North Florida’s springs have suffered the consequences of residential and agricultural development for decades, environmental experts assert. Recent conditions have prompted spring scientists and preservation groups to raise concerns over the state’s water supply and quality.
“The springs have probably never seen a challenge like today,” said Rick Lanese, the president of Our Santa Fe River Inc.
An ongoing six-month drought and overpumping of the Floridan Aquifer have nearly dried out the upper Santa Fe River. Lanese said this makes the lower Santa Fe River a clear-watered spring run, which is not a positive sign.
He said the river shouldn’t be clear, and that it’s supposed to be a brown river resulting from a mix of dark water and spring flow. He said clear waters are good for submerged aquatic vegetation because of increased sunlight, but that it cannot naturally persist, which puts Santa Fe’s ecosystem under extreme threat.
Lanese said 2012’s drought brought similar conditions, but Alachua County’s growth since then has increased water consumption. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the aquifer supplies 90% of the state’s drinking and tap water.
The Florida Springs Institute’s founder and president, Bob Knight, is an environmental scientist with over 40 years of experience. He said that an average Alachua County resident uses about 130 gallons of water per day, which depletes springs and rivers.
“Everybody can get by on much less water,” he said, “More than half of it is being used on outside irrigation.”
Lanese said he advises people with home gardens to catch rainwater using gutters, rain barrels and cisterns, instead of using irrigation. He and Knight said growing native plants instead of invasive ones also makes a positive difference.
Lanese said the best gardens and lawns consist of native vegetation that has withstood Florida’s climate, including droughts, without the use of fertilizer or regular irrigation.
Chloe Dougherty, the Florida Springs Council communications director, said the council is in two ongoing legal battles. She said one challenges the Spring Harm Rule, which was passed in 2016 with the intention of preventing harmful groundwater withdrawals.
After over a decade, the rules have not yet been adopted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Dougherty said the FDEP has proposed inadequate rules that essentially copy the guidelines already in effect.
According to the council, urban fertilizer usage on home lawns, golf courses and other areas contributes to about 12% of the nitrates that enter Florida’s springs. Another 70% comes from agricultural runoff, including fertilizers and animal waste, and 17% comes from septic systems and wastewater treatment.
Knight said the Suwannee River Basin has over 80,000 dairy cows, and that one cow produces the waste equivalent of 30 people. He said the amount of total waste those dairy cows produce equals that produced by the four largest cities in Florida, and that a lot of the nitrogen from that waste reaches the aquifer.
“The nitrogen is not good for the springs, it’s not good for the river and it’s not good for the people,” Knight said. “There’s more evidence and information that indicates nitrogen in our drinking water can even cause cancer.”
Algae is “choking” springs, due in part to increased nitrate pollution, according to the council. Lanese said the Santa Fe River’s bottom should be mostly white limestone, but algae has covered too much of the river for that to be the case today.
Carol Ahearn, a fifth-generation Floridian farm owner, said she decided she wouldn’t use fertilizer, and that not doing so is a responsibility she thinks everyone should commit to. Lanese said instead of using fertilizer, he recommends composting fruits, vegetables and other compostable food waste to nourish vegetation.
Beyond using less tap water and fertilizers, Dougherty said other steps, including buying less bottled water and enjoying springs responsibly, can benefit Florida’s unique waters. Alachua County Solid Waste and Resource Recovery waste alternative specialist Jennifer Bryan said when people use plastic water bottles, they should recycle them without lids, which are not recyclable.
She said the lids can be thrown away or taken to Keep Alachua County Beautiful and The Repurpose Project for reuse. Alachua County does not recycle lids, plastic straws, frozen food trays, black plastic of any kind, plastic or other take-out cups and containers, plastic egg cartons or polystyrene.
Ahearn said it’s important people take the steps to preserve the beauty of Florida, but the window to act is closing.
“What happened to human beings?” she asked, “It’s greed.”
The Florida Springs Institute has created and published a blueprint to help conserve the Santa Fe River. Knight said the state and its people aren’t doing enough to reverse damage and political missteps, but that healthy springs can be restored with the right actions.
“It can be done, we can save the river,” he said.