The Santa Fe River Basin contains numerous environmentally and economically significant springs. The springs have been valued by Floridians for generations. Unfortunately, not all is well. Nitrate concentrations have increased since the 1950s due to land use changes. This, in turn, has led to an endeavor by the state of Florida to reduce concentrations to environmentally acceptable concentrations.
This presentation will be about the efforts of the non-profit organization AquiferWatch in tracking water quality restoration for the past decade in the Santa Fe River basin. This will include discussion around how concentrations of nitrate have changed since 2014 and how volunteerism has significantly reduced monitoring costs in a critically important region.
AquiferWatch would like to offer sample drop off for free well testing at this event. AW staff will accept water samples collected as per the instructions, in a cooler prior to the presentation. Samples can be analyzed on site with same day results (it takes a few minutes per sample).
AquiferWatch (AW) is a 501c3 nonprofit groundwater monitoring organization. AW staff have over 120 years of groundwater monitoring experience in Florida. Since 2014, AW has used numerous volunteers in its efforts to monitor groundwater quality changes in the Santa Fe River basin.
PRESENTER BIOs:
Dr. Rick Copeland is the Director of AquiferWatch Inc. He has worked for over 45 years as a hydrogeologist in Florida. He has established numerous quality monitoring networks, administered Florida’s statewide groundwater and surface water monitoring networks, and has authored many papers regarding the analyses of water quality changes.
Hailey Hall is the Treasurer of AquiferWatch. She is a hydrologist and environmental educator from a multigenerational farming family in Florida’s Suwannee Valley. Hailey previously worked as a hydrologist with the US National Park Service and also the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute.
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