DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — A proposed Florida Senate Bill would allow treated wastewater from Jacksonville to be piped into the Suwannee River Basin in an effort to stabilize water flows in the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers.
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Senate Bill 7034, part of the Water First North Florida project, would ratify a plan supporters say is necessary to protect river levels, meet minimum flow requirements, and support agriculture and the regional economy.
The bill would also aim to shield the local aquifer from stricter pumping restrictions.
Environmental advocates are pushing back, warning the plan could introduce contaminants and fails to address what John Quarterman, Suwanne Riverkeeper, calls the root cause of declining river flows: over-pumping from the aquifer.
"It's a risky project," Quarterman said. "There's no evidence that it takes out PFAs for other chemicals or drugs, pharmaceuticals, and right now that plant is under a consent order for exceeding all sorts of limits."
Quarterman and other opponents argue Jacksonville should instead reduce its groundwater withdrawals or pursue alternative water sources, such as the St. Johns River or desalination.
Supporters of the bill say the project is crucial to sustaining the livelihoods of local farmers and the broader regional economy.
"I support Senate Bill 7034," farmer Brooks Garland said. "The first water project would be a great, a great way to negate that for agriculture and for other users, if not this project, it would need to be a project of this magnitude."
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