Tampa Times Investigates Failing Florida Springs

Darren Driscoll • November 18, 2013

florida-springsWe talk about water issues on this blog a lot. After all, gutters are meant to deal with rain water, and so it’s natural for us to notice these issues and to pay attention to them.

But we really started sitting up and taking notice when we started talking about rain water harvesting , rain gardens, and sinkholes.

So when The Tampa Bay Times started talking about our disappearing Florida springs, we took notice.

It’s worth reading the whole story , but here are some of the highlights.

Jason Polk, a geoscience professor at Western Kentucky University, has been diving in Florida’s springs and sinkholes since 2004, doing research in underground caverns in Pasco, Hernando, Citrus and Marion counties. He has seen stark changes over the years.

“You go in a cave where there’s no longer any water at all,” he said. “Places you used to swim through, now you have to walk through. It’s a permanent decline. It’s just gone.”

Where did it go? The evidence points to too much pumping of fresh water — millions of gallons a day sprayed on suburban lawns and farmers’ fields, run through showers and flushed down toilets, turned into steam to crank turbines for electricity, or siphoned into plastic bottles for sale around the country.

Floridians use 158 gallons of water a day per person, about 50 more than the national average. Meanwhile agriculture draws more water out of the ground for irrigation than any state east of the Mississippi. As a result, between 1970 and 1995, withdrawals from the aquifer increased more than 50 percent and by 2005 hit 4.2 billion gallons a day.

The report also mentioned that saltwater is encroaching into Florida’s aquifiers, directly impacting the water that we use and drink every single day.

This is why it’s so important to monitor your own water footprint, and why we encourage residents in our service area to “use their gutters for good” so to speak.

Seamless Gutters vs. Regular Gutters: Which is Best?

By Darren Driscoll • February 17, 2020
Everybody wants to save money on home maintenance costs. We get it. Even if you realize the full extent of everything your gutters do to protect your home from water damage, you probably don’t want to spend an arm and a leg making it happen. So if you’re considering DIY gutter installation, hey, we can hardly blame you. After all, we know, and you know, that you could go grab a 6″ x 10″ aluminum K-style gutter in 10″ lengths for about $15 at your local Home Depot. So how do you know whether you should do that, or whether you [...] Seamless Gutters vs. Regular Gutters: Which is Best? is from Rain Control Gutters The post Seamless Gutters vs. Regular Gutters: Which is Best? appeared first on Rain Control Gutters.

What are Galvalume Gutters?

By Darren Driscoll • February 3, 2020
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Are Copper Gutters Worth the Investment?

By Darren Driscoll • January 20, 2020
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What Are K-Style Gutters (aka Ogee Gutters)?

By Darren Driscoll • January 3, 2020
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By Darren Driscoll • October 4, 2019
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Why You Should Invest in Flo-Free Leaf Guards Before Selling Your Home

By Darren Driscoll • June 29, 2019
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By Darren Driscoll • June 1, 2019
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Be Prepared: Hurricane Season 2019

By Darren Driscoll • May 28, 2019
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By Darren Driscoll • April 30, 2019
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By Darren Driscoll • March 30, 2019
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