The Florida Springs Council advocates for culture and policy changes to protect and restore Florida’s springs and spring-fed waterways, building the power, influence, and resources of springs advocates across the state. Florida has the highest concentration of freshwater springs in the world. These springs constitute 90% of the state’s drinking water. However, these waters are under significant threat. Water use has increased 400% in the last sixty years with the state’s booming population, and companies like Nestlé are allowed to pump and bottle millions of gallons for the cost of a $150 permit. This affects the water’s quantity and quality. Algae blooms and pollutants destroy habitats and threaten a spring’s survival. Ultimately, the water can be pumped out faster than aquifers can restore it. Working through local governments, the legislature, courts and other avenues, FSC is tirelessly working to reverse the destruction of Florida’s springs, rivers and aquifer.
FSC is a coalition designed for collective advocacy. In 2014, local springs groups including Ichetucknee Alliance, Friends of Wekiva, and Rainbow River Conservation joined Sierra Club and other larger conservation groups to combine their efforts, skills, and expertise to protect Florida’s Springs. FSC has since evolved into a larger organization with thousands of individual members, while maintaining a model of cooperation with partner organizations. Each FSC board member represents a spring or environmental organization. Collectively, they work as one on local or statewide spring threats, lobbying in Tallahassee for better laws, coordinating legal challenges, and taking other actions as needed to protect Florida’s springs. Lawsuits filed through FSC have included the “BMAP” suit filed against the Florida Department of Environmental Protection challenging their spring cleanup plans. The court ruled in FSC’s favor, and now FSC is challenging the DEP’s failure to comply.
Man swimming through algae – What was once a crystal clear spring in a rural area of Florida is now smothered with algae due to under-regulated use of fertilizers in the area, causing increased levels of nitrates not just in the spring but in the aquifer below, the source of local residents’ drinking water. Photo Courtesy of Florida Springs Council.