2015 Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers MFL Evaluation

The Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers (LSFI) and priority springs are water bodies that have the potential to be affected by withdrawals in an adjacent water management district (WMD) for which the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) adoption of a reservation or MFL is appropriate pursuant to Section 373.042(2) of the Florida Statutes.

In June 2013, the Suwannee River Water Management District (District) Governing Board requested that DEP adopt MFLs it proposed for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs. The decision was based on the technical work conducted for the proposed MFLs by District staff, and the potential for cross-basin impacts originating outside of the District. District staff had also assessed the streamflows observed in the recent historical record and recent trends in the flow regime, and determined that a recovery strategy was required.

The Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs MFLs were adopted by DEP since withdrawals outside of the Suwannee River Water Management District's boundaries have the potential to be affected by withdrawals in an adjacent WMD. DEP's proposed rule was ratified by the Legislature (House Bill 7081) and signed into law by Governor Scott with an effective date of June 10, 2015 (Chapter 2015-128, Laws of Florida). For more information on DEP's Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs MFL rule, please visit their Water Resource Management Rules page.

Supporting Technical Data & Reports

Please note: Some files linked from this page will take a long time to download.

Final Report

The final technical report for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs MFL is available for download. The report file size has been compressed for shorter download times. While the resolution should be adequate for online reading, please be aware that the quality of portions such as figures, may be reduced. A higher resolution file of the document may be obtained upon request.

Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Springs MFL Report (PDF)

View all available appendices for the final report.

Final Report

Supporting Documents

• AMEC Fluvial Geomorphology Report (PDF)
• Atkins Floodplain Soils and Vegetation Sampling Report (PDF)

Voluntary Peer Review

The District contracted with the University of Florida Water Institute to conduct a voluntary, independent scientific Peer Review for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs MFLs. Emails and other documentation are available online from the Lower Santa Fe Peer Review folder in our Document Center.

Download the Final Peer Review Report (PDF), updated December 10, 2013.

Resolution Document

The voluntary, independent scientific Peer Review was given significant weight in developing the Final Minimum Flows and Levels Report for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs. Additionally, public comments were considered during Final Report development. The Resolution Document, linked below, contains the submitted public and peer review comments with the District's response. The comments are organized by group in order to create efficiency in the District responses.

Updated December 17, 2013: Download the Resolution Document (PDF).

Recovery Strategy

The final version of the Recovery Strategy for the Lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers and Priority Springs is available for review.

Download the Recovery Strategy (PDF), which reflects DEP's Notice of Change published on April 8, 2014 and updated on April 21, 2014.

Disclaimer

Prior to using District maps or models, please view the disclaimer.