Current News

by John Jopling Last February, members of the Board of Directors of the Ichetucknee Alliance met with Drew Bartlett, deputy secretary of Water Policy and Eco Restoration with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), and Ann Shortelle, executive director of the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD). At that meeting, we discussed our disappointment …

The State of Florida Is Overseeing the Death of the Ichetucknee Read More »

Article and Photographs by Scott Jantz   We often joke that the walk down the quarter-mile boardwalk to Blue Hole is longer than the dive we are carting our gear to do. But what Ichetucknee’s Blue Hole spring lacks in length, she more than makes up for in beauty and challenge. Cave divers use two …

Diving Among Diamonds Read More »

Saying, “The idea of a group like ours coming as supplicants seems absurd,” Ichetucknee Alliance President John Jopling opened a meeting with representatives of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Suwannee River Water Management District to ask those state agencies, which are charged with protecting Florida’s natural resources, to begin to enforce state …

Ichetucknee Alliance Asks FDEP and SRWMD to Enforce Florida Law Read More »

by Jill Lingard Sometimes the most effective way you can raise environmental consciousness is to simply spend a day on a river…or forest, mountain, beach, whatever natural place makes your soul sing.  Most people who enjoy tubing the Ichetucknee consider Labor Day weekend to be season’s end for the river.  It’s just beginning for paddlers. …

Paddling, With Outward Ripples Read More »

by John Jopling Speaking on behalf of the Ichetucknee Alliance at the Suwannee River Water Management District meeting on August 12, 2014, I called on the District to enact a moratorium on new large (over 100,000 gallons per day) water use permits until such time as District staff members are able to calculate a realistic …

Ichetucknee Alliance Calls for Moratorium on New Large Water Use Permits Read More »

June 17, 2014 Today, the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit to protect the Ichetucknee Siltsnail under the Endangered Species Act. The snail is a tiny creature which is found in only one place in the world—an area of ten square yards in the pool of Coffee Spring on the Ichetucknee River. Why should we …

Guest Blog: Why Should We Care About the Ichetucknee Siltsnail? Read More »

This was the Suwannee River Water Management District’s day to call their witnesses. One of the SRWMD lawyers took the leading role for the FDEP/WMD/utilities team. The first witness was Carlos Herd, who was introduced as a person who could speak to the recovery strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers. Herd did …

Day 5, the Final Day of the Administrative Hearing on MFLs Read More »

David Guest joined the Earthjustice team for Day 4 of the hearing and I finally got to meet him. He is obviously a powerhouse and he engaged in some very interesting legal debates in the afternoon with the judge and the other attorneys on the case. The debates revolved around differences between federal and state …

Impressions of Day 4 of the Administrative Hearing on MFLs Read More »

Following Lu Merritt’s blog about the standing issues raised in the administrative hearing on the proposed MFLs of the Ichetucknee, I am reminded of the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision Sierra Club v. Morton. In that case, Justice William O. Douglas wrote a famous dissent on environmental entities having standing in their own right. The reasoning …

Guest Blog: Granting Legal “Standing” to Natural Systems Read More »

The tiny Ichetucknee silt snails that live at Coffee Spring may move faster than what felt like the interminable events on Day 3! The day began with a discussion about revisions to a document called a “pre-hearing stipulation” on which all parties needed to agree. At the end of that discussion, one of the lawyers …

Day 3 of the Administrative Hearing on MFLs Read More »