Florida Springs Council warns Santa Fe and Ichetucknee springs are worsening; supports large recharge plan with safeguards

Ryan Smart, of the Florida Springs Council, told the Alachua County board that "our springs are in bad shape," pointing to increasing algae, rising nitrogen measurements and reduced groundwater flow as the primary causes of decline in the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee systems.

Smart said two linked problems are driving deterioration: excess nitrogen pollution and declining spring flow caused by groundwater pumping. He described Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs) as the state’s main regulatory tool for restoring impaired waters and said that a lack of explicit allocations —the rules that assign responsibility and reduction targets to polluters—has kept updated BMAPs from going into effect in the Santa Fe basin. Smart said the 1st District Court of Appeal gave the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) a deadline of July 1, 2025 to set allocations.

"We are now worse off than we were when we started," Smart said, referring to DEP’s 2018 baseline, and added that the basin must now achieve a much larger nitrogen reduction over a much shorter period. He said agriculture accounts for roughly two‑thirds of nitrogen loading in the Santa Fe basin, with septic systems the next largest source.

Smart criticized the decline in agricultural enrollment in best management practice (BMP) programs since 2018 and urged significantly expanded incentive and cost‑share programs to help farmers adopt lower‑polluting practices. "BMPs won’t get there," he said. "We need a much more robust incentive program."

On the flow side, Smart said the Santa Fe system has violated its minimum flows and levels (MFL) and described a proposed large‑scale recovery strategy that would pump about 40,000,000 gallons per day of treated wastewater from the Jacksonville area into recharge wetlands for the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee basins. He called the project large in scale and cost — roughly a $1.1 billion price tag — and said it should not be the exclusive reliance for recovery.

"If the water coming in 40,000,000 gallons a day is not clean, then this project fails on it," Smart said, acknowledging commissioner concerns about pharmaceuticals and other contaminants. He said districts are running pilot treatment wetlands and that the districts and DEP have committed to conducting bioassays and other monitoring during pre‑planning.

Smart outlined Florida Springs Council priorities for the coming year: increase annual state springs restoration funding well above the current $50 million, expand land conservation funding, widen agricultural cost‑share programs, and seek stronger rules protecting outstanding Florida springs during the DEP rulemaking and the 2026 legislative ratification. He also said the council has pursued court actions to require DEP to adopt more protective rules and to implement the legal requirements of SB 552 (2016).

During public comment, resident Linda Waisman described a citizen petition filed July 29 to establish a Springs Protection Zone on the Lower Ichetucknee that would include safety measures (a no‑wake zone and restrictions on personal watercraft) and tourism protections; she said several local municipalities have already endorsed the petition.

Next steps for the recovery plan, Smart said, include DEP proposing a recovery strategy for adoption, potential legal challenges, and eventual ratification by the Florida Legislature in 2026. He said the Florida Springs Council will seek to strengthen protections during the rule and ratification processes while supporting measures that improve flow and water quality.

The board did not take a formal vote on the recovery strategy at the meeting; staff indicated the Suwannee River Water Management District has offered to present the project to the board at a future meeting.