Jackson Blue Springs

Jackson County’s Blue Springs is a first magnitude spring in the Northwest Florida Water Management District. Jackson Blue is a designated Outstanding Florida Spring. Jackson Blue and six smaller springs feed the artificially-impounded Merritts Mill PondThe south end of the spring pool connects to a lowland cypress-gum forest, and the northern half of the pool is surrounded by clear, grassy, upward-sloping groundThe spring is located within the Blue Springs Recreation Areawhich features diving boards, slides, a pavilion-covered picnic area, bath house, and a dive center offering equipment rentals. 

Jackson Blue Springs, 2015. Photo by John Moran.
Jackson Blue Springs, 2015.
Photo by John Moran.
Jackson Blue Springs eelgrass, 2015. Photo by John Moran.
Jackson Blue Springs, 2015.
Photo by John Moran.
Jackson Blue Springs, 2015. Photo by John Moran.
Jackson Blue Springs, 2016. Photo by John Moran.
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Jackson Blue Spring, 2015. Photo by John Moran.
By John Moran.
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In 2016, the Florida Legislature passed the Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act

As part of that law, the state of Florida developed a list of 30 springs that are either historic first-magnitude springs, or of other importance. The term Outstanding Florida Spring (OFS) refers to this list of 30 springs or spring groups. If water quality is found impaired, these springs require a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) to achieve water quality standards within a 20-year time frame.
 

Jackson Blue Springs is currently one of the twenty four Outstanding Florida Springs or Springs Groups that is considered “impaired”.

Historic images

The following images were provided courtesy of the State Archives of Florida. This incredible photographic library provides a window into the historic spring landscape, documenting changing spring and surface water levels, as well as human use and development in this special location.

Jackson Blue Spring, 1880. Photo courtesty of the State Archives of Florida.
Jackson Blue Spring. Photo courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
Jackson Blue Spring. Photo courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
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Jackson Blue Spring, 1880. Photo courtesty of the State Archives of Florida.
Jackson Blue Spring, 1961. Photo courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
Jackson Blue Spring. Photo courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.
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Science Hub

This is the location for access to data related to this spring. Below, you will find links to reports, data, as well as maps and information from the Florida Springs Institute’s Blue Water Audit project about this particular spring or spring group. 

The Blue Water Audit is a tool developed by the Florida Springs Institute to estimate and visualize the impact of human activities on the Floridan Aquifer. Using existing data from a variety of sources, the Blue Water Audit estimates nitrogen loading and groundwater withdrawals for the Florida Springs Region. These estimates are used to assign Aquifer Footprints – a Floridan Aquifer Nitrogen Footprint (water quality) and a Floridan Aquifer Groundwater Footprint (water quantity). Below are maps of the Blue Water Audit Floridan Aquifer Nitrogen footprint for the Jackson Blue springshed within the Northwest Florida Water Management District, as well as a map of the land use within the Jackson Blue springshed. To find out more about the Blue Water Audit project and to learn how this tool was developed, visit Blue Water Audit.

The Interactive Florida Springs Atlas was produced with generous support from the Fish  & Wildlife Foundation of Florida. The Community Foundation of North Central Florida supported this project through generous support for our Blue Water Audit project.

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The Wacissa Spring Group lies at the northern end of the Aucilla Wildlife Management Area in Jefferson
County and forms the headwaters of the Wacissa River. Over twenty springs form a cluster that runs
along the river. A public boat ramp allows for easy access to the core of the spring cluster. This dense
core contains Log, Thomas, Wacissa #1-4, and Acuilla springs, which together form a large bowl of fast-
flowing water. Along the run, large patches of Coontail compete with beds of Hydrilla beneath the clear
water. The combined magnitude and isolation of the Wacissa springs make the location one of the most
pristine in the state, earning the system a spot on the list of OFSs despite none of the individual springs
flowing at the first magnitude.