Water plant in Florida renews permit to collect 1 million gallons from Ginnie Springs a day

[Jake]

The North Florida bottling plant BlueTriton Brands in Gilchrist County is being given the go-ahead to pump up to nearly 1 million gallons of water from Ginnie Springs daily. They've been attempting to secure a new permit since 2019, but received heavy pushback from it, as people are worried that the springs will be losing too much water and the water flow could have an affect on the flow of nearby rivers. But the The Suwannee River Water Management District Governing Board saw no issues and accepted their permit to pump water. They say they are within their limits for the permit. They were limited to 1.152 million gallons a day, but rarely ever met that amount.

Do you agree with this permit being issued? Are you worried about the water level decreasing? More on this story can be found at WCJB.com

 

[Winny]

That's a lot of water to be given to a bottling plant. It looks like they do go through a lengthy permitting process along with having to be up to date on licenses and all that fun stuff. As much as I hate how much water they're using, it looks like they're within their right to use the amount they do. It's crazy the amount of water they need, and I do wonder if that's going to result in water levels going down.

 

[Nomad]

It seems like there are mixed opinions on the approval of BlueTriton Brands' permit to pump water from Ginnie Springs.
The ongoing tension between industrial water usage and environmental conservation indicates that the economy and environment both are at stake. Public engagement and ongoing monitoring may be essential to ensure that the approved pumping levels do not adversely affect the environment.