Groundwater Protection
Integrating ground water into FDEP’s watershed management
approach has required an expansion in the approaches for both
monitoring design and data analysis to include ground
water–surface water issues. Historically, the majority of
ground water protection efforts emphasized land use and
aquifer vulnerability, as well as investigating and
remediating local point sources of contamination to protect
potable water supplies. Integrating ground water into
watershed protection, however, has required the additional
consideration of ground water contributions to surface
waterbodies (i.e., base flow). The water quality of base flow
is now also considered an equally important ground water use
to ensure the support of aquatic life in surface waterbodies.
Identifying and quantifying ground water contributions where
substances with extensive natural or anthropogenic abundances
in geological deposits coexist with high percentages of base
flow are also important in evaluating impaired surface waters.
FDEP has developed a methodology and screening tools to evaluate and
identify ground water resource issues and potential influences of ground
water on surface water quality within Florida’s watershed management
cycle. The findings of these evaluations are used in guiding future
monitoring and assessment efforts, identifying potential private well
sampling needs, and identifying more detailed evaluations to determine
ground water’s influence on impaired or potentially impaired surface
waters.
The Ground Water Protection Program conducts activities that assess
and protect the state’s ground water resources, integrating ground water
protection activities into Florida’s watershed program. Activities
include conducting basin-scale and detailed ground water evaluations and
assessments, development of ground water-surface water interaction
assessment tools, management of the USEPA Section 106 ground water
grant, management of research and monitoring projects under Florida’s
Springs Initiative, oversight of agricultural best management practice
ground water monitoring studies, and participation in evaluations of new
pesticides that have potential ground water impacts.
Programs Administered Under Ground Water Protection:
