(From my archives: Originally aired on Florida File on WUFT-TV in 1990)
The University of Florida Large Animal Hospital Neonatal Foal Intensive Care Unit was one of the first facilities dedicated to neonatal medicine for foals. Veterinarians and highly trained staff care for the most sensitive and complicated equine cases at the facility. They also offer classes for volunteers who can help provide care for the foals. Donna Green-Townsend reports on the kind of work the volunteers provide and why they love to do it. This story originally aired on the statewide IFAS television program Florida File in 1990.
By Donna Green-Townsend and Amanda Jackson (UPDATE: a 15 min. video follows the text)
Historic photo of Mary Lou Hildreth’s home circa late 1920’s (photo courtesy of Mary Lou Hildreth)Current photo of Mary Lou Hildreth’s home on Lake Geneva shows how the water has receded in recent years
The Keystone Heights community has been damaged economically by decreasing lake levels. As the town teams up with the St. John’s River Water Management District, residents are hoping they are moving toward some solutions.
Keystone Heights Mayor Mary Lou Hildreth said her view – looking out onto the receding shoreline of Lake Geneva – makes her sad. She knows what it was years ago and what it could be if the water levels could recover. And after seeing her city suffer for many years and with an estimated $80 million in losses, she said, something needs to be done.
Typical picture of a dock far away from the shoreline on many Keystone area lakes (photo courtesy of Mary Lou Hildreth)
Keystone Heights, known as the Lake Region of North Florida, has seen drastic changes to the landscape as lakes that once flourished have nearly dried up in the last two years. A decade of little rainfall and what residents fear is over-pumping of the Floridan aquifer have negatively impacted the lakes and the homes surrounding them. Hildreth said people aren’t eating in area restaurants, renting boats, fishing or skiing – activities that once helped businesses stay afloat.
In an effort to save the lakes and communities that depend on them, residents and politicians have been meeting and discussing possible solutions.
Many residents want to know what the exact cause of the receding lake levels could be, especially in the Keystone Heights area, and when solutions will be implemented.
SJRWMD spokeswoman Teresa Monson explained how hard pinpointing just one cause can be.
“The Keystone Heights area lakes have naturally fluctuated up and down over many decades,” Monson said, “and currently there are lower water levels in the lake that are largely — not entirely — but largely caused by reduced rainfall over many years. Again, even decades.”
Photo of a truck driving across the exposed land of a lake in the Keystone Heights area
Water is also allowed to naturally seep down into the aquifer system because the local terrain is made of limestone and lake bottoms are sandy. Some of the lakes even have active sinkholes draining water into the aquifer.
The lakes haven’t always been this way. Elisabeth Williamson, a Keystone Heights resident, remembers the lake she knew from her childhood. She grew up in the area, living by Gatorbone Lake for most of her life.
“I really feel for folks that have retired to this area as they’ve watched their property values go down, down, down and also businesses that were very lake-oriented,” Williamson said.
Elisabeth Williamson points to a dilapidated dock that is sitting far above the water of Gatorbone Lake
She recalled a little pond in front of the house where she grew up. Once a great fishing hole, it has been dry now for a decade or more. She also pointed out the number of docks – now dry and falling apart – standing far from the shoreline.
Watching the lake levels fall over the years, she said, has been heartbreaking.
“I’m not sure it’s ever going to be the same again,” she said.
Williamson has been so distraught by low lake levels, she wrote a song about it called “The Land of Flowers.” Here is a music video featuring her song:
According to statistics from the SJRWMD, the yearly average rainfall in inches is between 50 and 55 in Florida, but Keystone Heights levels have been down for some time. Monson said 10 years ago, rainfall was measured at 38 inches per year and improved five years later to 50 inches.
Despite these yearly fluctuations, 2013 was a good year for rain with the area receiving 19 inches between May and June alone which brought Lake Brooklyn’s levels up nearly four feet. Some residents, though, feel the reprieve is only temporary.
View of Keystone Beach which looks more like a variety of ponds connected by land areas
“They used to have races out here on the Fourth of July, skiing, fishing, all types of recreational outdoor activities,” Hildreth said. “And now because the lakes have gone down, we don’t have that same draw. And a lot of our businesses are suffering. Our property values are suffering. The economy of my city is suffering because of it.”
She said utilities, lack of rainfall, industry and agriculture all come together to create a perfect storm for low water levels in the aquifer. With no clear end in sight, the community is fighting back.
Save Our Lakes is one organization trying to make a difference. The group holds monthly meetings in Keystone Heights to inform the community about what is being done to restore the lakes and to develop long-term solutions to help the community recover.
Save Our Lakes President Vivian Katz said a lack of knowledge is the key problem with the lakes, not a person or entity.
She said Keystone Heights is “a lake community that’s losing its lakes.”
For now, the community and the water management district are trying to work together and are evaluating an aquifer water replenishment plan. This plan would focus on bringing more water into the Floridan aquifer in the hopes it will benefit the lakes and wetlands and provide a sustainable water source for the region.
Hildreth said a variety of boards, especially for Lake Brooklyn and Lake Geneva, have been meeting for two years to discuss solutions, but the process is “agonizingly slow,” though she has noticed some movement on the water management district’s part.
“Our current concern, though, is that they’re not doing enough fast enough and that science should be driving the politics, but politics is really driving the science right now,” she said. (15 minute video with full interview segments from Elisabeth Williamson and Mary Lou Hildreth regarding Keystone Heights area lakes.
