On February 15, 2023, the First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Ichetucknee Alliance and the other plaintiffs in our BMAP challenge case! The ruling means that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will have to go back to the drawing board to create more effective pollution prevention plans for the Ichetucknee and other outstanding Florida Springs.
Read the court’s decision here.
The Alliance is very grateful to the other plaintiffs in this case, to the Florida Springs Council, and to everyone who contributed to the legal fund that enabled this winning case to go forward, Thank you!
The Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act (Chapter 373, Part VIII, Florida Statutes) provides for the restoration and protection of 30 Outstanding Florida Springs (OFS) and their spring runs, including the Ichetucknee Spring Group along the Santa Fe River. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) assessed water quality in each of the Outstanding Florida Springs and determined that 24 of the 30 were impaired by nitrate nitrogen concentrations above the state’s Numeric Nutrient Criteria for nitrate. The Ichetucknee was one of the 24 OFS found to be impaired. (All the springs along the Ichetucknee River are considered as one spring group.)
In an attempt to control pollution and restore the water quality of pollution-impaired springs and rivers, DEP creates Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs). According to DEP’s website (https://floridadep.gov/dear/water-quality-restoration/content/basin-management-action-plans-bmaps):
BMAPs contain a comprehensive set of solutions, such as permit limits on wastewater facilities, urban and agricultural best management practices, and conservation programs designed to achieve pollutant reductions established by a total maximum daily load (TMDL). These broad-based plans are developed with local stakeholders and rely on local input and commitment for development and successful implementation. BMAPs are adopted by Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretarial Order and are legally enforceable.
So, where does nitrogen pollution in the Ichetucknee springshed come from? See the graph at the top of this page, lifted from DEP’s BMAP document, that shows the percentages of nitrogen by source that enter the groundwater in the Ichetucknee springshed:
- Farm fertilizer, 36%
- Livestock waste, 20%
- Atmospheric deposition, 15%
- Septic systems, 14%
- Urban turfgrass fertilizer, 11%
- Sports turfgrass fertilizer, 2%
- Wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF), 2%
In early June 2018, the Alliance reviewed the draft BMAP for the Santa Fe River, including the Ichetucknee, and found it wanting—insufficient to restore water quality to those rivers.
In summary, the BMAP:
- Does not comply with legal requirements.
- Uses overly optimistic assumptions about nitrogen reduction.
- Uses incomplete and/or overly optimistic pollution reduction strategies.
- Provides poor documentation of gains from agricultural best management practices (BMPs) that do not support DEP’s projected nitrogen removal estimates.
- Significantly underestimates the amount of nitrogen that must be reduced to reach the 20-year goals.
- Fails to account adequately for future growth in resident and tourist populations and in agricultural activity.
In cooperation with FSC in January 2019, the Alliance filed a lega challenge to the inadequate BMAP.