Freshwater can be beautiful too....
Just north of the beach are some breathtaking freshwater springs that offer a little different experience for the adventurous sort of visitor.
Some of the most beautiful places to explore Northwest Florida are along our spring fed waterways. These creeks, streams and rivers provide incredible recreation and ecotourism along with the valuable drinking water our communities rely on.
Florida boasts more than 1,00 springs, with close to 40 in the Walton, Holmes, Washington and Bay counties, with 13 springs feeding in the Choctawhatchee River basin. The Gainer Springs Group on Econfina Creek (including springs locally known as McCormick and Emerald) is the most significant, measuring a first magnitude flow of 114 million gallons a day. Econfina creek feeds into Deer Point Lake which is the major source of water supply for Bay County.
Morrison Springs
What are springs?
Springs are portals where water in the earth’s aquifers, rises to the surface and escapes into our streams, lakes and coastal waters. There are two general types of springs in Florida, seeps (water-table springs) and karst springs (artesian springs). The springs in Northwest Florida are karst springs. Karst topography is a landscape created by groundwater dissolving into sedimentary rock such as limestone. This creates landforms such as shafts, tunnels, caves, and sinkholes. The Dougherty Karst Plain underlies our area.
What is a spring classification?
Springs are most often classified based upon the average discharge of water. Individual springs exhibit variable discharge depending upon rainfall, recharge and groundwater withdrawals within their recharge areas. One discharge measurement is enough to place a spring into one of the eight magnitude categories. However, springs have dynamic flows. A spring categorized as being a first-magnitude spring at one moment in time may not continue to remain in the same category. This can result in a spring being classified as a first magnitude spring at one point in time and a second magnitude at another.
