Florida’s springs are not eternal– they are being degraded in a variety of ways due to the state’s increasing human population. The magnificent artesian springs in Florida are displaying alarming changes, including reductions in water flow, elevated nutrient concentrations, reductions in natural aquatic vegetation and fish, and increasing populations of filamentous algae. Mother Nature is providing a wake-up call to human society that it is time to clean up our act.

Several stressors are changing our springs. Reduced groundwater levels and increasing nitrate nitrogen concentrations are both indirect effects of human land use decisions. Altered plant and wildlife communities often result from excessive human recreation and aquatic plant management activities. These stresses are obvious to even the most casual observer of springs.

Our Purpose
Florida Springs Institute is working toward the vision of having a permanent research center focused on springs and aquatic ecology and education at Silver Springs. In the meantime, we are devoting our time and energy to developing restoration and management goals for as many springs as possible and advocating for their protection and restoration.

Our principal short-term goal is to raise public and agency awareness about the need to cut back on groundwater extraction and nitrogen loading to groundwater.

Mission Statement
The mission of the Florida Springs Institute is to provide a focal point for improving the understanding of springs ecology and to foster the development of science-based education and management actions needed to restore and protect springs throughout Florida.

Goals
The Florida Springs Institute fulfills this mission by:
Developing a quantitative and scientifically defensible baseline of ecological data that documents their existing environmental conditions and trends over time.
Disseminating current best available knowledge and information about the ecology and environmental condition of Florida's springs to the public and their leaders by recommending management actions needed to reverse adverse changes occurring in many springs in the state.
Promoting a strong economy throughout the springs heartland of north and central Florida that is compatible with healthy springs and that directly and indirectly supports wise land use practices to reduce pollution affecting springs and to maintain historic spring flows that support healthy spring, plant, and animal communities.
Increasing the public's awareness of the threats to springs and the need to fund basic springs science commensurate with the documented importance of healthy springs to maintaining Florida's economic health.

http://floridaspringsinstitute.org


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has." –Margaret Mead, Anthropologist