Florida’s First Magnitude Springs (Walton, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Wakulla, Leon, Hamilton, Madison, Suwannee, Lafayette, Levy, Marion and Hernando counties): Florida’s aquifer is a natural wonder unlike any in the world. Eight billion gallons of flowing, subterranean water give rise to 33 first magnitude springs that gush more than 65 million gallons per day. One such example is the Diepolder cave system (pictured), which is part of the Weeki Wachee watershed. Florida’s aquifer is extremely delicate. Human disturbances, such as pollution from nitrates, fertilizers and residential waste, create major water quality problems. Creating protection zones around sensitive first magnitude springs will help protect the aquifer.
