Crystal River is a river in Citrus County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, flowing into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. It is just seven miles (eleven kilometers) long, and has a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of five square miles (thirteen square kilometers), joining Kings Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The river's significance is in the thirty natural springs that add an average of 300 million

gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland, Canada, Australia ...

s (1,135 million liters) of warm water to the river every day. These springs include Three Sisters Springs. The warm water in the river attracts large numbers of

manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

s, and Kings Bay, at the head of the river and the location of 28 of the springs, harbors approximately 350 manatees during the winter. Some biologists consider Crystal River to be the most important refuge for manatees in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In the first half of the 19th century Crystal River was known as ''Weewahiiaca'' (), believed to be from the

Creek language The Muscogee language (also Muskogee , ), previously referred to by its exonym, Creek, is spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the US states of Oklahoma and Florida. Muscogee was historically spoken by various constitu ...

words ''wewa'', meaning "water", and ''haiyayaka'', meaning "clear". The city of Crystal River is located on the river. The

Crystal River Energy Complex The Crystal River Energy Complex consists of seven power-generating plants on a site near the mouth of the Crystal River in Citrus County, Florida. Crystal River 1, 2, 4, and 5 are fossil fuel power plants. Crystal River 3 was previously t ...

, which consists of four coal-burning power plants and the Crystal River Nuclear Plant, is located near the mouth of the river. The Crystal River Archaeological State Park is located on the river.

Kings Bay

Kings Bay is Crystal River's headwater, or point of origin, and is fed by a number of springs that produce a constant temperature of 72 °F all year round. The 72° water attracts hundreds upon hundreds of manatees during the winter months looking to escape the cold water of the Gulf of Mexico. The springs in Kings Bay provide a habitat for 15 to 20 percent of the overall US manatee population.

Problems in Crystal River

Recent studies have shown the nitrate level of Crystal River and Kings Bay has been on the rise. Historical water quality data from the early 1900s show that nitrate concentrations were 20 times lower than they are now. The main source of the nitrogen and phosphorus is ground water discharge from area springs and the overuse of inorganic fertilizers. Lyngbya, a cyanobacteria, has been a problem in Kings Bay and Crystal River. It can be toxic to manatees, can cause many health issues in humans, and harmful to Crystal Rivers tourism. So far over 1,000 tons of Lyngbya have been removed with mechanical harvesters and raking. Removing Lyngbya mats does not help the regrowth of native grasses, and if you replant the native grasses it will most likely not succeed due to grazing of manatees. Introduced exotic aquatic plants have been an issue for Crystal River/Kings Bay since the 1960s.

Hydrilla ''Hydrilla'' (waterthyme) is a genus of aquatic plant, usually treated as containing just one species, ''Hydrilla verticillata'', though some botanists divide it into several species. It is native to the cool and warm waters of the Old World in A ...

and Eurasian watermilfoil have been the main concern. The plants make it difficult for boaters to navigate by getting stuck in the propeller.

Kings Bay Phyto-Remediation Demonstration Project

A project has been underway in Kings Bay (Crystal River) since 2012 to use water hyacinth and water lettuce to improve the water quality and reduce algae growth. Even though water hyacinth is an exotic plant and has been a problem in the past, they have re-introduced them in PVC corrals where the hyacinth would filter out the toxins and kill off phytoplankton algae that are making the water green. The PVC corrals are necessary because manatees love to graze on this aquatic plant. The Kings Bay Adaptive Management Group (KBAM) heads this project.

References

* Henry, Tom. 1990. Crystal River. in Marth, Del and Marty Marth, eds. ''The Rivers of Florida''. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. . * G.(2002). Florida's Big Bend Wildlife Refuges. 5-6. Retrieved July 17, 2014, from https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214234/http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/travel-ta-prime-hook-national-refuge-crystal-river-national-wildlife-refuge-sidwcmdev_068502.html *Bray, Rebecca. “Watershed Excursion of the Springs Coast.” (2005). http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/education/interactive/springscoast/1.shtml *Blackburn, R. D. andL. W. Weldon. 1967.Eurasian watermilfoil-Florida's new underwater menace.Hyacinth Control Journal 6:15–18. * Frazer, T. K. and J. A. Hale. 2001. An atlas of submersed aquatic vegetation in Kings Bay (Citrus County Florida). Final Report. Southwest Florida Water Management District. Brooksville, Florida. {{authority control Bodies of water of Citrus County, Florida Rivers of Florida Outstanding Florida Waters