Alachua Sink 6/4

[Jim Wyatt]

There were 5 divers at Alachua yesterday morning, 2 were guides. The steps to the sink are very nice & make diving there so much easier.

The visibility in the sink down to about 100 feet was less than 5 feet. There were places that it was difficult to read gauges during the decompression.

Vis inside - was 50-60 feet --- we swam upstream for a ways & I saw 6 or 7 crayfish flittering around & dropping off the overhead. We reached 160 feet using a normoxic trimix.

It was a good dive if you don't mind deco in almost no vis.

[Cindy]

Great, I thought the rain had messed it up. Goes to show! :-D That is one cave you actually have to get into to tell what's going on. Thanks for the report. Cindy Butler :)

[Kelly Jessop]

Great, I thought the rain had messed it up. Goes to show! :-D That is one cave you actually have to get into to tell what's going on. Thanks for the report. Cindy Butler :)

Cindy-do you find change in conditions when the Santa Fe is flooded? I realize that the same rain that would cause the Santa Fe to flood would probably have a negative impact,but have you ever experienced good conditions in the beginning of the cave,but tannic vents inside the cave.

[FW]

Great, I thought the rain had messed it up. Goes to show! :-D That is one cave you actually have to get into to tell what's going on. Thanks for the report. Cindy Butler :)

Cindy-do you find change in conditions when the Santa Fe is flooded? I realize that the same rain that would cause the Santa Fe to flood would probably have a negative impact,but have you ever experienced good conditions in the beginning of the cave,but tannic vents inside the cave.

Alachua is pretty isolated from the Santa Fe. Local rains run into a nearby "swallow hole", and can change vis pretty quickly. Last weekend, the headpool was pretty clear.

[Kelly Jessop]

Great, I thought the rain had messed it up. Goes to show! :-D That is one cave you actually have to get into to tell what's going on. Thanks for the report. Cindy Butler :)

Cindy-do you find change in conditions when the Santa Fe is flooded? I realize that the same rain that would cause the Santa Fe to flood would probably have a negative impact,but have you ever experienced good conditions in the beginning of the cave,but tannic vents inside the cave.

Alachua is pretty isolated from the Santa Fe. Local rains run into a nearby "swallow hole", and can change vis pretty quickly. Last weekend, the headpool was pretty clear.
The reason I asked the question is that Hornsby may have a connection and this was to be proven by a dye trace. I find that during heavy rains that Jug hole is blowing clear water,but there will be a tannic vent at the 90ft level,and this more likely due to the upstream influences from the swallets.

[Cindy]

Well since I am home on call instead of diving I can answer that question. From what I can tell and I am no expert, Alachua has three sources of water. Ground water of course that changes with the saturation of the aquafur, spring water that comes from the North East (there is a large area of drainage ground there) and feeds the true upstream and downstream portion of the cave. It also has ground water that is usually tannic coming into the 'cavern' portion from a swallow hole and from the sink. The sink is an offset system and there is a marked delineation in water when you go under the duck under from the cavern and enter the cave system. I have not noticed a relationship with river levels. Karst Environmental is going to dye test soon and we will know for sure if it connects to Hornsby or not. I don't think it does. I think the water goes toward the City of Alachua and feeds several sinks, the city water supply and ponds in that area. Pete is also going to be dye testing several areas in San Falasco park. Hopefully all this will tell the county how to better manage the water resources.
Soon, I hope to send a team downstream Alachua with the cave magnet and invite the Alachua City Mayor to see where the cave goes. When I contacted her about the cave going under the proposed site for the Wal Mart Super Center she told me that they didn't even know there was a cave there. To me this is our fault as cave managers. I think we need to do some education and have better contact with local governments if we want our caves to have some chance of surviving all with the rapid development that is going on in Florida.
Hope all this helps, Cindy Butler :)

[Jim Wyatt]

When I contacted her about the cave going under the proposed site for the Wal Mart Super Center she told me that they didn't even know there was a cave there.

