By Neil Armingeon, St. Johns Riverkeeper
» A water war has come to the St. Johns, a river that flows from south Florida, through the central part of the state and into the Atlantic at its mouth in Northeastern Florida. St. Johns Riverkeeper is fighting plans to remove hundreds of millions of gallons of freshwater from the St. Johns and the Ocklawaha, one of its major tributaries. This battle is the latest in a long line of Florida’s water struggles, and many believe its outcome will decide the future of the St. Johns.
In spring 2007 the St. Johns River Water Management District announced that Orlando and central Florida will out-strip the Floridian Aquifer’s ability to provide a sustainable drinking water source beyond 2013. The Water Management District directed Orlando and other communities to seek alternative water sources. The cities set their sites on the St. Johns and its main tributary, the Ocklawaha, as their primary new water source.
The Water Management District claims that 155 million gallons per day can be safely withdrawn from the St. Johns River without affecting the river’s aquatic health or its ecosystem. The Water District is also focusing its attention on the lower Ocklawaha River, and although a minimum flow level for the Ocklawaha River has not been established, the agency is telling counties to expect to be able to withdraw another 90 to 108 million gallons per day from that river — total potential withdrawals from the St. Johns system could be over 262 million gallons per day.
St. Johns Riverkeeper is concerned that the withdrawals will have catastrophic impact on the river’s ecology. The St. Johns reached historic low flows this past summer and flows in the Ocklawaha River are down by almost half over the past 60 years. The Water Management District has masked the risks to the river’s ecological health by portraying the withdrawals as a simple percentage of the river’s total flows. But their calculations don’t tell the whole story.
The proposed withdrawals will cause the river’s salinity line to shift upstream, impacting the productive estuary at the river’s mouth, especially during low flow conditions. Because river water has a high salt content, most withdrawals for drinking water will require reverse osmosis treatment. Reverse osmosis removes salt from the water, producing very-salty wastewater called ‘concentrate.’ Several of the proposed withdrawals will be upstream of the Wekiva River. This river is a National Wild and Scenic River and one of the state’s few aquatic preserves. Disposing of the concentrate would harm the river’s health, adding additional pollutants to an already stressed system. And removing additional freshwater will potentially worsen pollution events in the St. Johns watershed, including the river’s blue green algae problem (reported in the Waterkeeper fall 2007 issue.)
The estimated cost of this project will exceed $4 billion, yet it will only provide drinking water needs for 10 years into the future. Floridians have one of the highest per capita water use rates in the United States; each of us use about 180 gallons per day. Even more stunning is the fact that 50 percent of the potable water used in the state never reaches the inside of our homes or businesses; it is used to water our lawns and landscaping. Yet conservation has no part in the Water Management District’s plans.
At this writing, the first permit to remove water from the St. Johns River is on public notice. We are scrambling to refine our legal strategy; we are prepared to do whatever it takes to stop this theft of our river’s health and it future.
Florida’s population is expected to double within the next 50 years, this will require prudent long-term solutions and dramatic changes in the way that we grow and utilize our water resources. EPA estimates within 5 years, 36 states will face water shortages. This means many of our rivers will be targeted to maintain unsustainable growth and water use.
The only way to solve the problem, stop water wars, and save our rivers, is to drastically cut demand, per-capita water use, and begin to limit growth. The health of our rivers and the quality of life of our communities require we fight for sustainable use of our water supplies.
Most Waterkeepers spend their days fighting to prevent polluters from putting something — nutrients, heavy metals, sediments, bacteria — into their rivers, bays, lakes and estuaries. But a growing threat in the Southeast are misguided efforts to take freshwater from our waterways. Former Catawba Riverkeeper, Donna Lisenby (now the new Watauga Riverkeeper) was one of first Waterkeepers to take on this growing threat in the region. She fought the proposed transfer of water from South Carolina’s Catawba River to the cities of Concord and Kannapolis, North Carolina. Lisenby’s work resulted in the South Carolina’s Attorney General filing a notice to the States Supreme Court to stop the transfer.
Water wars between Florida, Alabama and Georgia also heated up this summer when Atlanta’s water supply reservoir, Lake Lanier, reached historic lows and city officials noted that the region had less than a two month water reserve. Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in Georgia has been advocating for better water management and less water wastage in upstream Atlanta, while Apalachicola Riverkeeper in downstream Florida has been heavily involved in efforts to maintain flow in their river.
|
|