Ichetucknee River and Springs

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The River System:

by Sam B. Upchurch, Ph.D., P.G. 004 (Retired, Land O'Lakes, Florida)

THE ICHETUCKNEE RIVER is one of two main tributaries of the Lower Santa Fe River (the other being Olustee Creek). The Ichetucknee River begins at the Ichetucknee (Head) Spring, is fed by several other springs, and then flows into the Santa Fe River approximately 6 miles to the southwest. The river is essentially a large spring run as most of the water in the river under normal conditions is derived from springs at the upper extent of the river. The springs and much of the river are located in the Ichetucknee Springs State Park.

Altogether, the springs and river have a median discharge of over 356 cubic feet per second (cfs). The springs and most of the river are within Ichetucknee Springs State Park, which is considered by many to be the “Crown Jewel” of the state park system. The following sections briefly discuss the eight mapped springs in order from north to south.

Ichetucknee Head Spring

The Ichetucknee Head Spring is the beginning of the Ichetucknee River, The spring discharges from a cleft in the limestone (Figure 1). The spring pool is 102 feet east to west and 87 feet north to south, and 17 feet deep over the vent (Hornsby and Ceryak, 1998).

The head spring has a long and varied history. Native American artifacts have been found in the area surrounding the spring, as well as in the spring. Prior to development of the state park, the head spring area was the site of a youth camp and the Loncala Phosphate Company offices (Samuel Cole, 2008, pers. comm.).

This spring has been a popular swimming hole for decades (Figure 1). Beach sand had previously been brought into the area of the spring. This sand, along with broken rock and other debris, has since been removed by Park staff to restore the spring.

The median discharge based on 13 measurements from 1917 to 2002 is 23 cfs. Based on these data, the Head Spring is considered an historic second magnitude spring.

Cedar Head Spring

Cedar Head Spring (Figure 2) forms the head of a small spring run (Cedar Creek) that discharges into Blue Hole Spring and then into the Ichetucknee River. The spring, which is also known as Alligator Hole (Rosenau et al., 1977), has limited access and discharge, so the public do not frequent the spring. Cedar Head Spring forms a 350-foot-long run that flows into Blue Hole Spring. The spring pool for Cedar Head is approximately 20 feet wide east to west, and 6 feet deep over the vent, which is an upwelling in the sandy bottom (Scott et al., 2004). Historic discharge measurements show a median discharge of 3.3 cfs, so the spring is considered an historic, third-magnitude spring.

Blue Hole Spring

Blue Hole Spring, or Jug Spring, lies at the downstream end of the run from Cedar Head Spring. The name comes from the deep blue color of the spring water (Figure 3), which emerges from a large limestone shaft approximately 12 feet wide and 6 feet below the surface (Follman & Buchanan, 2005). The spring pool is 87 feet east to west and 117 feet north to south. Water depth over the vent is 37 feet (Scott et al., 2004). Blue Hole Spring is accessed via a trail from the parking lot at the north entrance of the Park. There is a wooden boardwalk and access platform with steps to the spring pool. This spring has a mapped cave system and is a popular diving spot (Hornsby and Ceryak, 1998; Scott et al., 2004). There is a short run from Blue Hole Spring to the Ichetucknee River. Access to the spring from the river is prevented by a fence at the mouth of the spring run. Blue Hole Spring, an historic first magnitude spring, is the largest spring in the Ichetucknee Spring Group. The historic data indicate that the median spring discharge is 96.4 cfs, but daily discharge measurement since 2002 indicate a much higher flow. Note that the daily discharge measurements respond to long-term rainfall and short-term, backwater events related to the stage of the Santa Fe River. During the el Niño rainfall event in the winter of 1997-1998 and during Hurricane Frances in 2004, the spring was flooded by the Ichetucknee River, which had backed up because of high water in the Santa Fe. There are no quantitative or anecdotal data to suggest that the spring backflows during these high-water events.

Mission Spring Group

Figure 4a. Roaring Spring and upper spring run. The small bridge leads to Fig Island on the right, where the USGS flow gauge is located.

Figure 4b. Roaring Spring run looking west, toward the Ichetucknee River, which is just out of sight.

Mission Spring Group

The Mission Spring Group consists of at least 8 vents near the southeast corner of Fig Island. The flow from these springs is split and it passes around an island on its way northwest to the Ichetucknee River. The name comes from a Spanish mission that existed north of the springs in the 1700s (Weisman, 1992). Prior to discovery of the mission, the springs were known as Fig Spring.

The spring on the north side of Fig Island is also known as Roaring Spring (Figure 4a; Scott et al., 2004). Roaring Spring, the largest of the Mission Springs Group, discharges from a cavern in a ledge of limestone on the north side Fig Island. The spring pool is about 10 feet east to west and 15 feet north to south. Depth near the ledge is 15 feet (Scott et al., 2004). The smaller spring located south of the island is known as Singing Spring.

Discharge data from Mission Springs appear to reflect Roaring Spring discharge, not the combined flow of Roaring Spring and Singing Spring. Historic measurements of spring discharge have been limited with a median flow of about 67 cfs. Therefore, the spring is an historic second magnitude spring.

Devil’s Eye Spring

Devil’s Eye Spring (Figure 5) is also known as Boiling Spring. The spring consists of two vents and their pools off the west bank of the Ichetucknee River. The main pool is approximately 120 feet wide. The center vent is a limestone opening roughly 15 feet deep. The secondary pool is just upriver of the main spring.

Water flows from a limestone wall beneath the surface and forms a pool approximately 25 feet in diameter. The combined flow from the two spring vents forms a run 50 feet wide and 160 feet long (Scott et al., 2004; Follman & Buchanan, 2005).

The Devil’s Eye Spring is an historic second magnitude spring. The historic median discharge was approximately 48 cfs).

Grassy Hole Spring

Grassy Hole spring is on the east bank of the Ichetucknee River. The spring pool (Figure 6) has two vents, is 12 feet wide and 2-3 feet deep, and vegetation covers the bottom. The spring run is shallow and approximately 200 feet long (Scott et al., 2004).

Access to the spring and run are restricted by the Park Service (Follman & Buchanan, 2005).

Hornsby and Ceryak (1998) estimated discharge to be 10 cfs. Based on three historic measurements, the median discharge is 1.8 cfs. This makes Grassy Hole Spring a third magnitude spring.

Mill Pond Spring

Mill Pond Spring (Figures 7a and 7b) is 150 feet downstream from Grassy Hole Spring, on the east side of the river. The name of the spring refers to the ruins of a mill located at the site. The run was modified by construction of an earthen dam in the 1800’s to funnel water to power an undershot water wheel at the grist mill. A cut that was excavated for the mill race is preserved on the south side of the run.

The spring pool has three vents and is approximately 45 feet wide and a maximum of 5 feet deep (Hornsby and Ceryak, 1998; Scott et al., 2004). The run is shallow and 150 feet long (Hornsby and Ceryak, 1998).

There are five historical measurements of discharge from Mill Pond Spring. Based on these measurements, the spring is a low second magnitude spring with median flow of 20 cfs.

Coffee Spring

Coffee Spring (Figures 8a and 8b) is approximately one mile downriver from Mill Pond Spring on the west side of the river. The spring has a C-shaped pool on the west bank of the river. There are two main vents. The larger, upstream flow and the smaller, downstream flow both emerge from limestone openings and flow over a rocky run into the spring pool, roughly 30 to 35 feet from the river (Hornsby and Ceryak, 1998; Scott et al., 2004).

This spring is the only known habitat of the endemic Ichetucknee Siltsnail (Cincinnatia mica). The microscopic snail lives within the sediment in a small area near the confluence of the spring run with the river (Figure 8b). This area is located at an elevation that is several feet below the spring and under the influence of the river rather than spring discharge.
Coffee Spring is an historic third magnitude spring. Discharge was measured in 1998 at 2.8 cfs (Hornsby and Ceryak, 1998).

It is unclear whether the source of the water is the upper Floridan aquifer or a carbonate stratum in the Miocene Hawthorn Group. Champion and Upchurch (2003) used groundwater quality to identify the sources of groundwater for each of the Ichetucknee springs. They were unable to confidently attribute the discharge from Coffee Spring to any of the geochemical domains they identified in the springshed.

References Cited

Champion, K.M., and S.B. Upchurch, 2003. Delineation of Spring-Water Source Areas in the Ichetucknee Springshed. Tallahassee, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Division of State Lands, 45 p.

Follman, J., and R. Buchanan (2015). Springs fever: A field & recreation guide to 500 Florida springs. 2nd Ed, accessed 11/16/2015 at http://springsfever.org/Springbook/index.html.

Hornsby, D., and R. Ceryak, 1998. Springs of the Suwannee River Basin in Florida. Suwannee River Water Management District, WR99-02, 178 p. [Publication available at http://www.srwmd.state.fl.us]

Rosenau, J.C., G.L. Faulkner, C.W. Hendry, Jr., and R.W. Hull, 1977. Springs of Florida. Florida Bureau of Geology Bulletin 31 (Revised), 461 p.

Scott, T.M., G.H. Means, R.P. Meegan, R.C. Means, S.B. Upchurch, R.E. Copeland, J. Jones, T. Roberts, and A. Willet, 2004. Springs of Florida. Florida Geological Survey, Bulletin No. 66, 377 p. plus CD ROM.

Weisman, B.R., 1992. Excavations on the Franciscan Frontier: Archaeology at the Fig Springs Mission. Gainesville, Florida, University Press of Florida, 267 p.

The River System: