Taking Water from the St. Johns River – Yes or No?

I just returned from Gainesville, Florida after spending two days at the St. Johns River Water Management District’s technical symposium on water withdrawals from the St. Johns River.

The issue revolves around the impact on the river if central Florida utilities withdraw up to 262 million gallons per day from the St. Johns and Oklawaha Rivers. To determine the effects, over 60 scientists are collaborating in a 2-year study. Comprised of hydrologic and hydrodynamic modeling, and in-depth study of how water withdrawal will affect wetlands, salinity, soils, submerged aquatic vegetation, algae, crustaceans, fish – basically every conceivable aspect of the river ecology – the study is unprecedented in scope.

The National Research Council is peer reviewing the study. The NRC has already provided comments on Phase I of the project and the scientist are addressing those comments.

Phase II of the project should be completed by Summer 2010 and I’ll be updating the blog. Right now, there are no conclusions. But the brain trust is certainly impressive. This study should be able to serve as a model for similar projects in the future.

Florida’s Everglades and the Killing of the “Sweetest Town”

Funny how even the the most noble of actions can have devastating consequences. 

The $1.75 billion sale of 187,000 acres of U.S. Sugar’s land to the State of Florida to restore the Everglades may seem wonderful to some environmentalists. But to the 6,500 residents of Clewiston, Florida, news of the sale did not bring cheers.

That’s because U.S. Sugar is a critical component of Clewiston’s economy.  The company employs 1700 people, and makes up about 25% of the tax base. 

Approximately 300 farmers, residents and business owners recently packed Clewiston’s John Boy Auditorium for an emergency meeting, during which officials voted to hire an attorney and begin an economic impact study. 

I have mixed feelings about this deal. We do need to preserve the Everglades. But must we put an end to towns like Clewiston to do so? Farmers are sometimes made out to be “the enemy” of the environment, but I don’t agree with that. If anything, they’re more connected to the environment than the rest of us.

I also have a problem with the “surprise announcement” Governor Crist made about the sale. In Florida, we’re supposed to have government in the sunshine. How was it possible for the State to conduct negotiations with U.S. Sugar–especially negotiations for an amount like $1.75 billion of taxpayer dollars–with so much secrecy?

Some of the folks in Clewiston feel like they’ve been thrown under the bus.  Understandably, I’d say.

Sewer to Spigot–Get Over the “Yuck” Factor

The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article in their Real Estate section titled, “Sewer to Spigot: Recycled Water.” Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami-Dade all plan to recycling billions of gallons wastewater to use for drinking water.

As someone who’s been working with wastewater treatment for years, I’ve long known that it’s doable to turn treated wastewater effluent to drinking water. Believe me, if Mississippi River water can be treated to drinking water levels, getting treated wastewater to meet drinking water standards should be a piece of cake.

Cities haven’t moved forward with direct potable recycling in the past for two major reasons. First, the cost has been prohibitive. But increased population combined with water shortages, and improved technology have brought costs more in line. Second, the “yuck” factor made it politically impossible to fund a direct potable reuse project. People just didn’t want to drink that stuff.

Many people don’t realize that they are already drinking recycled wastewater. Most large cities have surface water sources–lakes and rivers. And most of these surface waters receive discharges from wastewater treatment plants. There might only be a short distance between the treated wastewater discharge and the drinking water intake.

Those who get their water from underground aquifers might have more to complain about. But we can only pull water from the aquifers for so long at increasing volumes before we’ll need to supplement that source.

I think we’ll all eventually be drinking some form of recycled wastewater–and we’ll have to trust the plant operators and the technology. Do you think we can get past “yuck?” We might have to.

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Water Pressure

It’s amazing to me to see how the press puts pressure on local officials to promote or oppose water issues.  The politicians in the small city I work for admirably resisted pressure from neighboring communities that had already passed a resolution opposing the removal of water from the St. Johns River for use in central Florida. 

I say admirably because they chose to have a workshop with both the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the St. Johns River Water Management District to get factual information on how the proposed water use would affect their community.

Personally, I have my own concerns about the issue.  Especially since the City will be spending millions to meet effluent nitrogen limits for wastewater discharges–and the effect of siphoning water from the river really isn’t known. 

But what bothers me is the “headline news” in the local paper implying our community is a holdout, and somehow in the wrong because our officials haven’t just jumped on the bandwagon.  This kind of media pressure can force unwise decisions. 

I’m sure our commissioners will be passing a resolution, but at least it will be after hearing both sides of the issue from those who’ve been working on it and have the most relevant information.  I just wonder how many times media “water pressure” forces communities to take a position on an issue before they’re ready.  And to their detriment.