Hornsby Spring used to be a second magnitude spring, pushing out 6.5–65 million gallons of water per day, like Gilchrist Blue or the Ichetucknee Headspring. Back in the 70’s Hornsby transitioned into an intermittent flow spring which means that it occasionally flows a little. This picture was taken on a good day in the spring, there was a tiny bit of water flowing down Hornsby run. There is more information and some good historic images of Hornsby at the FSI page here.
This is a story about MFL’s : Minimum Flow Levels and over-pumping. The death of Worthington, Hornsby and soon Poe, is a result of over-pumping from the aquifer. There is a law protecting further harm to our springs. Implementation and growing pains are sabotaging the intent of the law. The bottom line is that we ALL need to cut back our usage or our springs will continue to die off.
When I posted last week I got one thing wrong: The department in charge of creating the MFL ‘s is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection aka FL-DEP. It has “general supervisory authority” over the state’s five water management districts. This link goes to a page with the draft proposal document for the updated MFL’s.
Here is a copy of the letter I will present to the FL-DEP.
OSFR President Joanne Tremblay
joanne.tremblay@oursantaferiver.org
“Giving Our River A Voice”
Thank you for your work. My mother used to love going to Worthington Springs. Some of my relatives lived in the town. It’s awful to watch the destruction of these beautiful springs.
Does your mother or friends have pictures you can share?
What can I do to help?
Mary, can I email you with some suggestions?
Please provide information to the City of Alachua. They are planning on letting a company build huge development of over 500 houses , tennis and soccer courts and a pool on top of the hill that drains into Mill Sink then drains into Hornsby and the SantaFe River. Meeting is August 12th to vote on it.
Consumptive use permits are the purview of the SRWMD. I will discuss new development concerns at the FDEP meeting today.
Has a consumptive water use permit been issued for this development?
Thank you Lee Ann, I plan on going and letting our followers know how important this is. Email me at joanne.tremblay@oursantaferiver.org if you would like to help.