Last fall, scientists at the
Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute (FSI) updated the Ichetucknee River System’s
report card with a C-minus (C-) grade.
“This system is not healthy,” said
Dr. Robert Knight, executive director of FSI who guided the work that resulted
in the report card. “If you have a sixth grader who is getting C- grades, you
aren’t proud of that.”
The bad grade means we should be
taking better care of these priceless natural wonders—a river and springs that are
economic engines for our area and have been magnets for human beings for
thousands of years.
Back in 1984, the State of Florida
named the Ichetucknee an Outstanding Florida Water. According to the website of
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, this designation means that
the Ichetucknee is worthy
of special protection because of its natural attributes. This special
designation is…intended to protect existing good water quality.”
But water quality has gone downhill in the Ichetucknee, as
indicated by the “D” grade for nitrates earned in 2016 and shown in the
graphic.
Nitrates are nutrients from urban and agricultural
fertilizers, septic tanks and stormwater runoff. Nitrates can cloud our waterways
and feed the growth of algae. The difference between the Ichetucknee of today
and the Ichetucknee of the 1960s or even the 1980s is plain to those of us who
floated or canoed the river decades ago. Today, the water’s clarity is dimmed
and brown algae coats eelgrass that once shone bright green beneath the water.
Nitrates are measured in concentrations of milligrams per
liter (mg/L). At 0.79 mg/L, nitrates in the Ichetucknee are twice
as high as Florida’s recommended standard for springs. “Nitrates in the
Ichetucknee have been at this level for years and this harms the whole
ecosystem,” Knight explained.
While murky water and brown algae create a less-than-perfect
experience for Ichetucknee visitors, nitrates create the potential for an even
greater danger. Elevated nitrate levels threaten the purity and security of our
drinking water supply, especially for those of us in rural areas who depend
upon water pumped from private wells. High levels of nitrate can create health
problems for adults; newborns are especially sensitive. Do you know the level
of nitrates in your well water?
Given an increasing population, given that water pollution
from nonpoint sources such as agriculture, urban areas, and roads, highways and
bridges is unregulated and often uncontrolled, and given the increase in
industrial-level agricultural operations in North Florida, we can expect that nitrate
levels in our springs, rivers and drinking water may go up, not down, in the
coming years.
Knight is also concerned about loss of flow on the
Ichetucknee, the other area in which the river system got a “D” grade.
“Flows are way below the historic
average and are staying down,” Knight explained, “and there is no light at the
end of the tunnel for them to go back up. Both the Florida Department of
Environmental Protection (FDEP) and Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD)
have agreed that flows are too low, but they’ve done nothing to reverse that
situation by reducing the numbers of water use permits.”
The 2016 rate of spring discharge,
306 cubic feet per second (cfs), is well below the long-term median flow of 347
cfs. FDEP and SRWMD have recognized that the Ichetucknee River System needs to
be “in recovery” and FDEP has established a new restoration focus area in the
Ichetucknee springshed. Knight said that more efforts at protection are needed,
however, given that long-term trends show declining levels in the groundwater
that feeds the springs.
Those falling groundwater levels
are another threat to the security of our area’s water supply. For every foot
that the groundwater level drops, the underlying layer of saltwater rises 40
feet. Saltwater intrusion is a threat not only to drinking water but also to
agriculture, business and the economy. Maybe that bumper sticker that reads “No
Farms/No Food” should read “No Water/No Farms/No Food.”
Given that, as an Outstanding
Florida Water, the Ichetucknee was not supposed to experience any degradation
after 1984… thinking about the latest Ichetucknee Report Card…realizing that
current efforts by state agencies are not reversing declines in flow or
lowering pollution levels…and concerned about the link between conditions in
the Ichetucknee and the security of our drinking water supply, I am left with
one big question.
Do we need stronger legal
protections for the Ichetucknee?
To learn more about…
The health effects of nitrate exposure
Nonpoint sources of water pollution
Long-term trends in flow and pollution in the Ichetucknee
The Ichetucknee’s 2016 Report Card
This article originally appeared in the February 2017 issue of "The Observer," a free monthly tabloid (circulation 5000 copies) distributed in the High Springs/Alachua/Newberry/Jonesville/Fort White areas of North Florida. Many thanks to publisher Barbara Llewellyn for her kind permission to post it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment