7
Ground Water
in
Central and Northern Florida*
By H. H. COOPER, Jr., W. E. KENNER and EUGENE BROWN,
United States Geological Survey
THE GENERAL SETTING
Florida affords a happy contrast to thirsty regions of the Southwest. Over most of the State vast quantities of water await development. Precipitation is abundant. Streams empty substantial volumes of water into the ocean, their flows virtually undiminished by man's minor extractions. Numerous limestone springs, some among the largest in the world, contribute their share to the water that escapes unused. Myriad lakes and large swamps yield an untold levy to evaporation and to the transpiration of native vegetation.
Beneath the State lies a part of one of the most extensive and productive ground-water reservoirs in the Nation-the Floridan aquifer. This aquifer plays a dual role in the water-resources picture. On one hand it serves as a giant reservoir, storing water in periods of excessive rainfall against gradual release during droughts. On the other, it acts as a system of pipelines, transmitting water to points distant from the areas of recharge and distributing it conveniently to cities and industries and to isolated farms and rural homes.
Although the total available supply of water is very large as compared with the present demand, water of good quality is not adequate in some localized areas. The lack is becoming especially acute at some places along the coast where most of the ground water is too salty for ordinary uses, and where the surface supplies are scanty or are themselves salty.
Florida's economy is expanding rapidly. Ranking first among sources of income is the State's tourist trade, but other sources, including citrus growing and citrus processing, truck farming, cattle raising, mining of phosphate and heavy minerals, and timber
* Reprinted from Part Subsurface facilities of water management and
patterns of supply-Type area studies: The Physical and Economic Foundation of Natural Resources, Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, House
of Representatives, United States Congress,. 1953, 206 pp.n