New Weeki Wachee River rules begin, so don’t beach your kayak

Some say the party on the Weeki Wachee River is over, but others, including the Florida agency charged with protecting waterways, say its restoration is about to begin.

This week, after years of campaigning by residents who have lived along the water, signs go up telling people to stay in their boats and to keep them afloat and moving when visiting the river. Hernando officials invited the news media on Thursday to see the signs installed, which will allow the start of enforcement of new rules.

In recent years social media images of locals and visitors barbecuing in the middle of the river, spreading beach blankets beside kayaks pulled up on the shore and sandbars and jumping from tree stands and rope swings into the water have become as commonplace as the proliferation of vacation rentals along the Weeki Wachee.

Eight years ago, concerned citizens gathered to call for action. They said the waterway was overrun and the crowds were changing the natural order there. They engaged with then-state Sen. Wilton Simpson, Florida and Hernando County officials to try to remedy the situation.

Since then there have been many discussions at the local and state level and a detailed study done showing that the rapidly growing public use has indeed changed the river. It has grown wider and more shallow. Trees and vegetation that support wildlife have been decimated. Water quality has suffered.

Much of that has been attributed to visitors trampling the shoreline and sandbars where previously vegetation kept the riverbank healthy.

The new Springs Protection Zone, approved last summer by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, forbids mooring, grounding, anchoring and beaching watercraft along the banks and sandbars of the river for 5.61 acres from the main spring within the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park to Shoal Line Boulevard at Rogers Park.

Shannon Turbeville, who was at the center of pushing for the protection zone and other related Weeki Wachee projects, said he was happy to see the day come that the rules go into place.

“I applaud the Hernando County Commission for taking the lead in working with our Legislature and various state agencies in finding a way to help protect a precious natural resource that we are only guilty of loving to death” Turbeville said. “The signs not only make this springs protection zone enforceable, but are a testament of Hernando County’s commitment to this natural resource and our state taxpayer-funded restoration project.”

The law will be enforced by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and violations could result in a $140 fine.

Nearly all of the Weeki Wachee shoreline is off limits already. Inside the boundaries of the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, no exiting of watercraft is allowed and signs are posted throughout that area up to where the park boundary ends. Some say that is why the river is healthier inside the park because people stay in their kayaks, allowing vegetation along the banks and aquatic grasses under the water there to thrive.

Once boaters leave the confines of the park, much of the remaining stretch of river inside the protection zone belongs to the Southwest Florida Water Management District as the Weekiwachee Preserve. The district does not allow boaters to enter the preserve from the water to protect the shoreline.

Private land owners along the rest of the river, including the largest private landowner George Foster, have posted No Trespassing signs for years. He told the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year that the signs have been ignored and he has lost 20 feet of shoreline due to the trampling. He also said that in recent years crowds have done much damage along the waterway.

“I’m here to tell you that the river has been destroyed,” Foster said.

The Weeki Wachee River has also been the focus of other projects, including dredging that has been underway since last year and is wrapping up soon. The $2.1 million project was designed to clear sediment from the water body, allowing underwater vegetation to again grow, providing wildlife habitat, bringing back depth where sediment had collected and improving water quality.

Area residents have also been concerned recently that six manatees have died in the Mud River, which is adjacent to the Weeki Wachee. Manatee deaths there are rare. Three of those deaths were attributed to natural causes and the others were undetermined. There was also an alert last month for a potential toxic blue green algae bloom, raising additional water quality concerns.

The river protection discussion continues on Friday when a coalition of local conservation groups is sponsoring the Weeki Wachee River Summit at the Pasco Hernando State College in Spring Hill. More than 80 people have signed up to hear updates on protection zone, water quality, the dredge, manatees and other related issues along the river from a group of experts who have been involved in river monitoring and protection.