GROVELAND, Fla. – Among the rolling hills in Groveland, you’ll find the largest ornamental tree grower in the Southeast.
One-thousand acres. A million trees and plants.
“These trees get shipped all the way as far north as New York and as far west as Texas,” Austin Spivey, the nursery’s production manager, said as he walked under the shade from rows of potted magnolia trees.
The tree farm is also an example of Florida’s future relationship with water.
Here, every drop is meticulously managed.
Cherry Lake Nursery is leading the way in water conservation. Using technology, Spivey says they’ve cut water usage by 40% while increasing production by 15%.
Saving water makes business sense, but it’s also necessary, according to the latest Central Florida Water Initiative (CFWI). It’s a 20-year plan for managing Florida’s water resources.
Clay Corsey, the Director of Water Supply Planning and Assessment with the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), says the plan is necessary to ensure that Florida’s water resources are not just abundant but sustainable for future generations.
“I tell people my job is really weird,” Corsey said. “In that, what I want to do is I want that water molecule in the aquifer to be reused as many times as possible before it ultimately discharges out to the Atlantic Ocean.”
The Upper Floridan aquifer has historically supplied the vast majority of water used in Central Florida, but new studies suggest that it will have to change.
You see, when the aquifer below us gets stressed, the flow of our springs slows, lake levels can drop, and wetlands dry up.
“It’s our rivers, lakes, and springs that are gonna be the canary in the coal mine,” Corsey explained. “We have a team of scientists that go out into the field and collect that data. They also have the flow data and then they come up with the relationships between what we’re seeing happening with the ecology and the water flows to determine how much water can safely be taken out of those systems before we harm them.”
“Traditional water resources alone cannot meet future water demands or currently permitted allocations without resulting in unacceptable impacts to water resources and related natural systems.” That’s the conclusion in the latest CFWI report.
The Initiative, established in 2016, is a 20-year management plan, updated and approved every five years.
The collaborative effort involves multiple water management districts, including the St. Johns River, South Florida and Southwest Florida Water Management Districts. The initiative aims to address the growing demand for water in a region where rapid development and population growth pose significant challenges.
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“Water is something in the state of Florida that I think a lot of us take for granted,” said Corsey, emphasizing the delicate balance between utilizing water for human needs and protecting the environment.
The CFWI’s recent report highlights a critical issue: the sustainable limit of groundwater withdrawals from the upper Florida aquifer has been reached. To meet future needs, alternative water supplies must be explored. “We need to be looking to alternative water supplies in order to meet those future needs,” Corsey explains.
The plan includes a diverse portfolio of 140 water supply and water resource development projects and 27 water conservation projects, ensuring that growth and environmental protection move forward hand in hand.
In fact, without the projects outlined in the 2025 plan, Central Florida could face a projected groundwater shortfall of 96 million gallons per day by 2045.
One of the innovative solutions is the Taylor Creek Reservoir, which, when fully constructed, will supply 54 million gallons per day of surface water.
Additionally, businesses like the Cherry Lake Tree Farm are implementing efficient irrigation systems and utilizing surface water to conserve groundwater.
Purchasing and installing new equipment can be expensive. One of the biggest returns on conservation came from the installation of more efficient water emitters. The simple plastic devices are inexpensive, but the installation was costly.
“You have to keep in mind to convert our farm to these took over a million emitters and thousands of miles of poly pipe spaghetti tubing,” Spivey explained. “It took us one year, three people working six days a week just to convert the farm.”
Cherry Lake Nursery also purchased new pumps, which allows then to use more surface water from lakes and ponds for irrigation.
The SJRWMD offers a cost-share program to help offset the cost of new equipment.
Corsey says conservation will play an increasingly bigger role in Florida’s water future.
“If each one of us do a little bit in conserving water, what that does is that helps put off the need for these large-scale regional water supply projects,” Corsey urges, highlighting the collective responsibility of individuals in safeguarding Florida’s water future.
From 2020 through 2024, about $2.85 million was dedicated toward 30 water conservation projects that are complete or underway, projected to save over 1 million gallons per day.
Think of the aquifer as a savings account, Corsey suggests. “We want to try and use the surface water when we’re in those periods of heavier rainfall... and then draw on the aquifer during those drier times.”
As Florida continues to grow, the challenge of maintaining a sustainable water supply becomes ever more pressing. Yet, Corsey believes there is hope. “The future of Florida looks amazing,” he assures, thanks to the collaborative efforts of water management districts and the commitment to innovative, sustainable solutions.