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HERNANDO COUNTY LAND PROTECTORS
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at the Weeki Wachee Area Club
7442 Shoal Line Blvd., Weeki Wachee FL 34607
Covered Dish dinner at 6:00 PM Meeting at 7:00 PM
NEXT MEETING - Sept 9, 2010
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The moral of the story - Anyone can have a good idea!
The comment form is here: Comment Form. Note the e-mail address to return it in on the form.
Right after our April 2010 meeting a dew was hit on CR 550. Miraculously the fawn was ejected from her body caesarian style. Paul Morton happened to be coming from the opposite direction and was able to see that the fawn was alive. He reported the incident to the Hernando Co. Sheriffs' Dept. who didn’t seem interested since there was no damage to a person and the vehicle damage was minimal. Paul then called his dad, Chuck, and asked who to call.
Linda Christian from Animal services and 100 Acre Wood was notified and she said for the Sheriff’s Dept to dispatch her since she was “On Call” and could not respond on her own because of that. .
As luck would have it a EMS vehicle was returning to their Weeki Wachee Station and stopped and gave Paul a couple of old sheets to wrap the fawn in. .
A deputy also arrived on scene and called in..
Another call by Chuck to the Sheriff’s Dept. telling them to dispatch Animal Services and another call to Linda to update her on the condition of the fawn. .
Linda then called in to request a dispatch since she had not yet been notified and the dispatch order was given..
In the meantime Chuck and Paul did as Linda requested and tied off the umbilical cord to prevent any toxic reaction from the placenta since it was a violent birth..
Since the fawn seemed alert, but listless Chuck used an old farm boy trick and licked the fawn’s head to simulate the actions of the mother. Immediately the fawn perked up, came out of shock and stabilized..
At this point the deputy figured we knew what we were doing and asked us if he could leave. We said we had the situation under control. Somewhere in the course of all of this the doe died from her injuries..
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<<< Roadside care |
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Linda called the next day to inform Chuck that the fawn was doing well and had been taken to 100 Acre Wood to grow up. Since this little girl will only know people it is doubtful she will ever be released, but will be a joy for the folks who visit 100 Acre Wood.
Hernando County is located on the West Coast of Florida due west of Orlando and is at the southernmost end of Florida's Nature Coast. The Weeki Wachee River is pretty much in the center of the north-south axis and is world famous because of the Mermaid attraction & water park which opened after WWII. The Weeki Wachee river begins at the spring at the junction of US 19 and State Rt. 50 and enters the Gulf of Mexico at Bayport approximately 8 miles downstream. The Weeki Wachee spring derives it's water from the Green swamp in central Florida somewhat north of the Tampa area. The river is 95% spring fed and does not rely from runoff as many rivers do. Obviously there is local runoff from the area west of US 19 so during periods of heavy rain the water may be tea colored, but most of the time the river is crystal clear, especially in it's upper stretches. A major factor of water clarity depends on the human usage which is increasing,especially on summer weekends.
We do not have the beaches so often associated with a persons vision of Florida, but rather saltwater marsh which is nursery area for many types of fishes and birds. Development in the area was minimal until the late 1960's but has been accelerating ever since.
2010 Officers
Chuck Morton, President,
Tom Canariato, Vice President
Paula Morton, Secretary
Shirley Knotts, Treasurer
Notice how well you can see down into the spring in the photo on the right.
In addition removing the lymbgia there was a lot of debris removed as well. Over the years sand had covered up some of it and other stuff was simply there out of sight in crevasses.
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<<< Before project |
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If you want to calculate this yourself click on this link http://waterdata.usgs.gov/fl/nwis/current/?type=gw&group_key=county_cd&search_site_no_station_nm=283201082315601
The take that value (H) and put it in the following formula
{ (12.35)(H) - 48.07}{65/101} = Flow Rate in million gallons/day
or if you don't remember your algebra do it this way: multiply the height by 12.35, subract 48.07, multiply by 65 and divide by 101 to get the flow rate
There is a flow gage on the upper river that measures actual flow flow and it's data is available on this link http://waterdata.usgs.gov/fl/nwis/uv/?site_no=02310525&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060
Take this value of cubic feet per second and multiply it times 646,272 million gallons/day per cfs to get million gallons per day.