I was inspired to make this short video, Historic and Romantic St. Augustine, because of three things: My sister’s wedding in St. Augustine in one of the historic B & Bs, St. Augustine itself and the music and lyrics of Florida musicians and poets Clyde and Lorelei Walker and Mary Anna Evans. Though I was only using a Nikon Coolpix camera with no tripod, I had a blast capturing the video seen here to make a wedding video gift for my sister and her husband. Thanks to the artists who gave me permission to use their music. See more about them below.
More about the music in my video above:
Singer Songwriter and musician from St. Augustine, Clyde Walker
Musician and singer Clyde Walker and his wife, poet Lorelei Walker live in St. Augustine. It’s a perfect team as Clyde often puts his musical touch to Lorelei’s poetry. Such is the case in the song about St. Augustine.
In 2008 the couple worked on a DVD called, Romantic St. Augustine. I found a copy to view while I stayed in one of the B & Bs in St. Augustine. You may find one at the St. Augustine visitor center. You can also send an email to Clyde and Lorelei at clydewkr@bellsouth.net or write to them at Clyde Walker, Ocean Sounds Media, P.O. Box 2059, St. Augustine, Fl. 32084
Lyrics to Land of the Flowers
The palm trees stand in silhouette Where Spaniards cast their bayonets. The soldiers are gone, but the trees stand yet, Towering over the land of the flowers.
The gray moss blew in fresh from Spain, Riding the crest of a wild hurricane. Our fine homes scatter but the moss remains. The moss drips forever, but never runs dry.
And the water springs clear from the sand and the stone, Quenching a wilderness no one can own. And the water springs cold from the stone and the sand. Nothing of value will rest in your hand. We pass sterile days, sharing the blame For colorless cities with old Spanish names. But God hides in places that no one can tame, Standing watch over the land of the flowers.
And the water springs clear from the sand and the stone, Quenching a wilderness no one can own. And the water springs cold from the stone and the sand. Nothing of value will rest in your hand.
The palm trees stand in silhouette Where Spaniards cast their bayonets. The soldiers are gone, but the trees stand yet, Towering over the land of the flowers.
Music and lyrics: by David and Mary Anna Evans Lead vocals and harmonies: Mary Anna Evans Guitar and harmonies: David Evans Guitar: David Reiser Fiddle: Annemieke Pronker-Coron Percussion: Bill Hutchinson
Mary Anna Evans has degrees in physics and engineering, but her heart is in the past. Her works of fiction include: Artifacts, Relics, Effigies, Findings, Floodgates, Strangers, Plunder and, coming in November 2013, Rituals. Published by Poisoned Pen Press.
Mary Anna’s interests in music and writing collided when she was asked to contribute a story and an original song for a book/CD anthology called A Merry Band of Murderers. She co-wrote and sang the song “Land of the Flowers” for that project. For more information contact her at maryannaevans@yahoo.com
Jon Semmes, Pete Hennings, Pete Price and Ingrid Ellis
Jon Semmes and Ingrid Ellis have been performing together in the band, “Jon Semmes and the Florida Friends,” for more than a decade now. Band members also include Pete Hennings and Pete Price. Jon currently runs Singing River Tours on the Rainbow and Withlacoochee Rivers in Marion County.
Jon Semmes talking with Donna Green-Townsend before one of his scheduled performances at the Florida Folk Festival.
(Above) Jon Semmes of Dunnellon leads educational singing river tours of the Rainbow and Withlacoochee Rivers in Marion County, FL. Trent Kelly and Donna Green-Townsend give a snippet of what those tours are like.
Jon Semmes singing a song written by his mother Mem Semmes called, “My Dunnellon” at a Sunday Sampler on September 9th, 2012 at the old Train Depot in Dunnellon,FL.
The Florida Citrus Commission wants consumers to count on Florida’s ability to provide a citrus product. Not only is that reliability important, but the citrus commission also wants consumers to expect a quality product. To that end, the commission has to come up with clever marketing strategies ways to market the state’s oranges and grapefruit. Donna Green-Townsend talked with the Director of Marketing for the Florida Citrus Commission, Bill Gordon. This story originally aired statewide on the IFAS program, Florida File in 1990.
Orange County is home to thousands of hotel rooms. The amount of trash hauled away to landfill sites costs hotels a lot of money. In 1990 Orange County Energy Extension Agent Jo Townsend talked with Donna Green-Townsend about an award-winning hotel recycling projectdesigned to save the hotel industry money while doing something positive for the environment. This story ran on the statewide IFAS television program Florida File in 1990.
In an effort to increase oyster harvesting in Dixie and Suwannee Counties in Florida, the Florida Sea Grant Program in cooperation with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute teamed up with 4-H students in a special oyster aquaculture program. As Donna Green-Townsend reports, the project involved placing oyster seeds in a variety of mesh bags out in the Gulf of Mexico. (this feature originally aired on the statewide IFAS program Florida File in 1990)
Alachua County Voters had the chance in the 2010 November election to decide on an airboat curfew. This feature produced by Trent Kelly and aired on WUFT-FM examines the issues involved. (videographer and editor- Donna Green-Townsend)
The future of one of Florida’s oldest theme parks is at the heart of discussion among Marion County Commissioners and current park operator Palace Entertainment. The Silver Springs Nature Park is famous for its glass-bottom boat tours of the springs on the Silver River. WUFT-FM’s Phillip Marks reports. (Videographer- Donna Green-Townsend)
By Donna Green-Townsend and Amanda Jackson (UPDATE: a 15 min. video follows the text)
