BROOKSVILLE — Linda Farmer expected to be disappointed.
Before a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission presentation at the Hernando County Utilities Department headquarters, she sat in her truck in the parking lot and said she figured it would be another bad plan to mess up the area.
Less than two hours later, she was singing a different tune.
“I’m so excited. It’s actually a really great presentation,” she said as the meeting was breaking up. “I’m impressed. Turned around. I’m not big on dredging, so that’s what I was worried about.”
It’s a sensitive area in which to drag all that equipment, she added, but noted, “They made a really good plan, on the first try, too.”
Other residents were equally enthusiastic after hearing how a dredging and shoreline stabilization project along Jenkins Creek — a brackish spring-fed stream near Linda Pederson Park in Spring Hill — is in the planning stages. The project, estimated at $1.2 million, would improve warm-water habitat for the Florida manatee by removing shoals, debris and wood that restrict access to springheads during winter months.
FWC still needs approvals from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers, must secure financing and bid out the work. The permit process alone could take six months to a year, and construction could take another year and a half after that.
Kent Smith, a biological administrator for FWC, said the project aims to improve manatee habitat by “increasing access through spot-dredging, improving the shoreline stabilization so that we don’t have any sediments settling in so we don’t make that any shallower for manatees and then potentially improving spring flows by excavating debris and material that’s gotten into the spring.”
Last winter, 33 manatees used the site, and the numbers have been growing, Smith said.
“The head spring, itself, has a lot of debris in it,” he said. “Historically, we think there was more flow, but we are doing design work and measuring the flow to see if we can improve that.”
FWC’s Manatee Warm-Water Habitat Action Plan lists Jenkins Creek Spring as a secondary refuge for manatees. The spring system is south of the Weeki Wachee springs complex. A narrow spring run may limit manatee access, a problem made worse by woody debris and eroding stream banks. There are currently no state manatee protection zones at the site.
Smith said the agency is still in the design phase and does not yet know exactly how much dredging will be needed or where the choke points are.
Some dredged material, if found suitable, could be used for shoreline stabilization; otherwise, it would go to the county landfill.
Any work would be done in the warm-weather months to avoid disturbing manatees and could be delayed by summer storms. The discovery of human remains or archaeological artifacts could also halt the project.
Funding would come from FWC’s Aquatic Habitat Conservation and Restoration Program, which is funded by the state Legislature, along with county funds and grants. The $1.2 million estimate could change as design work continues.
“We’ve been pretty successful in doing this work in other locations,” Smith said, adding he is optimistic the project will be funded and that the results will last.
A lost spring
FWC staff set up a detailed presentation that included aerial photos from 1944 and 2025 for comparison. Residents could write comments and sketch suggestions directly on 60% design plans.
Among the more intriguing details: A 1962 survey indicated there were two springs. Spring B, the current spring, had a 20-foot-diameter pool and a cave at least 67 feet deep, with a passage accessible to divers into the 1980s. Its flow rate was 12.5 cubic feet per second.
Spring A, the “missing spring,” is believed to be near the swimming area. It had a six-foot diameter, was 18 feet deep and produced a flow rate of 10 cubic feet per second. Officials believe the cave system may have collapsed at some point. The waterway has since filled with silt, logs and other debris, compounded by erosion and storms.
Two types of dredging could be used — hydraulic and mechanical — along with a possible diver-directed process. Each has benefits and drawbacks, and one goal is to minimize the project’s footprint.
‘A great tactic’
Farmer said the team giving the presentation was different from the one that handled the Weeki Wachee River project.
“It’s refreshing to see, actually, they put thought into the plan, and they came to us and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’” she said. “I’m excited. And they’re moving the swim platform.”
Aja Moore also approved.
“I think the stabilization idea is a great tactic,” she said. “I think it will be really effective compared to what I’ve seen done in our other areas nearby. So I look forward to this.”
“We’re looking forward to working with our partners and completing the project,” Smith said.
