Criteria

[Shocky]

By the by, is there a set criteria for closing a system? Is there a published minimum visibility, particularly for places like Peacock?
Who makes that decision, based on what?
Just asking.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

For parks, yes, there seems to be some sort of criteria.

For caves in general, no.

[Tegg]

Honestly, I think it should be published so cavedivers who are diving in "other" caves know what is safe.

[Kelly Jessop]

Honestly, I think it should be published so cavedivers who are diving in "other" caves know what is safe.

Generally 20ft of viz,and this 20ft can be defined as being able see the person's hand signal 20ft away with your light. This usually melts down to a discussion of nanny states,and why should people protect me from myself if I want to dive in near zero viz etc (this usually crops up because floodings have become rare versus the norm). There are other considerations to opening/closing parks,and this can include trees that have fallen over the road/spring,roads in bad condition needing grading etc. Overall,I think the parks do a great job with the resources they have available.

[Jim Wyatt]

Generally 20ft of viz,and this 20ft can be defined as being able see the person's hand signal 20ft away with your light. This usually melts down to a discussion of nanny states........Overall,I think the parks do a great job with the resources they have available.

Agreed.

[Tegg]

Thanks Kelly.

[curtschu]

Kelly brings up a good point. Flooding have become rare. I seem to remember in the 90s we had at least one or two floods that closed everything but Ginnie and manatee for a couple of weeks every year.
Whats the old saying Madison is first to go, Telford First to blow?

[fno]

Kelly made a good point. Another thing to remember is that the "landowner" is the sole decision maker as far as diving access is concerned. That can be FL DEP in the case of the parks, Ginnie's management, or the old guy with cows roaming a sinkhole. As divers, we respect the concerns and interests of the landowners so that we can continue to access their property and get to the caves.

[Kelly Jessop]

Kelly brings up a good point. Flooding have become rare. I seem to remember in the 90s we had at least one or two floods that closed everything but Ginnie and manatee for a couple of weeks every year.
Whats the old saying Madison is first to go, Telford First to blow?

It used to be pretty typical to expect spring flooding that would close the springs,and you got used to just not diving during that time. Due to changing weather patterns,with protracted drought,having year round cave diving has become expected,and this is a shock to many when they find they can't dive. These floods are a good thing,almost analogous to doing prescribed burns in forests,because this regeneration to the cave systems. Organic material is brought into the cave which feed the troglobitic species. When all this material is brought into the cave,and prolonged immersion in tannins,the cave will fill in incidental marks,and exposed white limestone will become the same consistency as the rest of the cave.

One thing that will happen is that the caves will take awhile to clear up because the aquifer is so low. In 1998 we saw a flood of huge magnitude,but the caves were divable fairly quickly,but the aquifer was very healthy at that time. People will lose patience quickly and feel the caves ought to open by now when a few weeks have passed,but remember this is a "perfect storm"-hard pounding rains,very fast rising river,and a depleted ground water level,which makes me thing that popular (and lesser known places) will need a long time to clear before minimal diving conditions are reached.

[Shocky]

Thanks all for the responses. I assume the 20' applies to the cave zone. I know that on several occasions ambiant light could not be observed from the sign in P-1. I have also tied off at the steps in OG just to make sure.
John