by Lucinda Faulkner Merritt
Communications Coordinator
The Ichetucknee Alliance
The Ichetucknee Inspired Springs Activism
Did you know that in the 1990s, the Ichetucknee played two important roles in Florida springs activism history?
In 1995, the Ichetucknee Springs Basin Working Group was the second group formed to bring scientists and others together to learn as much as possible about individual springsheds or basins. (The first group was the Wakulla Springs Basin Working Group.)
Then in the late 1990s, the Ichetucknee inspired creation of an even higher-profile group, the Florida Springs Task Force, which was charged with developing strategies to preserve and protect Florida’s freshwater springs.
Creation of the Task Force happened this way. Florida’s then-Governor Jeb Bush, a Republican, and his secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), David Struhs, were both concerned about a huge public and media outcry over a cement plant that was being planned near the Ichetucknee. Motivated by political fallout, Jim Stevenson was asked to lead Bush and Struhs on a canoe trip down the river so they could see for themselves what the fuss was about.
At that time, Stevenson was an employee of DEP’s Division of State Lands. He has since retired and now serves, among other roles, as a member of the Ichetucknee Alliance’s Advisory Board. When I interviewed him recently for a podcast, Stevenson reminded me that the Ichetucknee impressed Bush and Struhs so much that Struhs directed Stevenson to establish a Florida Springs Task Force while he was still in the canoe on the river.
The Task Force, with Stevenson as chairman, included private citizens as well as representatives of federal and state agencies, a state university, the business community and a regional planning council. Of note to springs lovers is that Wes Skiles of Karst Environmental Services (KES) was a member of the Task Force and Tom Morris, also of KES, was one of the group’s technical advisors.
Florida’s Springs: Strategies for Protection and Restoration is the report that the Task Force issued in November 2000. According to its title page, the report was prepared for Struhs, the DEP, and the citizens of the State of Florida.
The 16 members of the Task Force met monthly from September 1999 to September 2000 to discuss the environmental, social and economic interests related to spring basins or springsheds. The members considered outreach, information, management and funding strategies that could restore and protect springs. The report includes sections on springs history, hydrogeology and biological systems.
Findings and Recommendations of the Florida Springs Task Force
The report of the Task Force is a blueprint full of specific, detailed recommendations for preservation and protection of all of Florida’s springs, not just the Ichetucknee. It is clear from the report that by the year 2000 if not even earlier, three things were well known to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection:
- Springs were losing flow. In the 20thcentury, some Florida springs had stopped flowing and other springs were endangered by loss of flow.
- Pollution was increasing. A decline in springs water quality had been indicated as early as the 1970s.
- Everyone was involved. The report states clearly that the fates of Florida’s freshwater springs depend on actions taken by all of us—by state and local governments, agencies, and private citizens.
A detailed examination of what the DEP, other state agencies, local governments, businesses and private citizens have or have not done as a result of these recommendations is beyond the scope of this blog post, but what we know in 2019 is that—according to page 29 of a report by the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute*—many of our springs are continuing to decline. That’s true even though some of the recommendations from the Springs Task Force have been implemented.
Are Our Springs Being Sacrificed?
Looking at recent springs report cards and at what long-term trends reveal today about the Ichetucknee and our other springs,* we might be tempted to think that the Task Force failed. But the Task Force didn’t fail; its charge was to recommend action to save the springs and it did that.
The failure lies with state and local officials, elected representatives, governmental agency employees, business owners and citizens who have chosen to ignore or to avoid full implementation of the Task Force’s recommendations.
Taking a hawk’s eye view, here are some of the things we’ve witnessed in the almost 20 years that have passed since the Task Force issued its report:
- The Florida Springs Task Force was abolished.
- The Springs Basin Working Groups were abolished.
- The Republican Party abandoned its role in the historically strong bipartisan support for environmental preservation that existed in Florida prior to the election of Governor Rick Scott in 2010.
- Funding for land acquisition that could protect springs was eroded or eliminated outright.
- Plenty of springs-related “projects” moved taxpayer funds into private pockets with few, if any, proven improvements to springs.
- State agencies continued to issue positive messages that failed to convey the true extent of springs problems and the links between springs, aquifer and drinking water. Those messages created an illusion of springs protection and the disconnection between those messages and messages of groups like the Ichetucknee Alliance confused the public.
What has happened over the past two decades doesn’t look like a recipe to save the Ichetucknee or any of our springs! Instead, it looks like the Ichetucknee, the groundwater in our aquifer, and the public’s drinking water are all being sacrificed so that a few private individuals and businesses can continue to make short-term profits by pumping as much water as they can and not cleaning up their mess.
I wonder what the Ichetucknee will look like to our children and grandchildren 20 years from now. Will they be happy with the legacy we have left them? Or will they wonder why we decided to sacrifice our priceless springs?
*Florida Springs Conservation Plan published by the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute, 2018, available online