by Johnsie Cate
Join Extinction Rebellion for a direct action on the Santa Fe River to end the water grab for our springwater at Ginnie Springs. This water use is to be used in plastic bottles and sold back to us on the grocery shelves and in vending machines.
On Saturday, Jan 18, from 10am-3pm we are planning a kayaktivism sit in at Ginnie Springs. The same people who own Seven Springs Water Company also own Ginnie Springs Outdoors campground. Seven Springs is selling the spring water that feeds Ginnie Springs and the Devil’s Eye/Ear Complex to Nestlé International.
Nestlé has recently been bottling this water under the brand name Zephyrhills with an existing 20 year old permit which has been going through the permit process by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD). The SRWMD Board will ultimately decide the fate of this unreasonable water use in the upcoming months. Based on the science alone, this permit should be denied because removing water from the Santa Fe River which has Minimum Flow and Level (MFL) data showing it is in “recovery,” which means more water needs to be protected in its natural system not be removed.
This water action via kayaks and canoes. Bring your own signs or decorate your boat with the intent to bring awareness to stop this water grab from Seven Springs Water Company. Come with your own kayak or canoe and sit with us at the head spring of Ginnie Spring. There are rental businesses in the community that can serve you to secure a boat. We will not be entering the park or its land, all actions will be done by water. You will have to make plans to paddle down the river to the location and then after the “sit in” proceed down river to the take out point at the SR 47 Bridge.
About us….
The Extinction Rebellion is a necessity. Our political establishment has failed to protect its people from pollution, prevent further mass extinction of species on earth and prevent the possibility of human extinction in the near future. Therefore we must rebel to protect the livelihood of citizens and our natural world, or risk losing everything we cherish. We are a Non-Violent movement that is committed to Direct Action in the form of Civil Disobedience.
Water is a natural resource that all life forms need to live. Nestlé has stolen so much of this precious resource already and from around the world. We at Extinction Rebellion Tampa Bay refuse to stand by and watch them do it here in our home state.
Nestlé doesn’t just take the water, they then contaminate it by putting it into plastic bottles. This also puts plastic into our drinking water and our environment.
The reports have shown us Climate Change isn’t an “in the future event.” The Change is now and 2019 was just the start of horrible things to come. If we are to survive we will need fresh drinking water and we don’t need it to come in plastic.
Plastic is a huge problem our planet is diseased with. If we make it to 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our seas. Nestlé is attacking earth with multiple problems. We believe people come before profit, however this isn’t how corporations are run or even governed for that matter. They take what they want then sell it back to us wrapped in pollution.
Our Tampa Bay group has members from the surrounding area. We come from all walks of life. We have members of different races, sexual orientations, and political views. The Tampa Bay Chapter formed in January, 2019 had its first action on Jan. 24, 2019. Contact us at Ecowarriorprincess@protonmail.com if you are interested in forming a Chapter in the Gainesville area.