Weeki Wachee Springfed River. Photo by: Sandie Will
Interested in how the springs are doing near the coast of southwest Florida? There’s now a “Springshed Dashboard” available on the Southwest Florida Water Management District website that provides a snapshot on the location, current condition and characteristics of the five, first magnitude springs (first magnitude means the spring discharges at least 64.6 million gallons of water per day) located within the northern area of the District. These include Weeki Wachee Springs, Chassahowitzka Springs, Crystal River/Kings Bay, Rainbow Springs and Homosassa Springs for a combined discharge of over one billion gallons per day. The dashboard provides near real-time graphs and figures on rainfall, stream flow, nitrate concentrations, clarity, water use, nitrate loading and land use for each spring. Historical and current monthly averages for rainfall are also provided. See the links below to access the dashboard for each spring. In addition, the District provides a nice summary for each spring on separate web pages and provides summary information, challenges, unique features, projects and recreation at the information links below:
Weeki Wachee Springs:
Information: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/weeki-wachee/
Dashboard: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/weeki-wachee/dashboard/
Chassahowitzka Springs:
Information: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/chassahowitzka
Dashboard: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/chassahowitzka/dashboard/
Crystal River/Kings Bay:
Information: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/kings-bay
Dashboard: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/kings-bay/dashboard/
Rainbow Springs:
Information: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/rainbow
Dashboard: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/rainbow/dashboard/
Homosassa Springs:
Information: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/homosassa
Dashboard: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/springs/homosassa/dashboard/
If you’d like, you can also sign up for the Springs Newsletter on the website.
Interesting. Don’t think we have these large springs in UK. Nothing that supplies public water anyway. Are the names given by native Americans?
Hi Mike and thanks for stopping by! Yes, the springs have either Indian names or the meaning of the Indian name. These were named by the Seminole Indians. The springs can be very clear and are usually colder which is nice on a hot Florida day! Take care, Sandie