Withlacoochee Area Residents, Inc.
PO Box 350
Inglis, FL 34449

Mission Statement

To implement civic action to promote the common good of residents of the community with a focus on public awareness and responsible stewardship of regional water resources; the basis for all the natural systems that define Florida's Nature Coast.

Articles

MFL determinations by the SWFMWD for Springs Coast river systems:

content/file/WAR-MFL%20Position-Final.pdf

Articles written by Dan Hilliard published in The Chronicle, August 2011:

http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/our-waters%E2%80%88-jewels-and-denial-part-1

http://www.chronicleonline.com/content/our-waters-jewels-and-denial-part-2

THE MFL PROGRAM

AUTHORIZED DESTRUCTION OF THE SPRINGS AND RIVERS

By
Ron Miller
Vice President, Homosassa River Alliance
Rmille76@tampabay.rr.com


 

“It is not an unreasonable expectation based upon this state’s history that if an MFL for the Chassahowitzka will allow a reduction of 11% percent of its current flow, inevitably groundwater pumping will be permitted from the springsheds that will permanently reduce the river to that level.  In other words, the District is setting the stage for groundwater withdrawals that will permanently lower the river’s flow to this level and the projected 15% reduction in habitat will no longer be scientific theory but permanent fact in perpetuity.” Sonny Vergara, Executive Director, SWFWMD 1997-2003.

Sonny Vergara was talking about the Chassahowitkza, but his statement is appropriate for all of the coastal springs and rivers. The Minimum Flows and Levels Program (MFL) is a legislative directive to the water management districts to define how much water can be taken from a water body before incurring  significant harm to the water resources or the ecology of the area. SWFWMD has, arbitrarily, defined significant harm as a 15% destruction of species or habitat. Once viewed as protective of water resources, the MFL has evolved into setting consumptive objectives: 11% for the Chassahowitzka River, 5% for the Homosassa River and yet to be determined % for the Crystal and Withlacoochee Rivers. In Citrus County, planners and engineers have already defined where the first well fields will be for “regional distribution” of the Homosassa and Chassahowitzka waters. The MFL program can and will, if unchanged, lead to destruction of our unique, fragile, already impacted, coastal springs and rivers.

If you look at the big picture, the MLF program is in reality, a statewide project to create a map of water sources available for developments. Once in place it will be a litmus test. There will be no contesting the taking of water up to the MFL. For Citrus County the catch is that once wells are in place the sky is the limit. There is no way of measuring if the MFL is being exceeded on the coastal springs and rivers. You cannot put a specific level or flow on a tidal river. If you say the river cannot go below a certain level it assuredly will when the tides and winds push the waters out of the rivers. Especially during a drought. Therefore all regulatory controls will depend upon aquifer models which will be found inadequate.  

Freshwater flow effects in a spring fed estuary environment are very complex. SWFWMD scientists did a good job when evaluating the Homosassa. It is not just a water level but rather the interaction of the fresh spring water and the gulf saltwater. A very sensitive, low salinity zone exists near the Homosassa Springs that is fundamental to the web of life. Reducing spring flow allows the water salinity to increase, eventually destroying this zone and the many species that depend on it. SWFWMD studies show the Homosassa to be very sensitive to the spring flow. If you cut the flow 1% you will lose 15% of the bass. Cut flow 2% will lose 15% of the blue crabs. Cut a little more and the bass and blue crabs are history.

In the Homosassa area barnacles are showing up on pilings near the springs. This has happened quickly and has come as a shock to local river observers. In the Chassahowitzka area essentially all of the hydric hardwoods near the river bank and the edge of the hammock have died for a distance of over a ¼ mile from the coastal hammock’s western edge. Aquatic vegetation has become seriously degraded and is disappearing. Consistent with the water management studies, residents have concluded that this is the result of a rise in the river’s salinity and reduced flows from the springs. In other words, the rivers are already in significant decline. Yet SWFWMD is proposing an MFL that will allow additional groundwater withdrawals which will further diminish the spring flows. Why would they want to do this?

To their credit SWFWMD is currently conducting a series of public workshops to search for new ideas to improve the current MFL program. And some interesting items have come forth.

One such item is the Outstanding Florida Waterways law that says: “Outstanding Florida Waters shall be worthy of special protection because of their natural attributes. Projects regulated by the Water Management District that are proposed within an OFW must not lower existing ambient water quality, which is defined as the water quality at the time of OFW designation.” By 1993 all these coastal rivers were designated as Outstanding Florida Waterways. It is well documented that the flows of these rivers have already decreased substantially since 1993. So the MFL doesn’t have to result in a 15% destruction of habitat and the decline of the springs since that time should be taken into account.

