Suwannee County commissioners unanimously object to Water First North Florida aquifer plan

The Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on March 17 to send a letter to the Suwannee River Water Management District opposing the Water First North Florida project, which proposes recharging the Floridan aquifer with 40,000,000 gallons of treated wastewater.

In a prepared draft read at the meeting, the board said projects cited by Water First — the Sweetwater Wetlands Project and Black Creek Water Resource Development — rely on wetlands to cleanse runoff and are not comparable to the planned injection of treated wastewater. "That is simply not true," the letter states, arguing those prior projects use wetlands rather than chemically treated water and that the difference in scale makes the comparison unreasonable.

The draft also criticized a representative of the project for declining to answer scientific questions during public meetings, noting that the representative said he was "not a scientist" and could not guarantee safety. The board wrote that the county’s citizens "should not suffer the consequences" of proceeding without firmer assurances.

Commissioners moved and approved the letter by unanimous vote during the meeting. The board instructed staff to sign and send the letter on behalf of the county and to file it with the Water Management District.

The letter urges the district to pause approval while further technical analysis and comparison to appropriate projects are provided; no additional county action or legal steps were announced at the meeting.