Final Ichetucknee Springs Restoration Plan Prepared for Ichetucknee Springs Working Group August 2012 Prepared by Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute Photo by Karst Productions Inc. Final Ichetucknee Springs Restoration Plan Prepared for Ichetucknee Springs Working Group August 2012 Prepared by Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute Contents Executive Summary – A Resource Worthy of Protection ...................................................... 1 Background ....................................................................................................................... 1 Findings of Fact ................................................................................................................. 3 Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 5 The Challenges .................................................................................................................. 5 The Solutions ..................................................................................................................... 6 Springs – Florida’s Secret Wonders .......................................................................................... 7 The Ichetucknee System - A Karst Landscape ........................................................................ 9 Location .............................................................................................................................. 9 Geology and Hydrogeology ......................................................................................... 10 Hydrogeology .................................................................................................... 14 Springshed .......................................................................................................... 14 Aquifer Vulnerability ........................................................................................ 17 Land Use/Land Cover ................................................................................................... 19 Ichetucknee Springs State Park .................................................................................... 22 General ................................................................................................................ 22 Physical Description .......................................................................................... 25 Stream Geomorphology and Sediments ........................................................ 28 Biological Description ....................................................................................... 29 Human Use ......................................................................................................... 47 Recreational Carrying Capacity ...................................................................... 47 Hydrology – Lifeblood of the Ichetucknee ............................................................................ 51 Precipitation .................................................................................................................... 51 Groundwater Recharge ................................................................................................. 51 Stream Flows ................................................................................................................... 52 Floridan Aquifer Levels ................................................................................................. 57 Individual Spring Flows ................................................................................................ 60 Groundwater Withdrawals ........................................................................................... 61 Estimated Withdrawals in the Springshed .................................................... 61 Ichetucknee Water Balance Summary ......................................................................... 65 Impaired Waters – Swimming Holes or Algal Bowls? ........................................................ 68 Surface Water Quality .................................................................................................... 68 General ................................................................................................................ 68 Nitrate Concentrations ..................................................................................... 69 Phosphorus ......................................................................................................... 71 Wastewater Contaminants ............................................................................... 71 Dissolved Oxygen ............................................................................................. 72 Groundwater Quality .................................................................................................... 72 Nitrate Concentrations ..................................................................................... 72 Nitrogen Sources ............................................................................................................ 74 Recreational and Economic Resources - A North-Central Florida Playground .............. 78 ISSP Human-Use Attendance and Activities ............................................................. 78 Economic Value .............................................................................................................. 79 HOWARD T. ODUM FLORIDA SPRINGS INSTITUTE i Value of Natural Resources ............................................................................. 80 Ecosystem Services ........................................................................................................... 82 Institutional Concerns - Optimizing Resource Utilization ................................................ 84 Legal and Regulatory Protections for Ichetucknee Springs ..................................... 84 Federal, State, and Regional Protections – Water Quality ........................................ 84 Federal, State, and Regional Protections – Water Quantity ..................................... 85 County and Municipal Protections for Water Quality and Quantity ..................... 86 Recommendations – Choosing an Optimistic Future .......................................................... 87 Developing a Restoration Road Map ........................................................................... 87 Engaging the Stakeholders ............................................................................................ 87 Education Initiatives ...................................................................................................... 87 Regulatory Assistance .................................................................................................... 88 Funding Strategies .......................................................................................................... 89 Specific Recommendations ........................................................................................... 89 The Challenges ................................................................................................................ 89 The Solutions ................................................................................................................... 90 References .................................................................................................................................... 97 Figure 1. The Ichetucknee Springs and River are quintessential north Florida icons (photo by John Moran). ................................................................................... 2 Figure 2. (A) Location of the Ichetucknee springshed in northern Florida; (B) Degree of confinement of the Upper Floridan Aquifer within the springshed (the unconfined portion marks the Ichetucknee Trace); and (C) Major named springs along the Ichetucknee River (Heffernan et al. 2010). ............................................................................................. 3 Figure 3. About 200,000 tourists and residents each year enjoy Ichetucknee Springs’ waters and are immersed in Florida’s natural environment. ....................... 7 Figure 4. Map of the boundary of the Suwannee River Water Management District illustrating the geographical location of the Ichetucknee, Santa Fe, and Suwannee rivers in north central Florida. ........................................... 9 Figure 5. Ichetucknee Springs and Springshed location map. ...................................................... 11 Figure 6. Physiographic regions and major karst features of the vicinity of the Ichetucknee Springshed, including the Ichetucknee Trace, an extinct riverbed that only flows during extreme wet conditions (Katz and Griffin 2008). .......................................................................................................... 13 Figure 7. Map of the Ichetucknee System Springshed, showing the potentiometric surface of the upper Floridan Aquifer during May 2002 (SRWMD). .................... 15 Figure 8. Potentiometric surface map of the upper Floridan Aquifer and the Ichetucknee River basin in September 2003. This map illustrates the predominant groundwater flow direction from northeast to southwest towards the Ichetucknee Springs discharge point (Katz and Griffin 2008). .................................................................................................... 16 HOWARD T. ODUM FLORIDA SPRINGS INSTITUTE ii Figure 9. Estimated aquifer vulnerability to contamination