Another item is that the water management program has not incorporated information from the Impaired Waters program as defined by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. All of the coastal rivers are already in serious stress and are on the DEP Impaired Waters list.
 
An idea brought forth by the Withlacoochee Area Residents is to use the cross barge canal to impound fresh water for restoration and future water supply. This would provide a high volume of fresh water with little impact on the springs and rivers.

Finally, SWFWMD refuses to consider the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to establish the Coastal Springs Greenway, the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, the state Wildlife Management Areas, the Crystal River Buffer Preserve, The Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park or the St Martins Aquatic Preserves. All designed to protect these coastal resources.

There are choices to be made. Clearly SWFWMD can chose to bring some of these alternatives into the MFL program or they can chose to authorize the destruction of our coastal springs and rivers.
 

Our Water, Our Future  -  by Dan Hilliard

Part 1: The state of our State

There are generally two perspectives shared by residents of Florida regarding our water resources. One held by the Boomer Generation, born or raised here recognizes we have lost much of our water resource wealth since WWII. The other is shared by those more recent residents who may not have reference to such change and therefore see little objection to the current state of affairs. Ask either group these questions and you will hear wildly disparate responses: 

Do you know of a lake, river or estuary in Florida that is as healthy and productive today as when you first saw it? Do you know of two?  

 Florida was once considered a vast swampy peninsula fit more for beast than man. With little consideration of long term impacts and a great zeal for a pot of gold at the end of the development rainbow, the draining of Florida began in the mid to late 1800s. The state and federal governments dispensed with inducements to entrepreneurs and the road to present day Florida was paved.

Reclaiming the land was a daunting, but not insurmountable task. Unlike water quantity,  .......... 

 read the entire article by clicking the link!         Our Water, Our Future

In 2007 and 2008 many residents along the Withlacoochee below Lake Rousseau noted significant kills of native plants, invertebrates, and declines in fish activity. The River Task Force was created to address the problem and to express our deep concern regarding the ongoing herbicide applications in Lake Rousseau managed by the Bureau of Invasive Plant Management. A document entitled "Lake Rousseau Herbicide Impact on the Lower Withlacoochee River and Estuary" was created and presented to local, State and Federal officials questioning the advisability and legality of introducing toxic herbicides into the tidal reaches of the lower river and the apparent non-compliance with EPA restrictions on such activities.

Nutrient Levels in our Florida Springs     

  Why is it Important To Our River

By John Fuchs

When it comes to Florida all things water seem to be connected. Let’s apply that to our environment here on the Lower Withlacoochee River.  During our January 25 general membership meeting we were privileged to have Dr. Robert Knight as a speaker.  Dr. Knight is an expert on the health of the Florida springs with specific emphasis on nutrients.  Dr. Knight reviewed nitrate levels in the water of our local springs.  At the top of the list was the Rainbow Spring and Rainbow River with almost 2mg/L.  Springs not receiving nitrogen contamination would be expected to have around .5 mg/L.  This excess nitrogen provides fertilizer that supercharges plant growth and as well as a type of undesirable algae.  The immediate concern is the spring area where the algae can take over and eliminate the original plant species.  In fact this is taking place in many Florida Springs with high nitrate levels.

So how does this relate to our problem here on the Lower Withlacoochee.  Most of you know that the Rainbow River empties into Lake Rousseau not too far upstream from the spillway.  Here it mixes with the water from the Withlacoochee River.  Guess what happens.  That’s right, accelerated plant growth particularly species like hydrilla.  The fact that the lake is wide in this area provides lots of retention time for the fertilizer to do its job.   It’s the Florida Department of Fish and Wildlife, Invasive Species Bureau to the rescue with their toxic chemical brew of herbicides.  Pump in a little of this and a lot of that and we can kill anything that grows. No problem.

They’re right they can and do kill everything that grows just to clear the lake.  As I mentioned before this” kill zone” is the western end of the Lake just prior to the spillway into our River.  Here comes the herbicide up and over the spillway into our River ready for action.  Do we have any plants growing on the bottom of our River?  None that I can find.  Do you think there might be a relationship between the toxic herbicides and lack of plant life? You bet.

Point is that we need to be very concerned and supportive of efforts to reduce nitrate levels in Rainbow Spring and the Rainbow River.  We are uniquely tied to this issue.