When I first came to Florida, one of the most breathtaking things I saw was the Springs. Springs everywhere. Manatee Springs, Fannin Springs, Silver Springs, Weeki Wachee, and more and more and more. Year round water temp at 72 degrees.
Now we are in danger of losing the Springs. More than losing springs we are in danger
of losing fresh water to give our people. The environment in Florida is not an interest to Scott. The Tampa Times is reporting that the Scott Administration not only stopped the protection of these waters being polluted and did not fund a mandate started under Jeb Bush but a member of the Environmental DEP raised so much fuss that he was dismissed over the JEA ( Jacksonville Electric Authority ) draining our rivers and springs. Greed in the name of progress. Below is an article and the article is not only frightening but sickening as well.
Scott is a monster...He not only doesn't care about the people or wildlife of Florida but is a part of killing us off. No hyberbole. Wildlife, the springs, the rivers, the lands, and most of all the people of The Great State of Florida. The article went on to say
At the start of Scott's administration, the springs initiative was disbanded. That doomed the groups working on plans to heal individual springs. In June 2011, DEP officials told the groups to shut down.
"Due to reductions in the state budget brought on by hard economic times, Springs Initiative funding was not allocated by the legislature for fiscal year 2011/2012," the DEP letter said.
Since September, the Times has repeatedly asked to interview Scott and DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard Jr. about how they are dealing with the springs, to no avail
North of Gainesville, a church camp once attracted thousands of visitors because it was built around the gushing waters of Hornsby Springs. Then the spring stopped flowing and the camp had to spend more than $1 million to build a water park to replace it. The old spring site is now so stagnant that it's frequently declared unfit for humans to swim in. In Silver Springs, where the water was once so clear it was as if the fish swam through air, there are now goopy mats of algae so thick that alligators can perch atop them. And in the Ocala National Forest, the gurgle of fresh water pouring out of popular Silver Glen Spring is slowly growing saltier. Deep beneath the ground we stand on, below the strip malls and the condos and the lush green of the golf courses, runs a river of water that makes life in Florida possible. The underground aquifer rushes through Swiss cheese caverns, its hidden flow bubbling up to the surface in Florida's roughly 1,000 springs — the greatest concentration of springs on Earth.
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Finally, the fresh water coming out of many springs is showing signs of a growing saltiness, according to a study by the Florida Geological Survey.
All of it — particularly the saltiness — is a dark omen for the future of the state's water supply.
"You go in a cave where there's no longer any water at all," he said. "Places you used to swim through, now you have to walk through. It's a permanent decline. It's just gone."
Bush and Struhs launched the Florida Springs Initiative and put it in Stevenson's hands. He pulled together experts from government, academia and industry. They recommended more than 100 ways to protect the springs, covering everything from legislation to land-use changes.
Bush made sure they had money to do the job, too, Stevenson said.
"In 2000 he gave us $2.5 million a year for springs protection — the first time Florida had spent money on springs protection," Stevenson, now retired, recalled.
Over the next decade, the state spent nearly $25 million. Groups were set up to study the biggest springs and suggest solutions tailored to their history, location and resources.
There seemed to be some hope for Florida's springs. It didn't last
.
The article is long but well worth the read.
If we do not get rid of this legislature and Scott, the people of Florida will have a lot more to worry about than the already dire situation of poor healthcare, voter supression, 2nd largest VA facility in the nation backlogged on claims and a criminal in charge of one of the prettiest states in the nation. They will have to worry about a real water shortage and a dying state.
Here is the article from The Tampa Bay Times.
Vanishing Springs and Water article