Maybe the Wal-Mart people would think twice before they built a multi $million complex over a cave that has the potential of being a sinkhole.

[Cindy]

I wish, the cave is over 200 feet deep in that area. What they would do is prep the area by blasting and filling with cement. Lots of it. They are looking at another site right now because the local shop owners don't want them either and it's becoming a hassle. That doesn't mean they won't come back if it's a good deal for them. The mall in Ocala was built over one of the better dry cave systems in Florida. They just filled it in. Developers don't see caves as natural wonders that can never be replaced. To most they are only a hindrance in their plans. There are a few that are actually working with the dry cavers to protect caves but sadly very few. The Wal Mart super store would have included a full service auto center and gas station. Even if they didn't hurt the cave, all that ground water is going someplace and contaminants right with it. Right now they are talking about moving the Wal Mart across the highway. I hope the dye testing can show the relationship of the spring with the water that is used by the city. Destruction of springs during building massive stores like this is going to be a hot issue. I hope we can keep Alachua from becoming anther cave lost to development. Tom Morris and I have both been in contact with local environmental groups. Like I said in my last post, education and good relations with city, county and state govenments are going to be the only way to protect these caves. We can't hide them from each other or outsiders anymore or we will lose them. Tom Morris once told me that every cave needs someone who cares about it. Alachua is my child, I will protect her if I can. Don't think I won't call on all of you to help if needed. I'm bad that way! :) For those of you who can't understand adopting a cave think of it as losing another dive site. Caves need to be protected and left open for reasonable use by cavers and divers.
Keep your ears open and if you know of a cave in danger of becoming a statistic to development then please let someone know. End of lecture. Have a great day guys. The cave is clear by all reports, lets enjoy it while we can. Cindy

[Ken Hill]

Cindy, Jim,
Last May 6, 2005 the following bill, Florida Senate 2368 died in the Community Affairs Committee and it dealt with the aquifer issues described. It officially was named the "Senate 2368: Relating to Minimum Flows/Surface Watercourses ."


http://www.flsenate.gov/session/index.cfm?Mode=Bills&SubMenu=1&BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&BillNum=2368

Some of the interesting verbiage of the bill addressed cave diving. I quote portions of Part IV " (1) The Legislature recognizes that Florida's springs

19 are a precious and fragile natural resource that must be

20 protected. Flow and water quality at springs are indicators of

21 local conditions in the Floridan Aquifer and other major

22 aquifers that are also drinking-water sources for many

23 Floridians. Florida's springs also provide recreational

24 opportunities for swimmers, boaters, wildlife watchers, and

25 cave divers.

Now that's a first for legislation and an honor for those working behind the scenes to get this done.

Additionally it is a Florida crime to vandalize or damage a cave. Proving that there is a cave below the intended site and documentation of possible destruction may make the act of impacting the surface with tools or explosives a criminal offense. I would read Florida statute
Title XLVI
CRIMES Chapter 810
BURGLARY AND TRESPASS View Entire Chapter

810.13 Cave vandalism and related offenses.-- there may be liberal interpretation of that statute to prevent such development.

http://www.flsenate.gov/statutes/index.cfm?mode=View%20Statutes&SubMenu=1&App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=caves&URL=CH0810/Sec13.HTM



You are on the right track and keep the awareness levels up. /Ken

[Cindy]

Oh, that first Bill died? Too bad. Any more like it pending? Cindy

[Cindy]

Thanks Ken, I knew about the law but didn't have the correct statutes. I can research it better now. I intend to get a few hardy souls together and track the cave from the surface, marking it with flags. I think a visual trail like that would be a good way of making it more 'real' to the locals. Besides right now I can't really prove where it goes in a way that people understand. John Moseley gave me a topo map showing the current survey and it really helped, that was the first thing I emailed to the Mayor. I already delivered a video to the manager and Mayor that was done by James Hurley. I'm trying to make them understand that the cave under their town is COOL! I hope to contact the schools soon and see if we can get some of our cave diver/school educators like Angie and Chip to give some presentations for the kids. So far all the response has been very positive. Cindy :D

[bmwcaves]

Yes, we have a cave protection law.....
Members of the Florida Speleological Society had alot of input into the verbage of that bill
..unfortunately... laws don't protect caves, people do.

