Kissingen Spring (also spelled Kissengen) was a natural spring formerly flowing in Polk County, Southwest Florida. It was also a venue for recreation until it dried up in 1950. Hundreds of wells drilled into the Floridan Aquifer may have caused the demise of the springs. Its site is located near the northern end of Peace River, approximately 3/4 mile east of U.S. Highway 17 and 4 miles south of Florida SR 60 / south of Bartow.
Kissengen's springwater rose from the Floridan Aquifer at the rate of 20 million gallons a day. [1] Kissengen Spring was once a second magnitude spring.[ citation needed ]
In 1886, the Burr family moved near the spring to farm. [2]
Increased groundwater withdrawal, beginning in the late 1930s, lowered the potentiometric surface of the aquifers. Kissengen Spring gradually ceased flowing. The spring was publicly declared inactive in 1950 as the result of overpumpage.[ citation needed ]
Until 1950, tourists used the area for picnicking, boating, and swimming. [3] [4] There was a pavilion for parties and dancing. [5] The waters were thought medically beneficial to those with various ailments.
In 1962 a sinkhole filled in the spring vent with clay. [6]
A historical marker was funded by the Florida Humanities Council. [7] The Polk County Museum had a Historical Marker Ceremony in August 2011. The marker has now been placed at the Mosaic Peace River Park. [8]
In 1962 a sinkhole formed near the site of Kissengen Spring and a flow of clay filled in the flow vent and probably the underground channels. This is a problem in restoring flow to the springs. [9]
Most spring water comes from the Floridan aquifer. [10] This water enters the aquifer from local groundwater recharge areas that include the Lake Wales Ridge and other relict islands to the east and north. The water is under pressure and this force pushes water out of spring vents. [11]
Kissingen Spring used to discharge 20 million US gallons (76,000 m3) of water into Peace River. The river had a year-round flow. Decreases in the spring's water pressure caused large sinks to reverse the flow and these sinks would receive water from the riverbed. Water flows into openings to the underground karst conduits. [12] [13]
Progress is being made to control the draining of the aquifer. [14]
There are a number of cracks and sinks in the Peace River. The water flows down into undergroundcaverns that can hold millions of gallons of water. [15] [16]
A hydrology report on Peace River points to efforts to repair damage caused by the lowering of the Floridan Aquifer water level. [17] [18] [19]
Located in Polk County, Peace Creek joins with Saddle Creek to form the headwaters of the Peace River. This stream and its watershed have been altered from their natural state.
Water regulation did not start until the early 1960s.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) protects natural resources, including springs. [20]
The Southwest Florida Water Management District has developed a plan to restore waterflow to Kissingen Springs. [21]
It is not known whether the water shortage at Kissengen Spring is real and permanent, or the result of a period of lower than average rainfall coupled with decades of pre-regulatory overdrafting of the aquifer.[ citation needed ]
There is a project to raise the level of Lake Hancock and start a larger flow towards Peace River. [22]
To restore Kissengen Spring, the aquifer must be recharged with enough water to recreate the original spring pressure.[ citation needed ] Peace River will have to be restored to the year round minimal flow. During May, much of the upper Peace River goes dry. This dry period is hindering the aquifer recharge and revitalization of Kissengen Spring. [23]
The intent of these two projects is to increase the clean flow of Peace River and recharge the aquifer around the Kissengen Spring area.
The Lake Hancock Outfall Wetland Project (LHOWP) is a large-scale, flow-through, wetland to improve the quality of water that discharges from Lake Hancock to Saddle Creek and ultimately to the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor. The project site is located adjacent to and south of Lake Hancock in Bartow, Polk County, Florida.
The finished project is expected to consist of a 1,008 acres (408 ha) treatment wetland located on former reclaimed phosphate mine clay settling areas now owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
On the south end of Lake Hancock is a structure called P-11. It can be raised or lowered to control the level of water in Lake Hancock.
Water will be pumped from the southern shore of the lake through three wetland cells. The cells will incorporate narrow planting strips separated by larger natural recruitment zones. The treated water will discharge from the Cell 3 wetland outfall structure into Lower Saddle Creek, which is downstream of the lake outfall structure (P-11).
The project includes construction of an inlet pump station, instrumentation, controls, control structures, earthwork, embankment, slurry cut-off wall, channels, aeration structure and access road.
The plan is to raise the level of the lake about 1 foot (0.30 m) and making the lake a natural storage area for water. The result would increase flow into the Peace River. Part of the project is to filter the water through marsh areas before releasing it.
Peace River has several openings into the karst conduits and millions of gallons of water flow underground instead of down the riverbed. This project will attempt to create berms around these holes and limit the amount of water being lost.
The water cannot be directly discharged into Peace River because of the polluted condition of the water.[ citation needed ]
The LHOWP project should be completed by 2013. [24] [25]
A second project is being built on the Old Plantation property to clean the water and send it to Peace River.
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures or unconsolidated materials.
Barton Springs is a set of four natural water springs located at Barton Creek on the grounds of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, resulting from water flowing through the Edwards Aquifer. The largest spring, Main Barton Spring supplies water to Barton Springs Pool, a popular recreational destination in Austin. The smaller springs are located nearby, two with man-made structures built to contain and direct their flow. The springs are the only known habitat of the Barton Springs Salamander, an endangered species.