For example the 168 cfs times 646,272 = 108,573,696 million gallons per day.
By compairing the two sources of flow data this means is today, 9/6/08, the headspring was producing 86% of the flow in he river, Twin Dees 4% and miscellaneous sources another 10%
The good news is that our river flow is back to within the normal range, only time will tell how long it stays that way. There cannot be uncontrolled population growth without water conservation.
A Thoughtful Young Man
It's truly inspirational for a young man to take the initiave to do this. I hope this makes you realize that every little bit of litter hurts, and properly disposing of any little bit helps. A big THANK YOU to CLINE for his effort!
New rules pertaning to reef fish, that means anything on a rockpile, go into effect on June 1, 2008. Basically you are required to have on board a dehooker and venting tool and only use NON stainless circle hooks with natural bait.
Go to New FWC Rules to get the official information.
To relieve this condition there is a process called venting where the swimbladder is pierced with a hollow needle which lets the air out. Then the fish can swim away back to his habitat to live. For more information on this please to go: www.flseagrant.org/program_areas/fisheries/venting/index.htm
Venting Tools and dehookers can be purchased from Aquatic Release Conservation at http://www.dehooker4arc.com/
We 've been invaded, actually wild hogs have been around since the Spaniards came in the 1500's, but seldom are seen in Weeki Wachee. This boar was hit just east of Weeki Wachee Estates on April 21, 2007. They are now a common sighting along the CR 550 ( Cortez Blvd.) to the west toward Bayport. |
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One only needs to look at the water level in Joe and Mary's sink near the power line just west of Oak Hill Hospital on the north side of Rt. 50 to see the level of the aquifer. The lower it is the less the pressure feeding the springs and the lower the flow of the Weeki Wachee River.
If the level gets low enough it is possible for saltwater intrusion back onto the aquifer effetely polluting the water supply.
As of May 5 2008 the flow of the Weeki Wachee Spring was 125 CFS (Cubic Feet per Second) or 82,337,538 gallons per day. The average flow is 113 million gallons per day so it's easy to see why the river is shallow right now. That's only 73% of Average flow.
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Water levels in Joe & Mary's sink near Oak HillFeb 20, 2006 on leftMay 8, 2007 on right |
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The scary thing about this is that it only took 15 months to go from high water level with water on our lakes to this almost record low level where our lakes are drying up if not dry already. We have to realize that Hernando county is at or very near its sustainable population with respect to available water. Sure there is more water down there, but it is not being sustained by the recharge rate.
Water in the aquifer is like money in a savings account. If you continually take out more that gets put in - you’re broke. When the aquifer gets “broke” we will have saltwater intrusion and that my friends is not readily reversible. Hernando County Government MUST put a limit on the number of new lots they allow to be developed each year. Monroe County (Fl Keys) did it with a strict 4 per year. We don’t need to be quite that drastic, but we do need to get a handle on the situation before we become a desert..
If we do nothing then we won’t just be limiting our grass watering to once a week, we will only have water available to our homes every other day (or even less often in the dry spells).
Pine Straw makes just as good a mulch and it is renewable since the trees shed them all the time.
Home Depot, Lowes and Wal Mart are the main retailers of Cypress Mulch. Take time to write them or put a suggestion in their suggestion box for them to STOP selling it.
We cooperatively built and maintained a nature trail in the Weeki Wachee Preserve, but it is sad to say that vandals have temporarily won out. They have repeatedly destroyed the observation stations and markers to the extent that it is not practical to maintain them. We have not given up, but are looking at more non destructable items.
All of this would not be possible without a giant community fundraiser known as SWAMPFEST which is held the first weekend in March at Linda Pederson Park on Shoal Line Blvd. at Jenkins Creek. All money from SWAMPFEST goes to support HELP, the Weeki Wachee Crinmewatch and the Weeki Wachee Area Club where we meet. For more information, that website is www.wwswampfest.com
The 2008 SWAMPFEST was a great event
See you at the next one!
March 7 & 8, 2009
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Look at the crystal clear water of the Weeki Wachee headspringManatees like to rub on things like the swimrope Manatee photos courtesy of John Athanason, Weeki Wachee Springs Waterpark |
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