Erika Clesi
Contributor
The Florida Springs Institute met and broadcasted to Facebook Live on Wednesday, Sept. 14, to present their research findings on four Florida springs: Lafayette Blue, Troy, Fanning and Manatee. In 2016, Lafayette Blue, Troy, Fanning and Manatee, along with 26 other Outstanding Florida Springs, were issued special status and protection by the Florida legislature through the Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act. In 2018, 24 of these 30 springs were deemed as impaired by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) based on their nitrate-nitrogen concentrations. The FDEP set a numeric nutrient standard of 0.35 mg/L for springs, and the Florida Springs Institute found that Lafayette Blue, Troy, Fanning and Manatee Springs all had nitrate-nitrite levels higher than the established standard.
The report details how Troy Spring consistently had the lowest measured average concentration, measuring between 1.7 and 2.1 mg/L, with Manatee Spring coming in close behind, averaging between 2.1 and 2.4 mg/L. Lafayette Blue Spring averaged at 2.9 to 3.4 mg/L, and the Florida Springs Institute noted that Fanning Spring has one of the highest measured nitrate concentrations of Florida Springs, as its measured average concentration ranged from 6.0 to 6.3 mg/L with a maximum value of 10.2 mg/L. Its counterpart, Little Fanning Spring, also had a measured nitrate concentration of 10.2 mg/L, both of which exceed the 10 mg/L Maximum Contaminant Level for nitrate in drinking water set by the DEPA and the State of Florida.
Hailey Hall, an environmental scientist at the Florida Springs Institute, presented these findings in a graph.
“0.35 mg/L is what a spring should be at to be healthy. 10 mg/L shouldn't really even be on this graph. It's really bad that it is, because that's the drinking water limit,” Hall stated.
Hall also pointed out how Fanning Springs has a consistently high nitrate pollution level.
"The state says that 0.35 should be a monthly average. None of these springs are even getting close to having a monthly average of 0.35,” Hall asserted.
Dr. Bob Knight is the Director of the Florida Springs Institute. He’s also an environmental scientist/systems ecologist with 38 years of experience as an aquatic and wetland ecologist in Florida. He weighs in on Florida’s springs.
“The springs on the Suwannee River are very important to, I think, everybody who lives in this area. I first visited in the 1970s, and spring hopping was a sport that probably had been going on forever,” Knight stated.
The Florida Springs Institute was able to conduct this study through a 2021 Protect Florida Springs Tag Grant. To access the full report and get involved with the Florida Springs Institute, visit floridaspringsinstitute.org.