Citrus Chronicle
By: Terry Witt (terrywitt@chronicleonline.com)
Published: 30-Jan-2005

This aerial view of the Crystal River Springs shows a large herd of manatees. The springs feed Kings Bay. Scientists and environmentalists are concerned about the health of the springs and the impact that development will have on them. MATTHEW BECK/Chronicle file

Much of Citrus County's identity as a nature coast tourism destination is directly tied to the three first-magnitude springs on the coast; but are the springs in jeopardy and do they need protection?

The springs generate a combined 195 million gallons of fresh water every day for the Crystal River, Chassahowitzka and Homosassa rivers and Kings Bay. Those water bodies are the heart of coastal tourism in the county.

And tourism generates money for local businesses.

County officials say they are committed to protecting the springs, but they also acknowledge they face challenges in protecting the springs in a high growth county. The question is, how can growth be balanced against the need for healthy springs?

Few statistics are available to identify the importance of springs to the Citrus County economy.

However, a state economic study of Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in 2002 found that visitors contributed $13.6 million to the local economy. The tourism revenues created 206 jobs. The average visitor spent $89 on food, lodging, gas and entertainment.

The state park attracted 265,977 visitors that year. More than 300,000 visitors came to the park in 2004.

Although the county has never conducted its own study on the economic impact of the springs, Mary Craven, the county's tourism director, said the springs and the rivers are the county's identity.

"The springs make our rivers. Without them, we wouldn't be Citrus County," Craven said.

The parkway factor

The county commission recently sent a report to the Florida Department of Community Affairs identifying springs protection as its first priority. The Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) identified areas where the Comprehensive Land Use Plan can be revised to enhance the county and manage growth over the next seven years.

But the question is how to do it.

If Suncoast Parkway II is built in western Citrus County, part of the four-lane toll road would run between U.S. 19 and County Road 491.

The four-lane toll road would probably intersect one or more of the first magnitude springsheds, according to Mike Bascom, who heads the Springs Initiative for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Springsheds are the land areas from which springs receive their water. When rain falls on the springsheds, it filters through the soils to refill the aquifer, which is close to the surface of the land. The aquifer flows through underground limestone formations to the springs where the water is discharged into rivers.

In Citrus County, the Homosassa and Crystal River springsheds extend east to the central part of the county.

Accelerating growthThe Florida Turnpike Enterprise has not completed its environmental study of the parkway corridor and has no information about potential impacts on the springs. However, the project director, Nathan Silva, said the springs are part of the study.

The primary concern among springs scientists is that the parkway could accelerate residential growth near the highway, creating more streets, roadways, lawns, houses and driveways that produce stormwater runoff laced with pollutants — pollutants that could find their way to the springs. They said the road itself should not be a problem as long as the drainage retention areas are designed properly to treat stormwater.

"It's not to building of one road. It's what springs up around it," said Greg Jones, director of resource conservation and development for the Southwest Florida Water Management District "What affects the springs is all the single family homes."

The counter argument, in regards the parkway, is that the area between U.S. 19 and County Road 491 would be developed regardless of whether the parkway is built. The area already has several large population centers like Sugarmill Woods, as well as a dozen or more smaller subdivisions with hundreds of undeveloped lots that were platted years ago.

Rising Nitrate LevelsOne potential challenge for springs protection is the county's Planned Service Area — the region identified in the comprehensive plan as being the area where residential growth would be focused. Part of the PSA extends into the springsheds. On the flip side, growth is the PSA is expected high quality, with central water and sewer, and stormwater treatment facilities.

Jones said nitrate levels in the county's major coastal springs are at least 50 times higher than they were before development began in Citrus County. He said nitrates have migrated into the aquifer from many sources, including lawn fertilizers and septic tanks. The aquifer carries the contaminants to the springs.

Jones believes the district will be able to preserve the flow of water to the springs when it establishes minimum flows and levels in the next five years. The district will determine how much the spring flow can decrease without damaging the diverse ecology of the springs and the rivers. The district will control water withdrawals through permitting.

Citrus County has also adopted regulations to prohibit large well fields from being used to pump or transfer drinking water outside the county. Jones said a large well field located close to one of the springs could impact flow.

Mike Bascom, who heads the Springs Initiative for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said few people realize springs are fed by the very same underground aquifer that provides the drinking water supply for Citrus County and most of the state.

In the springsheds, the limestone formations in the aquifer are close to the surface of the land. That means rainfall can soak through the thin layer of topsoil into the aquifer quickly to refill it, a process known as recharging. It also means the aquifer is more vulnerable to contamination in the springsheds.

Standing on drinking water?

If people realized their drinking water came from a source not far below their homes and lawns, Bascom believes they might be more careful about what type of fertilizer they use, and might think twice before they changed oil and dumped it on the ground.

"In Citrus County you live right on top of your drinking water," Bascom said. "The land your standing on is close to the top of the aquifer."

The closer one gets to the springs, the higher the impact of pollutants, Bascom said. That is why Citrus County is building a multi-million dollar central sewer system on the coast to eliminate septic tanks in Homosassa and Chassahowitzka. The county is also using grants to build stormwater treatment systems.

But the county thus far has not addressed springshed protection east of U.S. 19. County commissioners talked at one time about the possibility of requiring slow-release fertilizes countywide, but discarded the idea. They said if they adopted such a rule, residents could drive to neighboring counties to buy fast-release fertilizers. Commissioners said the state needs to adopt such a fertilizer rule, not individual counties.

Fast release fertilizers are not completely absorbed by the lawn's roots. The excess nitrates filter into the aquifer.

Compromise, cooperation

Bascom said the Springs Initiative has completed a draft of a springs protection land code that will be made available to counties. The code will give counties options for protecting their springs, ranging from regulations to education and voluntary best management practices.

Citrus County Development Services Director Gary Maidhof, a member of the Florida Springs Task Force, a statewide group that researched the problems facing Florida's springs and recommended ways to protect them, said the policy decisions for springs protection won't be easy and most of the decisions will fall on the shoulders of local elected officials.

"I think the time is right and I think the commission will step forward, but the devil's in the details," Maidhof said. "You can't achieve what we want to achieve without compromise and cooperation with private landowners. If we wind up in court over this, we have failed to accomplish what we wanted to accomplish."