The Amy H Remley Foundation  
   
     
 

Karst

Surface water

A portion of surface water from precipitation is continually evaporated and transpired back into the atmosphere, part runs off as streams or collects in basins as ponds or lakes, part permeates under ground to enter voids in rocks to flow downhill eventually to the sea. Water contained in the voids in the rocks is subsurface water and that which completely saturates the rock is groundwater. If the top surface of the groundwater is free to fluctuate upwards and downwards the water is under water-table conditions. If the groundwater surface is overlain by a formation that contains few voids, or poorly connected voids or small enough voids to restrict the flow of water, the water is confined and under artesian conditions. (Dr. Robert O. Vernon writing in his 1951 report published as Florida Geological Survey – Bulletin 33)

Ground water flow in Karst terrain

In that report, (on page 43) he also writes, "Limestone is as a rule jointed vertically and bedded horizontally and openings along these joints and beds provide easy avenues of travel for water. The ultimate source of all Florida's ground water is from the rain and precipitates from the atmosphere. As the rain water falls through the air it becomes charged with carbon dioxide gas that combines with water to form carbonic acid. On the ground humic acids from rotting vegetation is added. These are the common solvents of limestone. ...As it moves through pores and open spaces in the limestone it acts as a slow solvent to increase the size of the openings and to connect them to form a continuous system of channels. As these channels are expanded by solution, cave systems are developed horizontally and one system may lie over another and may be connected by vertical tubes and rooms."

Click here to see a Case Study of Groundwater flows.

Karst features

He continues (on page 44), to discuss Karst features as the formation of sinkholes by cave collapse near the surface and how solution pipes are created by upward artesian pressures to form springs or seeps at the ground surface, which in turn may continue to expand in size over time.

Dr Vernon emphasizes (on page 240); "since all fresh water in Citrus county is derived directly from atmospheric precipitation falling locally and on adjacent counties, conservation of groundwater resources requires that water consumed does not exceed that which is readily available from streams, lakes and wells and that this usage be small enough to maintain normal storage of waters on the surface and in the ground. Otherwise, lake levels lower, and well and stream flows decrease".

Click here to see also the report, The Citrus County Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment

News and Views
News Items

July 19, 2010
Update on oil disaster.
Linda Young, Director, Clean Water Network of Florida.
read more

July 9, 2010
Update on oil disaster.
Linda Young, Director, Clean Water Network of Florida.
read more

June 30, 2010
Keep up to date on the government Gulf oil disaster map.
http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/

June 16, 2010
Keep up to date on the latest Gulf oil disaster map.
http://map.floridadisaster.org/gator/

June 14, 2010
Report on oil disaster.
Linda Young, Director, Clean Water Network of Florida.
read more

April 21, 2010
EPA Numeric Nutrient Criteria (KBWG)
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March 30, 2010
Sea grass protection tangled up in offshore oil drilling
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February 8, 2010
Preserving Natural Resources
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November 14, 2009
Florida Springs Rally
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November 6, 2009
Hold polluters accountable for what they do to Florida waters
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September 20, 2009
It is time to protect our water resources
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September 20, 2009
Saving our waters is going to take the strength of our collective willpower
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September 20, 2009
Safe Drinking Water and Wastewater Disposal are Cornerstones of Civilization
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September 20, 2009
Our Water, Our Future
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August 25, 2009
Groundwater Flows - a case study.
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July 11, 2009
Florida Green Party Press Release re: Levy Nukes.
read more

June 7, 2009
Amy Remley Foundation opposes construction on Primerica site.
read more

May 26, 2009
Brief for BOCC 26 May 09 – CRCP DA hearing DA-07-03.
read more

May 11, 2009
Submissions on May 11, 2009, to the Citrus County Board of Commissioners, for the hearing on the proposed Crystal River Commons Developer's Agreement.
read more