A spring is a point at which water flows from an aquifer to the Earth's surface. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of water, especially in arid regions which have relatively little annual rainfall. They range in flow rate from nearly zero to more than 450 cubic feet per second, for the biggest springs. Springs are fed by groundwater, which is forced to the surface by various natural forces such as gravity and water pressure.
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At 310 miles (500 km) long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in elevation from headwaters to mouth is less than 30 feet (9 m); like most Florida waterways, the St. Johns has a very low flow rate 0.3 mph (0.13 m/s) and is often described as "lazy".
Ponce de Leon Springs State Recreation Area is a Florida State Park in Holmes County, Florida. It is located in the town of Ponce de Leon. The park, which was created to provide public outdoor recreation and other park-related uses, was initially acquired on September 4, 1970, using funds from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. The park’s self-proclaimed purpose is to develop, operate and maintain the property for outdoor recreation, park, historic, and related purposes, offering abundant opportunity for nature appreciation and wildlife viewing. Its primary recreational activities include swimming in the spring and hiking along the park’s nature trails.
The Floridan aquifer system, composed of the Upper and Lower Floridan aquifers, is a sequence of Paleogene carbonate rock which spans an area of about 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) in the southeastern United States. It underlies the entire state of Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
The Edwards Aquifer is one of the most prolific artesian aquifers in the world. Located on the eastern edge of the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas, it is the source of drinking water for two million people, and is the primary water supply for agriculture and industry in the aquifer's region. Additionally, the Edwards Aquifer feeds the Comal and San Marcos springs, provides springflow for recreational and downstream uses in the Nueces, San Antonio, Guadalupe, and San Marcos river basins, and is home to several unique and endangered species.
The Bone Valley is a region of central Florida, encompassing portions of present-day Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Polk counties, in which phosphate is mined for use in the production of agricultural fertilizer. Florida currently contains the largest known deposits of phosphate in the United States.
The Peace River is a river in the southwestern part of the Florida peninsula, in the U.S.A.. It originates at the juncture of Saddle Creek and Peace Creek northeast of Bartow in Polk County and flows south through Fort Meade Hardee County to Arcadia in DeSoto County and then southwest into the Charlotte Harbor estuary at Punta Gorda in Charlotte County. It is 106 miles (171 km) long and has a drainage basin of 1,367 square miles (3,540 km2). U.S. Highway 17 runs near and somewhat parallel to the river for much of its course. The river was called Rio de la Paz on 16th century Spanish charts. It appeared as Peas Creek or Pease Creek on later maps. The Creek Indians call it Talakchopcohatchee, River of Long Peas. Other cities along the Peace River include Fort Meade, Wauchula and Zolfo Springs.
Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs in the vadose zone below plant roots and, is often expressed as a flux to the water table surface. Groundwater recharge also encompasses water moving away from the water table farther into the saturated zone. Recharge occurs both naturally and through anthropogenic processes, where rainwater and or reclaimed water is routed to the subsurface.
Surficial aquifers are shallow aquifers typically less than 50 feet (15 m) thick, but larger surficial aquifers of about 60 feet (18 m) have been mapped. They mostly consist of unconsolidated sand enclosed by layers of limestone, sandstone or clay and the water is commonly extracted for urban use. The aquifers are replenished by streams and from precipitation and can vary in volume considerably as the water table fluctuates. Being shallow, they are susceptible to contamination by fuel spills, industrial discharge, landfills, and saltwater. Parts of southeastern United States are dependent on surficial aquifers for their water supplies.
Colt Creek State Park is a Florida State Park in Central Florida, 16 miles (26 km) north of Lakeland off of State Road 471. This 5,067 acre park nestled within the Green Swamp Wilderness Area and named after one of the tributaries that flows through the property was opened to the public on January 20, 2007. Composed mainly of pine flatwoods, cypress domes and open pasture land, this piece of pristine wilderness is home to many animal species including the American bald eagle, Southern fox squirrel, gopher tortoise, white-tailed deer, wild turkey and bobcat.
Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is the direct injection of surface water supplies such as potable water, reclaimed water, or river water into an aquifer for later recovery and use. The injection and extraction is often done by means of a well. In areas where the rainwater cannot percolate the soil or where it is not capable of percolating it fast enough and where the rainwater is thus diverted to rivers, rainwater ASR could help to keep the rainwater within an area. ASR is used for municipal, industrial and agricultural purposes.
Lake Hancock is north of Bartow, Florida in Polk County, Florida. It is ecologically important.
The Green Swamp is a swamp in Florida. It lies west of Highway 27 and east of Interstate 75 in Polk, Lake, Sumter, Hernando and Pasco Counties. The headwaters of the Peace River, Withlacoochee River, Ocklawaha River, and Hillsborough River are located here.
Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park is a Florida State Park in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. This 6,000 acre (24 km2) wildlife sanctuary, located south of Tallahassee, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and designated a National Natural Landmark.
Econfina Creek is a small river in the middle Florida Panhandle. It flows through hilly country, and has sections of whitewater rapids. Much of its flow comes from springs. The river ends at Deer Point Lake, a reservoir that provides the freshwater supply for Panama City and much of Bay County.
Lithia Springs Regional Park, is a park in Lithia, Hillsborough County, Florida, in the United States. The park's major attraction is a natural spring from which water flows year-round at a temperature of 72 degrees. Sixty per-cent of the park is surrounded by the Alafia River, into which the water from the spring flows.