Suwannee River Water Management District | RiverFronts e-Newsletter

RiverFronts text with an image of three people kayaking

District staff assess the water quality monitoring station at Ichetucknee Springs.

August is National Water Quality Month

The District is focused on improving water quality for the springs and rivers in north Florida. Continuous water quality monitoring stations collect data at Madison Blue Springs, Manatee Springs and many other springs within the District.

A new station has recently been installed at Ruth B. Kirby Gilchrist Blue Springs State Park in the spring run. The station is located between the Santa Fe River and Gilchrist Blue Spring. Nitrate, temperature, conductivity and dissolved oxygen are some of the data that the station collects.

Water quality data is collected on an hourly basis at Gilchrist Blue Spring. The data collected can be found on the Water Quality Portal on our website.

The clear blue water at Manatee Springs is surrounded by lush vegetation.

Record Flows at Manatee Springs

Floridan aquifer levels are now above the 90th percentile in parts of Levy, Alachua and Dixie counties. The high aquifer levels mean that spring flow has continued to be higher than usual at many north Florida springs within the Suwannee River Water Management District (District). As a result, Manatee Springs in Levy County experienced record flows in the month of July.

Data from the United States Geological Survey reveal that the daily mean flow at Manatee Springs was 122 million gallons of water per day during the last week of July 2019. This is about 33 million gallons of water per day higher than average for July.

For more information about the flows at Manatee Springs, visit our website.

Suwannee River Partnership

The District is an active member of the Suwannee River Partnership. For almost twenty years, the Partnership has worked to address water quality and quantity issues in the Suwannee and Santa Fe River Basin. Comprised of a diverse group of individuals from federal, state, regional, and local governments, as well as farmers, residents, agricultural and environmentalist associations, the partnership meets quarterly to plan research-based solutions to protect our community’s water.

For more information about the Partnership or how to get involved, contact Kelly Aue at kaue@ufl.edu.

Cypress trees growing in the cool waters of Rock Bluff Springs.

Annual Passes Available for J.H. Anderson, Jr. Memorial Park

Summer hasn't ended yet! Enjoy Rock Bluff springs every weekend by purchasing an annual pass to the J.H. Anderson, Jr. Memorial Park. The annual pass provides visitors with access to the park and Rock Bluff Springs. Visitors can enjoy swimming in the cold spring water, hiking to numerous karst windows or enjoy a picnic under the large Live Oak trees.

Passes can be purchased through Alachua Conservation Trust. Please visit their website for information on pricing and preferred payment method.

District staff Kristin Thompson selected as the employee spotlight.

Meet Our Team - Kristin Thompson

The District's finance team is a group of staff who are dedicated to ensuring the daily operations of the District are running smoothly. Among the finance team is Kristin Thompson who works diligently with financial reporting, payroll, accounts payable and more.

As a Finance Specialist II, Kristin provides financial support and guidance to District staff. She ensures proper financial reporting and funding is available throughout the District. In addition to her everyday responsibilities, Kristin is an active member of the Florida Government Finance Officers Association and has recently been accepted to Saint Leo University to obtain her MBA in accounting.

Kristin has worked at the District for one and a half years and has really enjoyed working alongside the finance team and other District staff.