Blue Caynon was filled in by the developer and the state did nothing. There was a bat colony in the dry portion of the cave, underwater passage over 50 ft in depth, lots of cave crayfish, a map, and even a gate installed by the FSS. The sink still got filled in. The state was contatced, the law was quoted, they did nothing.
Same thing happend to Jennings. The county was trhe cul;prit this time. Cavers finallly had to fix that damage.
Another example; Walmart in Ocla filled in lots of cave under thier new supercenter., and it's juts across the street from Scott Springs. All the runoff goes that way.

I can't really think of where the cave law has actually protected any caves. It's always the lobbing of people that care about them...and that's where caving and cave diving organizations need to be heard the most.

Point is, like Cindy said, caves needs people to protect them, a gaurdian that is vigilant about protection ...and loud.
I wished the cave laws actually worked but thay don't when development and money is involved.

Brian

[DeWayne]

How true that it is Brian. Leave it to politicians and rather than enforce the laws that are on the books they will go out and pass new laws that they won't enforce either, except for those aimed at making a quick buck off the small guy who cannot defend himself in a court of law the way Sam and others can. I am curious if the state ever offered up a reason for not at least attempting to enforce the laws that are now on the books. Makes one wonder if they saw it as just being too cost ineffective. We all need to speak out loud anytime something like this happens. Hit the politicians where it hurts them the worst, at the polls. Sure, the new ones may be even worse but we can keep voting out the riffraff until we finally get someone in office who will serve the people that elected them.

[Ken Hill]

Brian, good seeing you Sat. My thoughts are that the best way to defeat those that would develop is to stay ahead of the curve and make the objections publicly. That's the way the Long's beat the limerock people and why Manatee is clearer than its ever been. The other way is to encourage elected officials that there are votes to gain or lose as a result of their actions.

The bill that stalled is limited to the Suwannee and its WMD. We need the bill expanded to state wide. At a minimum this bill would set a precedent for others to follow.

The sponsor of the stalled bill is Sen Nancy Argenzaino (R) District 3 (basically cave country.) For Bio Please see:

http://www.flsenate.gov/Legislators/index.cfm?Members=View+Page&LastName=Argenziano&District_Num_Link=003&Title=%2D%3ESenate%2D%3EArgenziano%2C%20Nancy&Submenu=1&Tab=legislators&chamber=Senate


The Community Affairs Committee where the bill stalled is at:

http://www.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/View_Page.pl?Tab=committees&Submenu=1&File=index.html&Directory=committees/senate/ca/

Perhaps someone could come up with a polite letter of support for the Senator and her bill. The letter should ask her to forward messages of support to the appropriate Committee people. If she draws support from various people around the state (not just cave country), those representatives will be more likely to take note.

Florida has made it real easy to research pending bills and legislation Please see: http://www.flsenate.gov/Welcome/index.cfm. I try to keep up with it but they are a busy bunch with tons of legislative proposals.

The Senate meets from March to May but the preparation of bills is year long and normally deadlined the previous summer (August.) Therefore now is the time to ask for action or answers.

As a last thought, the developers are not always deaf to public pressure. As a matter of fact the ethical ones listen. It was a developer that backed off their objection to the initial opening of Madison. It was a forrester taht sold the the CDS the land that is the entrance side to Cow Springs. Water bottlers donated over $2000 to the CDS two years ago ... why because they are in favor of high flow with CLEAR water.

Remember the flow limits mean nothing to us if the water is green!!!


/Ken