Many Faces of Santa Fe River

10/08/08

Anyone who has spent time on Santa Fe River knows her to be a seductress--complex, mysterious and always beautiful. Many people, from diverse backgrounds have courted her over the years, and from each we've gained a little insight into her complex nature.


From cave divers and geologists, we know that her public face--the gentle-flowing, spring studded stream that saunters with seeming indifference toward the Suwannee--is but one of many. Below the surface, a network of underground "side-streams" flow unseen, sometimes touching and joining adjacent channels and at other times veering away in different directions. When one of these unseen, subterranean channels joins the surface channel, it interacts with the surface flow in one of two ways. If it's a strong, highly pressurized channel, it adds some of its flow to the surface river by way of a spring. If the underground stream is weak, the heavier surface water forces its way down into the subterranean stream. This is called a siphon or swallet hole. On the surface, this appears as a drain in the riverbed, into which some of the river disappears.

From biologists, we know that the freshwater springs along the Santa Fe (and throughout North Florida) are among the most diverse, species-rich freshwater systems in the world. The clarity of spring water allows sunlight to reach great depths, allowing a wide variety of algae, phytoplankton and larger green plants to thrive. These, in turn, host a complex web of animal life.

From archaeologists and historians, we know Santa Fe to have once been an important route of travel and commerce for both indigenous peoples and the European settlers who followed. Village sites, burial mounds and abundant artifacts found along the river, show that countless generations, stretching back thousands of years, knew the Santa Fe as more than just an avenue of travel--it was home.

This weekend, we'll be sharing time with Santa Fe in a few of her more somber, gentle moods. Saturday morning, we'll explore the region of her origins - the Northern Highlands. Paddling up from I-75, we'll see a quiet section of the river that relatively few people ever see (or even know about), up to the confluence of Olustee Creek.


That evening, we'll see a side of the river usually known only by her many crepuscular (dusk) and nocturnal (night) residents. On this moonlight paddle, we'll share the river with such nocturnal residents as beavers, raccoons, possums and armadillos. And, if you want to expand your exploration of the Santa Fe's nocturnal life even further, bring mask, snorkeling gear and underwater light and have a swim in the spring. Among the many critters you might see working the springs night-shift are crayfish, eels, freshwater shrimp, apple snails, tadpole madtoms, stinkpot turtles and the ever-present (at night) loggerhead musk turtles.

On Tuesday, we're paddling up to see River Rise--the granddaddy of Santa Fe springs where the entire river re-emerges after flowing for three miles underground.