Report of the Hydrogeology Action Team of the Santa Fe River Springs Working Group

3/3/99

Work Completed

A. The action team added the following inventory of existing water quality data for surface water and ground water to the list compiled in January:

1. Surfacewater Quality and Biological Monitoring Annual Report 1998, SRWMD

2. Groundwater Quality Report 1998, SRWMD

3. Poster, Springs of the Suwannee re: review of North Florida Springs

4. January 26, 1998 letter (SWFMD) Re: latest nitrate studies performed in the SW District, publications:

5. Brochure, Middle Suwannee Region Nutrient Management Program

6. Bibliography of applicable geologic and hydrogeologic literature.

a. River Water Intrusion to the Unconfined Floridan Aquifer, Environmental & Engineering Geoscience

b. Groundwater and Surface Water Interactions in the Western Santa Fe River Basin near High Springs, Florida by Todd Kincaid

c. U.S. Geological Survey publications:

d. Flyer, What are Landsat Images?, The Suwannee River Interagency Alliance

e. book, Water Resources - Atlas of Florida

f. Interactions Between Ground Water and Surface Water in the Suwannee River Basin, Florida, Journal of the American Water Resources Association

g. Florida Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Geology map series:

h. Proposed Time Scheduling for Dye Tracing Study of Western Alachua County, Florida

7. Map, Subbasins of the Suwannee River Watershed in Florida

8. Map, The Santa Fe Springs Study Area

9. Article, The Santa Fe River Springs Conference, Current Problems, Inc.

10. Water-Quality Data, US Department of Interior

11. Map, Santa Fe River Study Area Hydrography

12. Bibliography of Literature Search on the Santa Fe River

 

B. The action team members reported the following developments:

1. UF Professor John Martin has offered to make available a student for compilation of all data gathered by the action team into a useable format. Dr. Martin estimates the cost to be about $1,000 for that effort. A funding source has yet to be identified.

2. GIS maps of the study area are being revised.

3. The North Florida Regional Planning Council has volunteered to provide staff support for the study area working group.

4. The North Florida Regional Planning Council and the Alachua County Commission have endorsed legislative action to establish the study area as a VISA (Very Intensive Study Area) under the DEP, and funding for a wastewater treatment plant in the City of High Springs.

 

C. General discussion also occurred on the following topics:

1. Alachua County EPD possibly making relevant action team documents and data available through the public library.

2. The action team agreed to pursue retrieval of additional existing sampling data from the water bottling plant located in Gilchrist County, fertilizer application data from federal sources, and aggregate land use data within certain categories in the study area.

3. The scope of the UF student=s work project, including whether the data could be compiled on existing GIS formats and forwarded to the water management district for addition of monitoring well locations and data.

4. A request from the land use action team to arrive at a Abest technical guess@, based on existing data, of the largest source(s) of nitrogen loading in the study area. In response, the hydrogeology action team communicated the importance of perhaps focusing on the most intensive generator(s), and also the unintended consequences of primary activities [i.e. increased row cropping to provide silage for dairy cows]. The concept of deriving a weighted average of land use versus nitrogen loading was discussed to help focus on the major factors in the study area. The value, if any, of considering BMPs in the analysis was discussed and rejected as too vague and too long-term to be of value in the present work plan.

 

D. The following action was taken:

1. A subcommittee formed to divide up the existing data and documents to determine which materials would be useful in setting parameters for the action team=s ultimate recommendations; and also to determine which materials are suitable and useful for public access through the public library system. A report is due back within one week to the chair; the scope of work to be delegated to a student will then be formulated by the action team as well as the extent of the work remaining for the action team.

2. The action team took under advisement the request from the land use action team to provide Abest technical guesses@ as to nitrogen generators in the study area.

3. The action team agreed to contact Dr. John Martin regarding having a graduate student speak to the full working group at the April meeting, and also to contact Curt Pollman of Tetra-Tech, Inc. with respect to the role of atmospheric deposition, if any, in water quality in the study area.