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Oppose St. Johns River Water Withdrawals!

Proposed surface water withdrawals threaten manatees and their habitat!

'Save the Manatee Club' online letter: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5215/t/3187/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1359

The St. Johns River was designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an American Heritage River. In 2008, American Rivers, a national conservation organization, called the St. Johns the 6th most endangered river in America.

The Issue:

On April 13th, the Governing Board of the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) in Florida will vote on whether to grant a permit to Seminole County to withdraw 5.5 million gallons of water per day from the St. Johns River to help meet Seminole County’s consumptive water demands. The water would be conveyed with a water transportation pipeline between the St. Johns River and the proposed Seminole County Yankee Lake Surface Water Treatment Facility.

Over time, daily withdrawals from the St. Johns could increase to an astounding 55 million gallons per day. Such large water withdrawals could lead to algae blooms, loss of wetlands, and increased saltwater intrusion into the river. Manatees live in the St. Johns River, and Blue Spring, the winter home of many of Save the Manatee Club’s manatee adoptees, is located just north of the proposed withdrawal site on the river. Water withdrawals in such large amounts from the river could negatively affect Blue Spring’s water quality and quantity and compromise the hundreds of manatees using the spring as a warm-water winter refuge.

The SJRWMD has been supportive of the proposed water withdrawal plan. If the Seminole County permit is granted, other counties will certainly begin asking to tap into the St. Johns and other rivers around the state to supply unsustainable amounts of water to their growing communities.

We cannot allow the health of natural treasures like the St. Johns River or Blue Spring to be compromised by Florida's poorly planned growth and refusal to appropriately value water.

We must demand more rigorous water conservation practices and oppose wasteful water use both indoors and outdoors.

What You Can Do: