Hardee Springs

Product Description

Why Purchase Property with Natural Spring Water and Access to the Underground Floridian Aquifer
Question Presented 1
1.    What is the importance of Hardee Springs specific location on the Withlacoochee River in Hamilton County, Florida? 
Brief Answer 
1.    Hardee Spring is located on the Withlacoochee River and connects Twin Rivers State Forest. It provides pure access to the Floridan Aquifer. 
Analysis
Hardee Spring property is on the Withlacoochee River in Hamilton County, Florida, approximately *1 miles northeast of Madison, FL. The property is **5 acres with 8,**0 feet of river frontage and possesses a natural first magnitude spring. The location of Hardee Spring is important because Hardee Spring connects to the Floridan Aquifer and is 4 miles from Madison Blue Springs. 

It provides a tributary to the famous Suwannee River, flowing from Valdosta, GA into the Suwannee at Ellaville, and the Withlacoochee River. It is located *0 miles east of Tallahassee, FL, *5 miles south Valdosta, GA, and about **0 miles west of Jacksonville, FL, on the Hamilton County side of the Withlacoochee River. It is easily accessed from Interstate *5 at the Jennings exit (the first one in Florida).

Question Presented 2

2.    What is the significance of Hardee Spring connecting to the Floridan Aquifer System, which the most productive quality aquifer in the world, and how is it distinguishable from other springs that connect to the aquifer? 

Brief Answer
2.    Hardee Spring allows rare direct access to the Floridan systems spring water without contamination. The Floridan is the most productive water quality aquifer in the world. Water withdrawn from First Magnitude Springs like Hardee Spring routinely lacks elevated chloride concentrations or the potential for saltwater intrusion, much unlike most other springs.
Analysis 
The Floridan aquifer system (Floridan) is the most productive water quality aquifer in the world providing drinking water for millions of people. Floridan is intensively pumped for industrial and irrigation supplies. Much unlike most systems around the world, water levels do not decline greatly despite the huge volumes of water withdrawn from the aquifer system. The **0 known springs in Florida are natural openings in the ground where water discharges (an aquifer). Most springs in Florida (there is a total of **7) are small, extremely variable flowing aquifer. Precipitation directly and quickly affects the water level and they cease flowing during periods of less than normal precipitation. 

Hardee Spring is different from other springs connecting to the Floridan because it is one of only five privately owned First Magnitude springs in North Florida allowing rare direct access to the Floridan systems spring water without contamination. Water withdrawn from Hardee Spring lacks elevated chloride concentrations or the potential for saltwater intrusion. Other springs that withdraw water are elevated in chloride concentrations or saltwater intrusion. Like only *2 other springs in Florida, Hardee Springs continuously flows regardless of the precipitation levels. Unlike the **7 springs in Florida, Hardee Springs has a much greater replenishment area supply.

Question Presented 3

3.    Why did Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council reclassify Hardee Spring as a Florida First Magnitude Spring in ***6? 

Brief Answer 3
3.    Hardee Spring changed from a Second to First Magnitude spring because it met all ARC boundary modification guidelines. 

Analysis 
Hardee Springs First Magnitude designation is important because the designation is only given to large springs of clear, continuously fresh flowing water, and is Floridas most famous and important natural and recreational resources. The cavernous, water-filled rocks of the Floridan Aquifer supply the largest springs. Fresh water discharges from a First Magnitude springs mouth at an average of **0 cubic feet per second or more, and underlying the thick, water-filled limestone is the Floridan Aquifer arch. The largest springs in the world are located in Florida. First Magnitude springs are in great demand because they provide the most pure drinking water. 

Hardee Spring received a First Magnitude Spring designation reclassification on October *4, ***6 from the Florida Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC). ARC evaluates, manages, and ranks acquisition land projects for Florida. ARC is a group of representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI), Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS).

Hardee Spring changed from a Second to First Magnitude spring, as it met all ARC boundary modification guidelines. Hardee Springs connection and proximity to Floridas First Magnitude Blue Springs in Madison, FL satisfied the first key requirement for a boundary modification. Hardee Springs connects to Twin Rivers State Forest. Secondly, Hardee Spring satisfied the tax valuation requirement. Lastly, it included **5 acres. Hardee Spring met all ARC modification requirements and received a first magnitude spring designation.   

Question Presented 4

4.    Hardee Spring Cave is a rarity, what differentiates it from most other springs?  

Brief Answer 4
4.    Hardee Springs cave mouth is large enough for cave exploration unlike other spring cave mouths. The cavern rooms are some of the largest explored in the area. 

Analysis
An extensive aquatic cave system is associated with Hardee Spring. The first distinguishing characteristic is that Hardee Springs cave mouth is large enough for cave exploration. Unlike most springs caves, professional hydrologist and cave divers mapped approximately 4,**0 ft. of conduit passages. Hardee Springs cave system is so vast that the extent of the conduit system is undeterminable from the discharge opening of the spring or the karst window. The exploration of this cave system is still contiguously developing.

Notably, Hardee Spring emerges directly from a small cave at the base of **-foot high limestone and sand banks. The small, circular pool is *5 feet in diameter. The depth of the spring measured near the cave opening is 4.5 feet. The deeper parts of the cave are generally *0 to **5 feet deep. The maximum reported depth in the cave is **8 feet.

 A shallow and deep section characterizes the Hardee Spring Cave, like the Madison Blue Spring Cave. The shallow cave passages are generally between *0 and *0 feet deep (below the water surface). Passage dimensions in Hardee Spring Cave vary by orders of magnitude, from conduits too small for a diver to enter, to large rooms that easily rival the largest rooms in the Madison Blue Cave System (*0+ feet across), like most caves. Many of the long conduits accommodate divers comfortably, and usually average from *0 to *0 feet wide and from 4 to *5 feet tall. 

Morphology suggests that the water discharging from the spring comes from several source areas. Observations from divers support this theory, stating that during the same period the water quality (temperature and color) throughout the system varied by location. Professional divers indicate there is a room size rival to the Madison Blue Cave System. (site for Nestle Waters of North America). Hardee Spring Cave system displays a dendritic pattern, like Madison Blue Spring Caves. Passages are generally between *0 and *0 feet deep (shallow end). The deeper parts of the cave system are **5 feet, maximum **8 feet. Hardee Spring provides access to the undeveloped world beneath Florida.

Question Presented 5

5.    Can Hardee Spring support a consumptive use permit? 

Brief Answer 5 
5.    Yes, Hardee Springs produces enough water to support the largest SWRMD industrial-commercial consumptive use permit. 


Analysis  
Hardee Spring can sustain water-bottling operations, unlike many springs in Florida. SRWMD granted Hardee Spring an industrial-commercial use water bottling permit (application No. WUP******4). The permit allowed 1.2 million gallons pumped a day, which would support a bottled water production facility. The owners of Hardee Springs did not use the permit because they were unable to invest the needed funds to pursue the water bottling investment venture. After the non-use, the permit expired but it can easily be reissued at any time. It is six miles up gradient of Nestle water bottling facility. 
•    *7.5 million gallons per day / *7.2 cubic feet per second.
•    **0 days per year average.
•    3.5 billion gallons per year. 
Approximately **5 acres of the subject is influenced by the spring. (According to Suwannee River Water Management District)

Question Presented 6 

6.    Why is acquiring Hardee Spring a top priority for the Floridas First Magnitude Spring Florida Forever Project?

Brief Answer 6
6.    The Florida purchase of Hardee Spring aids in the protection of a First Magnitude spring, karst windows, and the Floridan Aquifer from the effects of commercial, resi-dential, and agricultural runoff; clear-cutting and mining; unsupervised recreation; fills a gap in Twin River State Forest; narrow band floodplain; and is within a secondary habitat for the Florida Black Bear. Hardee Spring maintains low intensity use around sinks and fractures throughout the planning area preventing groundwater contamination.

Analysis 
Florida Forever is Floridas premier conservation and recreation lands acquisition program, a blueprint for conserving natural resources and renewing Floridas commitment to conserve the states natural and cultural heritage. Large springs of clear, continuously flowing water are among Floridas most famous and important natural and recreational resources. The cavernous, water-filled rocks of the Floridan Aquifer supply the largest springs. Preserving springs and the land around it aids in the protection of springs, karst windows, and the Floridan Aquifer from the effects of commercial, residential, and agricultural runoff; clear-cutting and mining; and unsupervised recreation. Hardee Spring is one of the largest springs of clear, continuously flowing freshwater. Florida Fish and Wildlife identified Hardee Spring within a secondary habitat for the Florida Black Bear. 

Hardee Spring protects the upland recharge area for Madison Blue Springs. The protection enables management to enhance quality s of surface water and ground water. Suwannee River Water Management found Hardee Spring up gradient to Madison Blue Spring when measuring potentiometric surfaces. Hardee Spring affects the discharge flow at Madison Blue Spring. The systems ability to sustain the minimum flow levels needed are likely from Hardee Spring Cave System location, which possess western and southern trends. 
Hardee Spring is one of only fifteen First Magnitude Springs in North Florida. The public (government) owns ten of the fifteen springs in north Florida. The public owns twenty-four of the thirty-three First Magnitude springs in Florida.

The river cuts a deep channel through the area resulting in a narrow band of floodplain swamp with quick transition to mesic hammock/upland mixed forest and former mesic Flatwoods that now support pine plantations. It is one of Floridas most famous and important natural and recreational resources.

Question Presented 7 

7.    Why is the ability to explore a cave system important? 

Brief Answer 7: 
7.    Cave exploration significantly improves the ability of hydrologists to understand the complexity of groundwater flow in a multiple-porosity medium such as the carbonates.

Analysis
The importance of a large cave mouth is for the exploration and survey of underwater cave systems significantly improve the ability of hydrologists to understand the complexity of groundwater flow in a multiple-porosity medium such as the carbonates. The improvement in understanding has been hampered in the past by the lack of qualified scientists to visit the remote and hostile environment of deep underwater caves. There is no substitute for detailed observations in improving the quality and quantity of information needed to advance scientific understanding within this multifaceted system of fluid flow for spring water.
While the recent observations are an important glimpse into the groundwater flow regime, it should be noted that they represent a significantly limited data set. The small size of the data set and its relation to the regional groundwater flow pattern may be restricted because of the lack of cave mouth size. Reasonable assumptions may be made, such that a greater overall understanding of the evolution of this complex groundwater drainage basin may emerge.  
The most important derivative products of systematic cave exploration are maps, which illustrate the extent and layout of the cave, shapes of passages, and if a profile is included, the three dimensional relationship of the passages. A map not only portrays the geography of a cave, but also depending on its level of detail, can show the location of features within the cave. Cave/karst feature inventories are becoming more common in the documentation process, especially because of the increased availability and access to GIS technology, which allows more detailed cave/karst feature data to be integrated with the survey and cartographic data. Photography is another important aspect of cave documentation; a description of underwater helictites, u-loops, or chandemites pales in comparison to the photographs that record their existence. Systematic documentation and its derivative products such as cave maps, topographic overlays, reports, inventories, and photographs bring the hidden nature of caves and their features to the attention of scientists and provide a basis not only for cave-related research, but for a wide range of scientific endeavors such as archaeology, evolutionary biology, hydrogeology, geology, geomicrobiology, miner- alogy, and paleoclimate studies, to name just a few. 
In order for exploration documentation to be of value, it must be accessible. Much of the early information generated by cave exploration in the United States was not published in peer-reviewed journals, publications, or popular magazines. With the formation of the National Speleological Society and its many chapters (grottos), came national and regional publications that served as venues for accounts of cave explorations, maps, cave survey/research project reports, and photographs. State cave surveys, usually organized by active cavers within a state or region, served as archives and catalogs of cave data. Many of the state cave surveys published maps, reports, regional overviews, and results of scientific research in caves of their respective areas. Often these are the resources that scientists use to access information about caves, their characteristics, and features. Systematic cave exploration and documentation provide an essential foundation for cave research. In turn, the results of cave research also serve the cave explorer in her/ his efforts in finding more caves.