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Overview
The study area is generally bounded by SR-50 to the South, US-19 to the East, the
Chassahowitzka River to the North, and the Gulf of Mexico to the West. It will be
herein categorically referred to as the Chassahowitzka Swamp. It is principally
government-managed property, under the auspices of the Chassahowitzka Wildlife
Management Area (CWMA) and the Chassahowitzka National wildlife Refuge. There
are also a few small parcels of privately held property; these are predominately
on the northern and southern borders.
The Chassahowitzka Swamp has numerous hydraulically active (karst) features. The
area is characterized by:
- Springs, representing either an initial discharge point or a resurgence point
- Numerous low magnitude springs, producing surface streams that re-enter the aquifer in swallets
- Open karst windows
- Relic karst in the form of water-filled sinks with nominal to nil subsurface aquifer interaction or dry subsidences
The focus herein is the identification of 'points of interests' (POIs) that have
not previously been documented or where existing documentation is extremely
questionable or no longer current. POI is a broad term that is used here to represent
a known feature or an observed feature that may be of interest.
KUR grouped the identified POIs in the following spatial groupings, herein referred to as arrays:
- Blind Creek System (this system is divided into two sections for organizational convenience)
- Scrub Island
- Sawmill Island
- Eagles Nest
- Other isolated points of interest
Groundwater movement in the study area has a generalized coastward trend. The Eagles
Nest region has a more southeasterly bias due to the presence of Mud Spring and
various other springs in its vicinity.
Due to the proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, many of the karst features respond to
tidal stage.
Even with the presence of Blind Spring, there also appears to be an apparent lack of
strong discharge points between Chassahowitzka Spring and Weeki Wachee. This is
circumstantially supported by the westward shift of the saltwater-freshwater interface
between Chassahowitzka Spring and Weeki Wachee.
Given reduction of groundwater head due to the discharge from Chassahowitzka and Weeki
Wachee Springs, these features (along with elevation differentials) create localized
anomalies where the saltwater-freshwater interface manifests itself further more inland
at shallower depths.
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