As Nathan Crabbe points out in the article below, it is crystal clear that the State of Florida has no intention of restoring our springs. Their projections are mere fantasy which makes them a laughingstock in the real world.
What is not funny is that the state wastes millions trying to hoodwink the people into believing that they are actually trying to preserve our waters while intentionally ignoring the polluters and water users.
The Gainesville Sun does not provide a link to this article.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Protect Ichetucknee Springs for generations to come
December 26, 2021
One of the great things about living in Gainesville is being within a short drive of Ichetucknee Springs and other natural wonders. Yet, like with so many things in life, long periods of time can pass without taking advantage of the opportunity to visit them.
Last weekend, my wife and I brought our two kids to meet up with some friends and their son at Ichetucknee Springs State Park. It was my first time there since changes had been made in park policies, including the upper stretch of the spring-fed river being closed to tubing….
Changes in tubing policies aren’t enough. Even though excessive groundwater withdrawals in the area have diminished spring flows, the Suwannee River Water Management District keeps allowing the pumping to continue unabated.
District officials are now proposing spending hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money on an absurd plan to pipe water from the Suwannee River to the Ichetucknee to boost water levels.
Groundwater pollution from livestock, fertilizer and septic tanks also pose threats, fueling algae growth that clouds the Ichetucknee’s formerly pristine waters. Again, the state’s solution is spending taxpayer money rather than cracking down on the polluters causing the problem.
But the state can’t spend its way out of the problem, as shown by a Florida Springs Council analysis of 2021-2022 restoration projects being conducted by state agencies. Even if there are no new pollution sources, the analyses found that it would still take 217 years to achieve water quality goals through the projects.
The Ichetucknee/Sante [sic] Fe River system would take even longer: It is on track to be restored in 391 years based on the capabilities of current springs projects. And the cost of reaching water quality goals for the basin would total more than $4 billion, according to the study….
