The Suwannee River Water Management District Governing Board met Oct. 11, 2016 at its regularly scheduled time in Live Oak headquarters.
Of interest was the announcement of the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan for the next 20 years. This plan is of paramount importance to North Florida because it will determine the fate of water management for years to come. This release was posted on our website on Oct. 6 and can be seen at this link. The plan can be downloaded here: http://northfloridawater.com/watersupplyplan/draft.html
The document shows a deficit predicted which will have to be accounted for in some fashion. Public comment will be accepted until Dec. 5, 2016. Workshops are planned in Jacksonville and Live Oak in the near future, the first one likely coming in early November.
The board approved the Fiscal Year 2017 Priority List for Establishing Minimum Flows and Levels, although that list was not distributed in the foyer with the usual documents.
Although he did not participate, the meeting was attended by Mr. Herschel Vinyard, past Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
OSFR was represented at the meeting by your historian who publicly thanked Noah Valenstein and Darrell Smith for attending our September board meeting, and also requested protection for the Santa Fe River vis-à-vis the phosphate mine proposed by HPS II Enterprises of Bradford Co.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
-A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back-