As a wildlife ecology senior at UF, you’d think I visit Florida’s natural springs all the time. Well, I’ve only gone twice. But that’s not on account of the springs themselves. Florida’s natural springs are beautiful. The cold clear water provides a perfect swimming and diving hole and serves as a great place to spot native wildlife like otters, alligators and manatees. Springs benefit society, too, by supporting the diversity of wildlife and providing clean drinking water for communities.
The Florida springs kind of fell into the background of my mind after a freshman year trip to Poe Springs. That is, until I joined UF’s Public Interest Communications Student Association, or PICSA. This student organization tied to the College of Journalism and Communications leads several campaigns aiming to push positive social change in Gainesville, one of which being the Stand Up 4 Springs campaign.
This campaign started helping springs by boycotting Ginnie Springs, which — partnered with Nestlé Waters — is allowed to pump almost 1 million gallons per day out of their natural springs. This overexploitation of natural resources has dramatically reduced the spring’s water flow, which affects the wildlife living there and the community’s ability to recreate. Working together with the Florida Springs Council and the Sierra Club, PICSA has continued the campaign since its start in 2022.
In 2025, the Stand Up 4 Springs campaign is ringing the alarm bell against bills like Senate Bill 1822 and House Bill 565. Introduced in last year’s Florida legislative session, these two bills aimed to ease regulations surrounding restrictions of plastics and other single-use containers in our state parks. In turn, local authorities and parks would no longer be allowed to make new rules or continue the enforcement of existing rules to protect springs, trails and natural wildlife from single-use plastic, glass and other harmful materials. Nonprofits like the Florida Springs Council expect similar bills to resurface during the 2026 legislative session between Jan. 13 and March 13.
State Rep. Omar Blanco, a Republican from Miami-Dade, supports HB 565 because he says that the bill will maintain statewide regulatory uniformity and convenience for consumers. Without regulation, I’m sure people visiting the springs will certainly have a much easier time bringing McDonalds for a picnic, but what’s to stop them from not disposing of their happy meals properly?
Professional mermaid Michelle Colson, is a regular springs-goer and said, “I can pick up buckets and buckets and buckets of the stuff there” in reference to plastic in the Santa Fe River, which harbors many smaller springs and lacks rules about plastic use. Any plastic left in the environment poses a risk to the water quality of the spring and the health of the wildlife that live there.
Protecting Florida’s springs may seem like an uphill battle, but we’re making progress in the right direction. Remember the Great Outdoors Initiative proposal in August 2024? This project aimed to transform nine Florida State parks into golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts. There was a lot of backlash, and the idea was dropped at the 2025 Florida Legislative Session. In its place, Florida Springs Council, PICSA and other advocacy groups across the state worked hard to promote an alternative set of bills that made development in state parks more difficult and closed exploited loopholes in development permitting. This set of bills, called the State Park Protection Bills, was passed in April 2025.
Now, the Florida Springs Council seeks to pass SB 240, a bill it filed in October. If this bill passes in the 2026 Legislative Session, it would ensure local governments retain the right to regulate single-use containers on public land and give governments model legislation they can apply to ensure consistency at a state level.
If learning about these policies gets you pumped up about protecting Florida springs, you may want to look into the annual Earth Advocacy Day trip. In early March, members from advocacy organizations like PICSA and genCLEO travel to the Florida Capitol Building in Tallahassee to speak up about climate issues to politicians and legislators. It’s an amazing opportunity to show decision-makers that you are affected by climate change and care about natural resources in your community.
Florida’s springs truly are unique in their recreational and environmental value to local communities, so I hope that they remain healthy for years to come. It would be a shame for new UF students to lose the ability to appreciate such a wonderful natural resource. Please show your support for Florida's natural springs and check out the campaign’s Instagram, @standup4springs, for more information and a guide to the springs near Gainesville.
Marin Chester is a 21-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation senior.
