FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 19, 2013
GOV. SCOTT ANNOUNCES $2.2 MILLION INVESTMENT FOR SPRINGS PROTECTION
TALLAHASSEE – Today, Governor Rick Scott and members of the Florida Cabinet
approved a plan for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to
purchase a tract of land in Madison County that will fill a critical gap for
springs protection, flood control assistance and groundwater recharge. The
Cabinet approved the Department’s $2.2 million purchase of a 599-acre property
owned by the Damascus Peanut Company on the Suwannee River, located near
Anderson Spring. The property will complete sections of the Ellaville Twin
Rivers State Forest and will be managed by the Florida Forest Service. It is
part of Florida’s First Magnitude Springs Florida Forever Project.
Gov. Scott
said, “This investment signifies our commitment to acquiring critical lands for
water quality improvements. A healthy environment is part of Florida’s economic
engine and we depend on its health. This investment builds on our Florida
Families First Budget which invests $269.5 million to improve water quality
throughout the Sunshine State.”
The property marks another land purchase that aids in the
Department’s goal of protecting springs throughout the state. On March 7,
Governor Scott and the Florida Cabinet approved a $1.5 million purchase of land outside Wakulla
Springs and within the Wakulla Springs Protection Zone with Florida Forever
money. Purchasing land near springs protects the springs, karst windows and the
Floridian Aquifer from the effects of commercial, agricultural and residential
runoff.
“The Department saw the springs protection, water quality and
water quantity that this property offered, so we worked hard to acquire it,”
said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard, Jr. “This purchase keeps a key piece of
land in state ownership and furthers the Department’s mission of land purchases
that benefit springs.”
The property provides springs protection, a 100-year floodplain
and surface water protection. The property lies partially within the springshed
for Anderson Spring, which is located on state land directly across the
Suwannee River from this property. Cave divers have mapped a connecting cave
system that moves toward this property, meaning it has high spring recharge
protection potential.
A large number of springs are located along the Suwannee River and
this property has 1.6 miles of river frontage on the western bank of the river.
Those springs are Hardee Springs, Madison Blue Springs, Falmouth Spring and
Lafayette Blue Spring.
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