Frustrated by Florida’s response, some activists are now touting the idea of creating a new national park to revive and protect some threatened springs. It’s the only water conflict on earth, for example, where actual professional mermaids are among the activists standing in opposition to politically powerful industries and an industry-friendly state government they feel is practically giving away its publicly owned water supply. The documentary chronicles an ongoing, uniquely Floridian environmental saga. The documentary is expected to air on PBS stations across Florida later this year.Ĭruising on the Wacissa River in North Florida: Hydrogeologist Thomas Greenhalgh, a former employee of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, sued his own employer in 2019. April 22 (Earth Day), and again at 11 a.m. Part 2, Blue Rebellion, is scheduled to air at 11 p.m. Part 1, Magic Waters, is scheduled to air on WPBT2 South Florida PBS at 11 a.m. ![]() This legal drama is just part of an upcoming documentary covering two years of grassroots efforts to preserve the world’s largest collection of natural springs, “The Fellowship of the Springs.” (The two-part series was directed and produced by Oscar Corral, a former Miami Herald reporter and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who also wrote this article). “People in decision-making positions in government don’t understand the issue and they are being fed misinformation by others who have a stake in it or stand to gain economically from it.” “It’s shocking,” Greenhalgh said in a recent interview. It basically compels farms to implement ineffective “best management practices” that allow them to comply with the rule - but without meeting water quality standards necessary for springs restoration or even drinking water in some cases. Ffolkes would prove a double blow - one that actually carries much deeper implications for the precarious future of Florida’s springs. For springs advocates, the decision by administrative law Judge Francine M. The little-noticed ruling finally came down in February, overshadowed by a water management district decision the same week to allow the multinational conglomerate Nestlé to expand its lucrative bottled water business by drawing up to another million gallons a day from Ginnie Springs, a popular swimming and tourist spot. Greenhalgh, a veteran hydrogeologist and expert on the underground flows that feed North Florida’s springs, argued that the sandy soils and porous rock of the region made them especially vulnerable - a position supported by other springs advocates and independent scientists in a long-running lawsuit seeking tougher state restrictions on how surrounding farms and other industries use fertilizer. Thomas Greenhalgh risked his job and career in 2019 when he sued his own employer, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, to challenge the state’s plans to protect Florida’s imperiled springs from increasing pollution. There are two trails in the area, the Spring Boils Trail and the Lake George Trail.By Oscar Corral, producer of “The Fellowship of the Springs” Silver Glen Springs is a popular weekend destination. Boats are permitted in the run but not the pool. The two-hundred-foot-wide spring run flows eastward for three quarters of a mile into Lake George, the largest lake of the St. The pool area is a common refuge for manatees and is also a significant cultural history site. ![]() The spring run includes beds of eelgrass but is heavily used for recreational boating. F resh and saltwater fish are present in the spring pool and algae are prevalent. ” Public access to the Natural Well is limited. One vent is in a conical depression in the eastern portion of the pool and the other is a limestone cave opening on the southwestern flank of the pool commonly called the “Natural Well. The spring is fed by two vents that produce large boils. Th is first magnitude spring is designated as an Outstanding Florida Spring and is an oasis on the edge of the Big Scrub. Marion County’s Silver Glen Springs is in the Ocala National Forest in the St.
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