This may be a beginning of what the future holds for agriculture in Florida.  We have long said that our current system of agriculture is not sustainable because at the rate we are going we will have no water.  We have advocated radical changes to support farmers which must be helped by the state.

If farmers stop producing, much of their lands will be swallowed up by development, the most devastating industry in Florida.

This is an example of the beginning of changes supported by state agencies.

Dairies cause huge amounts of pollution which impact the Santa Fe River.

A former dairy located within the Devil’s Ear springshed in Gilchrist County has been permanently protected through a conservation easement and will undergo a transition to lower impact farming over the next 10 years.

Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT), in partnership with the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS), Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD), and Stetson’s Institute for Water and Environmental Resilience (IWER), worked closely with the owners of Watson Farm to put their multi-generation family land into conservation and begin steps to reduce land use impacts through a conversion process that is one of the first agreements of its kind in the Florida.

Watson Farm represents a long history of agriculture and industry in this region of North Central Florida. The 561-acre property was operated as a phosphate mine during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Large quarry pits and the remnants of an old railroad bed still exist on the landscape, where steam shovels were once used to extract minerals from the soil and immediately transport them offsite. The land surrounding the quarry pits was then transitioned to a diverse cropping operation for much of the 20th century. As agricultural operations in this area began to industrialize, the land use intensified to include a dairy operation and center pivot irrigation.

More: Board renews permit to pump nearly 1M gallons of water daily from Ginnie Springs

These land use activities came at a cost, not only to the landowner, who took on significant debt to keep up with rapidly changing agriculture practices, but also to the natural environment. Located along the northern portion of the Brooksville Ridge, the high, sandy soils on Watson Farm are vulnerable to nitrate leaching due to heavy rain events that occur during row crop season. The ridge is an area of high recharge to the Upper Floridan aquifer, which discharges freshwater to 36 springs along the Santa Fe River, an Outstanding Florida Waterway and a priority conservation area for the state. The first magnitude Devil’s Ear Spring, located along the Lower Santa Fe River, has experienced a steady decrease in flow and increased levels of nitrate since the 1960s due to increased regional water demands and nitrogen pollution.

When the Watson Family approached ACT about protecting the land while also being able to pay off farming debt on the property, the accredited land trust looked to its partners for a solution that would also ensure that the land remain undeveloped and environmental impacts reduced.

The land is now protected through an agricultural conservation easement held by FDACS through the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLLP). Funding from the SRWMD’s Accelerating Suwannee Program and Stetson University’s Sustainable Farming Fund provided support to transition the farm from irrigated row crops to lower impact farming activities.

“We are grateful to the Watson Family and our partners at FDACS, the Suwannee River Water Management District, and Stetson IWER for working with ACT to conserve this land,” said Tom Kay, ACT’s executive director. “Watson Farm is forever protected with a conservation easement that minimizes future development and reduces water intensive farming practices on the land. We are optimistic that this will be the first of many farmers in the area interested in working with ACT to conserve their farms and in the process benefit our local springs and aquifer.”

Agricultural conservation easements are an effective tool for landowners to protect and maintain their land, especially in this area of North Central Florida where development pressure has increased significantly. These easements ensure that the property maintains its rural character over time and limits the types of activities that can occur on the land. There are several state and federal programs available to landowners to pay for conservation easements and land trusts like ACT help landowners navigate the complexities of each program.

“I have seen several family farms lost to subdivision,” said landowner Craig Watson. “The conservation easement allows the acreage to continue as an income producer for future generations while allowing the family to continue residing on the property. It also helps to provide a route for inheritance, while retaining the agricultural nature of the farm.”

In addition to placing a conservation easement on the property, the Watson Family also agreed to take the necessary steps needed to reduce their impacts on the land by converting their existing irrigated row crops to non-irrigated pasture. Funds provided by the Accelerating Suwannee Program and the Sustainable Farming Fund assisted with the cost of negotiating and implementing these land use conversions over the next 10 years.

“Our freshwater springs are one of the most important economic and recreational drivers in our region,” said SRWMD Executive Director Hugh Thomas. “Funding projects like Watson Farm through the Accelerating Suwannee River Restoration Grant is one way that the District is able to partner with landowners and local organizations to improve water quality and quantity for these precious natural resources.”

“Stetson IWER is honored to support this pilot project and to partner with ACT to ensure that agricultural lands in the Suwannee Valley are managed with the goal of reducing impacts on the springs and aquifer,” said Executive Director Jason Evans. “While this is just the beginning, the steps taken by the Watson Family today may one day serve as an example for producers located in sensitive springsheds interested in reducing their operations while maintaining the legacy of their family lands for future generations of Floridians.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Conservation easement Devil’s Ear springshed in Gilchrist County