Florida Springs

The state has been slow to adopt rules to protect Florida's endangered springs. A boom in residential construction has increased the amount of groundwater being taken from the aquifers.

Freshwater springs advocates are skeptical of the state agency’s proposed rules for pumping springs, saying the rules as currently written wouldn’t change anything from the current status quo.

Freshwater springs advocates are skeptical of the state agency’s proposed rules for pumping springs, saying the rules as currently written wouldn’t change anything from the current status quo.

The long-awaited move comes nearly nine years after a state law mandated the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to propose more protective rules for pumping springs.

The nonprofit Florida Springs Council says the Department of Environmental Protection has yet to enact rules to protect the integrity and quality of springs, as was mandated by lawmakers in 2016.

Florida's springs are threated by pollution and nitrogen runoff that lead to algae growth and interfere with habitat for manatees, fish, turtles and otters.

Last year an appeals court struck down Florida’s plans to restore polluted springs, siding with the advocacy group that said those plans were ineffective. Now, as the state works on revisions, advocates fear the pending changes will still fail Florida springs.

Local environmentalists are concerned that a gas station could pollute nearby Wakulla Springs.

If you want to visit one of the best known springs and manatee watering holes in the state - you're out of luck. At least through November. Three Sisters Springs at Crystal River is closed as workers try to undo decades of damage from too many visitors.

For a century, the glass bottom boat tours at Wakulla Springs celebrated Florida’s seemingly endless depths of clean, clear water. With the water too murky to see through the glass, the boats are no longer running regularly — a symbol of the pollution plaguing the state’s freshwater and the cascade of consequences to come.

Many of Florida’s springs are at risk, largely from a combination of reduced water flow and increased pollution.

Pumping of around 1 million gallons of water a day continues while the deliberations are ongoing.