Wakulla Zone Meeting

[PerroneFord]

I was made aware of an upcoming meeting on Monday, Feb. 4, 2008 concerning the Wakulla Springs area. A group is trying to expand the area of the map that defines Wakulla Springs. The initial information that came out was from Madeleinie Carr. It was as follows:

Please come and support the idea to expand the map that protects Wakulla Springs from a small area currently to one that encompasses the entire Wakulla Spring Basin. (See attached. Yellow is current)
A workshop to discuss expanding the current map is scheduled at 5 p.m., Monday, Feb 4 in the Wakulla Board of Commissioners Boardroom behind the courthouse. -- Thanks -- Madeleine Carr

I emailed her and asked for clarification of what was meant by "protects" and what the goal of the meeting was. She politely responded with the following:

There is an existing ordinance 94-28 that is the current Wakulla Springs Protection (or Special Planning Area). It was created in 1994 based on no scientific data, but knowing that there were sinkholes between Leon Sinks and Wakulla Springs. So that original ordinance has two sections, one that describes what hazardous and toxic waste should be prohibited in that area, and the second is the actual map. The map is a one-mile wide (more or less) area. The workshop at the BOCC, 5 p.m., Feb. 5 is to expand the map to protect all of the Wakulla Spring Basin area based on current scienctific fidnings. The original ordinance was the first and very progressive one of its kind in the state.

There are no provisions to prohibit any activities in the protection area. There are, however, provisions for reporting amounts of gasoline above a certain amount that are stored, etc. The ordinance provides for an extra layer of protection against the degradation of the aquifer in the Woodville Karst Plain. To see the ordinance online go to municode.com, click on library, then Florida, then scroll down to Wakulla. Type in Wakulla Springs or Ordinance 94-28.

There will be an hour of discussion, with maps, etc. on Monday and maybe you can be there. Some have said that the EPA already protects stuff, however, the EPA reporting standards have been abolished as of Jan. 1 last year. So there is no way citizens can actually log on to view reports any more. I'd prefer to have a local layer of protection.
Hope this gives you some answers, or raises more questions -- Madeleine Carr

While it appears that this will not affect recreational use, at least on it's face, I would STRONGLY encourage everyone who can attend this meeting to do so. How it might affect cave divers in the area is unclear, but what is clear is that if the state park expands its boundaries into areas we are now diving or planning to dive, it could jeopardize our efforts.

PLEASE ATTEND IF YOU CAN!



Perrone Ford

Secretary,
Wakulla County Dive Club

[aw]

Wakulla Spring has been the source of much turmoil from day one. It's created division in the cave diving community. It's given land owners and bottling company's something to fight about. It's given Wakulla County something to complain about with Leon County's discharge . . . and the list goes on and on.

I think we just need to bulldoze the spring shut. Or dynamite it closed like the really smart folks did to Morrison Spring.

HAHAHAHAHAHA Just kidding.