FOWR Objects to DEP’s Proposed Springs Protection Rule

August 28th - Jim Helmers and Mike Cliburn spoke at the DEP workshop in Gainesville to express our opposition to their proposed rule to protect Outstanding Florida Springs. The meeting was attended by over 100 springs advocates who spoke against the proposed rule. In addition, over 850 springs advocates wrote to DEP to express their concerns about the proposed rule. FOWR and the Florida Springs Council are advocating that the proposed rule require reductions in existing groundwater withdrawals before additional withdrawals are allowed.

The proposed rule is based on making relatively small changes to DEP’s current rules for groundwater withdrawals. Those rules have been ineffective in protecting Florida’s springs. As FOWR pointed out to DEP, the 2020 Regional Water Supply Plan for Central Florida demonstrated that the SJRWMD has already over-permitted groundwater withdrawals in the Wekiva River Basin. The District has already approved over one billion gallons per day to be withdrawn from the Floridan Aquifer, but the Plan demonstrated that the sustainable yield of the Floridan Aquifer in Central Florida is only around 760 million gallons per day. The Plan also predicted that the Wekiva River and Wekiwa Springs would not meet their Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) around 2026-2028.

The standing-room only turnout was the result of a strong advocacy campaign by the Florida Springs Council and the Sierra Club.

FOWR representatives are scheduled to meet with the SJRWMD to discuss potential changes to the current MFLs for the Wekiva River basin on October 3, 2023. The proposed MFLs will define the flows and water levels in the Wekiva River and Little Wekiva River, and flows from Wekiwa & Rock Springs, that are needed to meet 10 ecological and recreational criteria in the springs runs and the rivers.

Examples of the criteria include critical elevations for fish passage and spawning, velocities for algae scour and sediment transport, protection of adjacent wetlands, and recreational use for paddling and tubing. The District has been working on updating the current MFLs since before the Covid pandemic.

Our next newsletter will include a report on the results of the meeting and the District’s schedule for public hearings and adoption of the revised MFL’s.

Images by Michelle J.