144 DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE FLORIDA CANAL

DOCUMENT NO. 78 (FILES OF SHIP CANAL AUTHORITY OF STATE OF
 FLORIDA), JUNE 12, 185

 AN ANwmB BT MaxbV H. WAuLKm, EDrro or THB FWBIDA GBownB,
 THm STrroIA CANAL, AT WnIaT HAVyN, JuMn 12, 1985

 On June 12, 1985, Mr. Marvin H. Walker, editor of the Florida
 Grower, made the following address before a meeting of the Winter
 Haven Chamber of Commerce:

 THa STrGOI CANAL
 If a Mephistopheles, envious of the beauties of this land of fruits and flowers,
 wanted to make Florida a part of the kingdom of the devil and to visit some
 cruel and lasting punishment upon its people, he could cunningly achieve his
 diabolical purpose by poisoning the waters they drink and use to raise their crops.
 This would not be hard to do. Florida Is surrounded by vast seas of salt water.
 Such is the geological formation of the rock strata distributing most of its
 fresh waters that they could easily be polluted by digging a big ditch to let in the
 salt water. The salt would seep in not only from the top of this porous rock but
 from the bottom, too, because the drainage of fresh waters by this ditch would
 relieve the pressure which now keeps salt waters below the depth of most wells.
 Picturing the imaginary economic benefits of such a waterway to the gullible
 people, short-sighted in their greed for profit, this Mephistopheles, like the one
 of Faust, might even get his victims to carry out his nefarious plan. When the
 damage was done he could enjoy "the mephitic vapors of hell" in the rotting of
 oranges and carcasses on the parched sands of an empire once abundant in plant
 and animal life. In the big ditch separating the world from this infernal region
 of Florida's wasted splendors and dead hopes he would have a River Styx. An
 appropriate name for it would be the Stygian Canal.
 No one wants such a calamity. But the building of a sea-level ship canal
 across this State may have consequences Just as damaging to the property rights
 of some of its citizens. Those who propose this surgical operation on our land-
 scape have allowed their enthusiasm to blind them to the great danger in disturb-
 Ing the fine balance between our fresh and salt waters. They are so busy think-
 ing of the $150,000,000 and more that will be spent in building this canal that
 they hear not the warnings of every competent geologist who has studied this
 situation that Florida may suffer immeasurable and everlasting damage to its
 water supply.
 It requires a knowledge of the State's geology to fully appreciate the serious-
 nes of this problem. Most of our water for domestic consumption and the
 irrigation of farm crops is obtained from wells which tap the Ocala limestone.
 All but 12 of the 175 public water systems of the State draw their supply from
 wells; and most of these wells, like those at Ocala, Jacksonville, Orlando, San-
 ford, St. Petersburg, Bradenton, and Sarasota, reach down to this particular
 rock formation.
 The Ocala limestone underlies all of Florida. It is soft and porous and satu-
 rated with water, which moves through it freely. Underground streams form
 in it which come to the surface and make Silver Springs, Homosassa Springs,
 Lithia Springs, Blue Springs, and many others This rock formation, which is
 not more than 500 feet thick, comes to the surface in Citrus, Sumter, Marion,
 and Alachua Counties, where it reaches an elevation averaging more than 50 feet
 above sea level. From there it slopes gradually to the east, south, and west.
 It is 500 feet below sea level at Bradenton, Arcadia, Okeechobee, Fort Pierce,
 and Jacksonville. It reaches a depth of 1,000 feet at Fort Myers and Palm
 Beach.
 Covering the Ocala limestone are several rock formations, most of which are
 impervious. They effectively prevent the downward passage of water into the
 limestone rock, except in those places where sinkholes or other crevices permit
 surface waters to percolate to lower levels. It is quite apparent that much
 of the fresh water in this formation comes from rains that fall in the vicinity
of Dunellon and Ocala, where the Ocala limestone reaches the surface. There
are few streams in this area and very little water runs of. Where it comes to
the surface, the Ocala limestone is like a big sponge, which immediately absorbs