Springs Festival

The 4th Annual Marion County Springs Festival is coming up 24th and 25th September (Saturday and Sunday). Michael Poucher will be doing a presentation on cave diving and we will have a booth for public information.
Come on down to Rainbow Springs State Park to hang out with your family or help out at the booth. There is swimming and canoeing (sorry, no diving in the park :cry: ).
While Marion County isn't typical cave country, there is some incredible karst (two first magnitude springs, sulfur springs, lots of dry caving) and our local leaders express interest in learning more and are pro-active in springs protection. County Springs Festivals like this one help raise public awareness about karst and caves and you can take this idea to cave country for festivals there as well.
Sandy Poucher

The county has accually written it down..

Sec. 5-2. Scuba diving prohibited at certain locations.
(a) For purposes of this section, "scuba diving" shall mean swimming underwater with any apparatus, whether self-contained or connected to a distant source of air or other gas, whereby a person wholly or partially submerged in water is enabled to obtain or reuse air or any other gas or gases for breathing without returning to the surface of the water.
(b) Scuba diving shall be unlawful at the following locations:
(1) The headwaters of the Rainbow River (formerly known as Blue Springs and Blue Run).
(2) The headwaters of Silver River and that portion of Silver River from the headwaters of Silver River to a point three thousand (3,000) yards down river.
(3) That portion of Silver Glen Springs and Silver Glen Run lying within the unincorporated area of the county.
(c) The provisions of this section may be enforced by any local state or federal law enforcement officer, acting within his jurisdiction.
(Ord. No. 86-10, § 1, 6-3-86; Ord. No. 86-11, § 1, 6-3-86; Ord. No. 86-12, § 1, 6-3-86; Ord. No. 89-12, § 5, 5-9-89)

Mostly those rules were created to keep erosion problems to a minimum (imagine the boatloads of learning divers on the Rainbow every day - only now imagine them crowded in the headsprings area). And, of course, the old liability concerns (ask Bill Foote about Silver Glen sometime)...

The Rainbow appears to be mostly sand bubblers and tiny fissure cracks with a couple of truly teeny caverns along the river. Believe me, we've checked (right, Joe?)!

Still a gorgeous drift dive downriver (there's a boat ramp at the county park, the KP Hole). Lots of gar, bowfin, cooters, occasionally small gators. Bring the kids.