Welcome to Springs Advocacy!
We want to make sure you have the information and tools you need to be the advocate you want to be.
Here’s an overview of a couple of the major issues impacting springs and where you can go to dive deeper into these issues if you’d like to learn more.
It’s important to know that over 86% of Outstanding Florida Springs (a special designation for the 30 largest and most iconic Florida Springs) are considered impaired by nitrate pollution. The algae in our springs is caused, in part, by elevated levels of nitrates that come from agriculture, septic systems and lawn fertilizer.
Taking personal actions to reduce lawn fertilizer use is important. Not just for springs but for all of Florida’s waterways.
But here’s something I want all springs advocates to know: It’s a water policy and enforcement problem, and we can’t restore our springs statewide without working with agricultural producers to prevent polluting runoff from farm fertilizers and animal waste.
Because 53% of the nitrates polluting our springs comes from agriculture.
What can we do to address these issues?
We push for better laws, better policy, and better enforcement of current laws.
Basin Management Action Plans, or BMAPs, are the only regulatory tool the state has to reduce nitrate pollution. Stick around as an active member of the Springs Council and you’ll hear more about these plans. The 2016 Springs & Aquifer Protection Act required the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to create BMAPs to restore polluted springs, but the plans were so insufficient that the Florida Springs Council challenged them in court. We won in the 1st District Court of Appeal in 2016, and we’re once again in court challenging FDEP’s updated 2025 BMAPs.
These updated BMAPs violate clear statutory requirements for improving springs water quality, reducing agricultural pollution, and holding polluters accountable for reducing excessive pollution. We’re focusing on the Suwannee and Wekiwa BAMPs but the outcome of our legal advocacy will have statewide implications.
Many of our springs are suffering from reduced flows because water use permits are issued beyond what the aquifer can sustain. Spring flow in many basins has fallen below the established Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs), the limit at which further withdrawals would be significantly harmful to the ecology of the area. Despite this failure, water management districts continue to hand out water use permits in these basins, increasing pumping in springsheds already in decline–all around bad for the water quantity and quality of springs and drinking water.
What do we advocate for?
There are two necessary regulations we have been pushing FDEP to implement:
Strong Regulatory Strategies. State law requires FDEP to adopt a recovery strategy when springs fall below the established minimum flow. Drafting and adopting the recovery strategy is a process that offers Springs Advocates an opportunity to ensure effective measures are being put in place, including regulations to limit current and new groundwater withdrawals.
Strong ‘Springs Harm Rule.’ In 2016, the Legislature mandated FDEP adopt new rules that prevent groundwater withdrawals that harm springs (what we refer to as the "springs harm rule"). After kicking the can down the road for a decade, FSC took legal action to force FDEP to adopt the Springs Harm Rule. Following a multi-year legal battle, FDEP's lawyers claimed that they didn't have to do anything new to protect our springs and rivers from over-pumping. A strong Springs Harm Rule would safeguard Florida’s springs from harmful water withdrawals.
Our state agencies and leaders may ignore these issues or act like the solutions are impossible. But, with the right resources and funding, political will, and more care and attention devoted to North and Central Florida, we know it can be done. We’ve written a Better-BMAP, a draft harm rule, a meaningful Recovery Strategy for the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers, and model legislation to provide greater protections for our springs. We can restore Florida Springs, but it will take public pressure.
These issues and advocacy actions may seem overwhelming and out of our control. But there are a few actions you can commit to today to start making a difference for our springs:
Say no to bottled spring water - Click here to learn why we say bottled spring water shouldn’t exist
Skip the fertilizer - There’s much that needs to be done to stop agricultural and industrial pollution, but going fertilizer free and planting natives in your backyard is the most cost-effective action you can take - Learn more from our Clean Water Spokes-Manatee
Water less, turn off your inground irrigation system - Public supply is the largest water use, and when it comes to residential water use over 50% is used for irrigation, but that’s room for us to make a change and protect the flow of our springs!
And, we’ve got plenty of resources for you to dive into today to learn more, starting with our Springs Advocacy 101 Presentations with topic experts explaining key players and policies of springs protection, why springs are polluted and flow is low, land conservation and legislative action.
The last post in our ‘Welcome to Springs Advocacy’ series will walk you through some of our greatest accomplishments as an organization working with a well informed community of advocates and conservation partners. Advocacy works, and we’ve got legislative wins to prove it!
