to be directly injected into it."
Tom Demps (Taylor County),advocating desalination and critiquing the plan: "If it's so good, we could inject it into the [St. Johns] River... I support the resolution... [for] the cleanest water possible for us to drink and our health."
Melissa McNeal (Union County) on balancing recharge needs with water quality protections: "We do need to recharge... But what are going to be the mitigation things... to make sure that it is clean?"
Scott Koons (staff) highlighting limitations of proposed wetland treatment: "Plants cannot take up pharmaceuticals or forever plastics."
Rick Davis (Madison County) summarizing the Task Force's mission: "Safe river, safe clean waters, and tourism and health and safety. That's what we're here for."
The resolution passed unanimously. Having not performed a roll call at the beginning of the meeting, and with a little encouragement, NCFRPC Exec. Dir. Scott Koons announced the unanimous vote: “Commissioner Rocky Ford (Columbia), Commissioner Jimmy Murphy (Hamilton), Commissioner Anthony Adams (Lafayette), Commissioner Desiree Mills (Levy), Commissioner Rick Davis (Madison), Commissioner Don Hale (Suwannee), and Commissioner Thomas Demps (Taylor).” (first names added by the Observer)
Commissioner Melissa McNeal of Union County also voted in favor. However, she was not included in the Scott Koons’ announcement.
The Next Step is Tonight
With the Suwannee River Water Management District taking the heat and, so far, publicly unable to answer questions or sell the project, it has reverted to the Florida Department of Transportation MCORES template, with staff members in little booths to answer questions.
The District has scheduled what it calls a “community meeting” for this evening at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences North Florida Research Education Center, 8202 County Road 417, Live Oak, FL 32060.
The public, or anybody attending the meeting, will be able to write comments on comment cards. Those will all be public record once written down. They will go to the Water Management District. Exactly what's going to happen to those comments after the meeting is anybody's guess.
The Water First North Florida rollout has been a disaster. It is estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people will attend.
Who will be manning the booths? Will DEP be available? Will the St. Johns River Water Management District (it's their plan) and JEA (they are the ones drawing down the majority of the water in the Suwannee River Basin be there?
The Suwannee River Water Management District hasn’t said.