One of the causes of lower artesian pressure, water
waste and aquifer contamination is the misuse and insufficient
care of artesian wells. In 1953, Senate Bill No. 57, entitled
"An Act to Protect and Control the Artesian Waters of the
State" (see Appendix) became a law. This law was passed
through the efforts exerted by leading members of the Senate
and the House of Representatives, who understood the need
for a wise and controlled expenditure of our most valuable
natural resource.
The State Geologist and his authorized representatives
were designated by this law to enforce this conservation
measure; however, no financial provision was included for
the 1953-55 biennium. The proposed program of the Florida
Geological Survey for this biennium did not include the funds
nor provide any full-time personnel for the enforcement of
this statute. As a result, little actual work was accomplished during these two years, although much time was given to
planning and discussion of the problem.
Realizing that this program could provide additional basic
data needed in the analysis of the water-supply problem, the
State Geologist sought and was granted by the 1955 Legislature
adequate funds with which to activate the first phase of the
enforcement of Florida Statute No. 370.051-054.
Enumerated below is a summary of the progress made
on this investigation as outlined previously:
1. Data have been collected on 967 wildly flowing wells
in 22 counties.
2. Chloride determinations have been run on 850 of the
967 wells.
3. Of the 967 wells, 554 have chlorides in excess of the
250 ppm, the upper limit assigned by the State Board
of Health for public consumption.
4. Water escapes at the rate of 37, 762 gallons per minute
from these 967 wells. This amounts to 54, 377, 280
gallons per day.
The investigation is incomplete at this time; therefore,
no final conclusions can be reached. However, from data
already collected, the following recommendations are proposed:
1. That the present inventory of wildly flowing wells be
completed for the entire State.
2. That the current inventory of wildly flowing wells be
expanded at the conclusion of the present inventory
to include all flowing wells.
3. That a complete statewide inventory program be
established and conducted in cooperation with the
Ground Water Branchof the U.S. Geological Survey.
4. That the enforcement functions as set down in Sections
370.051/.054, Florida Statutes, be separated from
the program to collect water-resource data and that
these functions be given to the Water Resources
Department, if such is created (to be recommended
by the Water Resources Study Commission in a water
policy law presented to the 1957 Legislature).
5. That the research phase (well inventory) of the program
remain under the direction of the Florida Geological
Survey. (PDF contains 204 pages.