With cars backed up on state roads and tourists piling into the park, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection introduced a new pilot reservation program at Wekiwa Springs State Park to mitigate overcrowding in the parks.
Before the program, visitors would wait in line hours before the park opened. If the lot was full, no one could access the park until spots were available. Now, the new pilot program guarantees visitors a spot with prepaid parking. The pilot program began earlier this month and runs through September 1.
Reservations can be made 60 days in advance. FDEP said even if a day is full, additional reservations can open up. The park is offering a notification feature on the reservation page to let would-be visitors know a spot is available.
Aside from traffic mitigation, the citizens action group, Friends of the Wekiva River, is hopeful that this initiative will help preserve the park’s beauty. The nonprofit’s vice president, Michelle Jamesson, said with over 400,000 visitors to the river system a year, foot traffic can lead to big problems in the springs.
“I know that traffic concerns have been cited a lot for making this decision, but Friends of Wekiva River, and other environmentalists are a little concerned too about the erosion of the lawn and how little vegetation is in the spring,” Jamesson said. “We're hoping that a step like this will be the first of trying to protect the spring and find some balance in protecting the thing we love, while we can still enjoy the thing we love.”
FDEP said during peak visitation months, usually between May and August, Wekiva can draw anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 visitors.
According to Friends of the Wekiva River, Wekiva is “jointly managed by a consortium of local stakeholder groups, referred to as the Wekiva River System Advisory Management Committee (AMC) with oversight and coordination provided by the National Park Service (NPS).”
According to the Wekiva Wild and Scenic River System Management Plan from AMC and threats to the system include erosion along the shoreline and threats to the vegetation.
Jamesson said sacrifices, like having to make a reservation to enter the park, are necessary to protect the springs. She said with the current crowds, they’re not “sustainable, and it's (Wekiva) being loved to death. If we don't do a little bit to try to protect it, then we won't have much of a spring left to love.”
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