Life in Interesting Times

Addendum 04-17-09 – Looking at the 5.5 mgd withdrawal or even 55 mgd taken out of the river is looking at the small picture.

The big picture is, it’s another assault on an already damaged river. Take seepage from septic tanks into the river, discharges into the river, pollution from the boats that use the river. Now, lower the river level even more. Dump more pollutants from desal plants. At some point, it all becomes just too much for the river.

The old-timers tell me the river is nothing like it was 30 years ago, much less 50 years ago.

What will we be telling our grandchildren about the St. Johns River? That it once was a beautiful and mysterious river running through the heart of Central Florida? That manatees once swam down the river to Blue Spring? That it once was lush, now it’s too dirty and dry to be of much use to anyone?

I hope we can do a better job of protecting it.

PREVIOUSLY POSTED: (WHAT’S THAT SUCKING SOUND? THE LIFE OF THE ST. JOHNS RIVER BEING SUCKED DRY)

That’s what my environmentalist and scientific contacts say about Seminole County sticking a big straw – or intake unit – to draw water from the St. Johns River.

The governing board of the St. Johns River Water Management District approved it last night. They answered charges of incomplete, poor and nonexistent scientific studies about the effects of sucking up river water by saying they would stop the project, if any damage becomes apparent.

Sure. As if Seminole County, after spending a billion on it will say, “Oh, okay. Never mind then,” in a couple of years. No. The Water Management District has boxed itself into a corner.

Perhaps the 5.5 average million gallons a day (mgd) wouldn’t be too bad by itself. It’s just the first straw. Seminole County plans to ramp up use of river water to 55 mgd, and other municpalities are drawing up plans to draw up to 260 mgd from the St. Johns and the Lower Ocklawaha. The cumulative impact looks to be devastating.

As the level of the river drops, salt water will intrude. The river has been observed to run backwards at low times already, and this will mean spring water will be drawn into the plant instead of the river, further increasing the river’s salinity and lowering water levels.

It will be in dry times, when river levels are already low, that use will be highest. A drop of just a few inches in the water level will harm delicate environmental systems and habitats along the river.

We’ll watch and see what happens. The St. Johns Riverkeeper hasn’t given up on fighting this.

As the board chairwoman noted in defense of the action, it will take legislative action to reduce development and population growth to solve the water crisis. Not that the board paid much attention to the suggestion there’s no need to rush into the Yankee Lake project, when there’s been no development going on the past couple of years.