Last week, Bay County Audubon Society President Neil Lamb, along with dozens of others spoke against a proposed water well drilling site in northern Bay County. Advocates and concerned citizens filled the tiny Vernon City Hall in Washington County to make their voices heard in this important water issue. Many long-time residents of the area are concerned that the proposed wells in northern Bay County will affect water supply and ecosystems in the pristine sandhill lakes of Washington County to the north. The current proposal allows for up to 30 million gallons to be drawn a day in certain situations and 5 million gallons per day in normal circumstances.

The Panama City News Herald reports:

Neal Lamb [President of Bay County Audubon] ...spoke about the sensitivity of the region’s plant and animal life that is spawned by the unique geological features of the region, formed by the transition from clay hills to the north to sea plains to the south.

Principal comments from the audience included concerns about family livelihood.

“Our family has been on our property for 195 years,” said one man. “Taking this water would mean we could no longer sustain our garden or our family farming operation.”

Another member of the audience said the area had experienced below-average rainfall “in each of the last 10 years,” making impact of the permit more extensive on residents and native plants and wildlife.

Former Audubon of Florida board member John Middlemas voiced his concerns with this plan to the to the Bay County Board of Commissioners. You can download his comment letter by clicking here.

The Sandhill Lakes region of Northwest Florida are a known ecological wonder unlike any in the world. In November of last year, Audubon of Florida executive director Eric Draper declared this region the inaugural nominee for Audubon's wildly-popular Florida's Special Places campaign. See Eric's submission here:

Since the announcement of the Sandhill Lakes region of Northwest Florida as one of Florida's Special Places, Audubon has received hundreds of nominations from nature lovers around the world, highlighting those special places from Key West to Pensacola and everything in between.

Have you visited this truly unique area known as the Sandhill Lakes? How do you feel about Bay County's proposal? Tell us below!