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Good News at SRWMD Meeting

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Today the SRWMD Governing Board met at headquarters in Live Oak to conduct the business of the management district.  Multiple OSFR members were present along with President Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson who  came in front of the board to request the moratorium on large water use permits, 100,000 gallon per day or more, until the science shows that withdraws will have no harm. The science shows now, with the recently completed MFLs in the lower Santa Fe River and Ichetucknee River that they are in recovery when those MFLs are issued and therefore no new permits should be issued. There will also be sound science with the soon- to-be installed 25 aquifer monitoring wells.

For the past 2 months she has been absent from these meetings to address local counties to secure resolutions to support a statewide ban on fracking in  Florida. While recognizing that the SRWMD is a state agency and cannot create such a resolution, she wanted them to know about the hydraulic fracturing concerns because of the extreme amount of water use each fracture needs. Chairman Quincey made no response nor comment to these concerns.

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Pres. Malwitz-Jipson Leaves the Podium

Among the many points of interest presented at the meeting, we learned that of the thousands of wells in the district,  the 100 wells drawing the largest amounts of water  comprise about 40 percent of the total allocations.  Dr. Weatherington estimated that about 60 percent of these were monitored.

Good news is that February left the district with high groundwater overall, with a scarcity in the state only in the extreme northwest and south.  The Floridan aquifer had the highest February level since l998. Further discussion on the water contamination problem in Valdosta was carried on.

Additional happy news is that the Governing Board proclaimed April,  2015 Water Conservation Month.  Also, the board proclaimed March 8-14, 2015 Groundwater Awareness Week.

 

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