Wekiwa River
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The Wekiva River (sometimes spelled Wekiwa, a
Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...
word meaning "spring of water") is a
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in
Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
, north of
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
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 ...
. It originates in
Apopka Apopka is a city in Orange County, Florida. The city's population was 54,873 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ''Apopka'' comes from Seminole word ''Ahapopka'' for "potato-eating ...
and joins the
St. Johns River The St. Johns River () is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and is the most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders 12 counties. The drop in elevation from River s ...
, the longest river in the state, in DeBary. The Wekiva River system includes the
main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...
joined by three main
tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
- Rock Springs Run, Blackwater Creek, and the
Little Wekiva River The Little Wekiva River is a stream in the Greater Orlando area of Florida in the United States. The long, northward flowing stream is a tributary of the Wekiva River, which later joins the St. Johns River, the longest river in the state of Flo ...
- and about 30 contributing groundwater springs."Wekiva River"
St. Johns River Water Management District. Retrieved on 2013-04-02.
It is designated as a
Florida State Canoe Trail Florida ( ; ) is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Straits of Florida to the south, and T ...
, an
Outstanding Florida Water Outstanding Florida Waters are rivers, lakes and other water features designated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under authority of Section 403.061 (27), Florida Statutes as "worthy of special protection because of their ...
, and an Aquatic Preserve by the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is the Florida government Government agency, agency responsible for environmental protection. History By the mid-1960s, when the Federal government of the United States, federal governm ...
. The Wekiva River system is also one of the two rivers in Florida federally designated as a
National Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-f ...
for its scenery, recreation, geology, and diverse habitats."The Wekiva Wild & Scenic River"
National Park Service. Retrieved on 2012-04-01.
Wekiwa is the Creek-Seminole word for a spring, but contrary to popular belief that Wekiva means "flowing water", it was actually an alternate spelling used by developers. The pronunciation of a soft-w, sometimes perceived as a v or b, resulted in cartographers mislabeling maps in later years. The maps drawn in 1838 and 1849 were spelled Wekiwa.The Wekiwas and Wekivas of Orange County, Garner, Mary Kerns. 1983 December. Research sponsored by The Apopka Historical Society.


Overview

The Wekiva River system is located in three counties -
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...
,
Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...
, and then
Lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
- with a total
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 ."02235000 (Wekiva River)"
St. Johns River Water Management District. Retrieved on 2013-04-01.
The Wekiva River nearly follows the boundary between Orange and Seminole Counties. After Orange County, the river separates Lake County and Seminole County.


Origin

According to the St. Johns River Water Management District and the
Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...
, the Wekiva River originates from Wekiwa Springs, and about from the spring, Wekiva is joined by the Rock Springs Run."Feature Detail Report for: Wekiva River"
Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). Retrieved on 2013-04-16.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection defines the portion of the river from Wekiwa Springs to the confluence with Rock Springs Run as the Wekiwa Springs Run. The Wekiva River then starts from the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
of the two spring runs and joins the St. Johns River after ."Description of Wekiva River Aquatic Preserve"
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved on 2013-04-03.
Other contributing springs are Sanlando Springs and Palm Springs.


Course


Wekiwa Springs

The
headwater The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...
of the Wekiva River is the Wekiwa Springs, a second-magnitude
spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...
located within the
Wekiwa Springs State Park Wekiwa Springs State Park is a Florida State Park in Apopka, Florida. It is located 20 minutes north of Orlando, off Interstate 4 at exit 94, near Altamonte Springs and Longwood. The park also contains the head water of the Wekiva River. I ...
in Apopka. The spring has a mean discharge of or per day emanating from two vents, the largest of which is located under the water. A
weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
located about from the springs forms a -wide pool for swimming. At from the weir, the river widens into a
trapezoidal In geometry, a trapezoid () in North American English, or trapezium () in British English, is a quadrilateral that has at least one pair of parallel sides. The parallel sides are called the ''bases'' of the trapezoid. The other two sides are ...
pool about at its widest. The clear, bluish-green water narrows into a -wide run as it flows northeastward.


Rock Springs Run

After only about from the headwater, the Wekiva River is joined by Rock Springs Run, a spring-fed
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
that originates from Rock Springs, a second-magnitude spring located about northwest of Wekiwa Springs. Rock Springs is situated inside Kelly Park, an Orange County park in Apopka. After leaving the county park, the stream enters the Wekiwa Springs State Park, meandering for a total length of before joining Wekiva River. After the confluence, the area left of the Wekiva River is protected by Rock Springs Run State Reserve, another
Florida state park There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists. Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non-pr ...
.


Bridge to nowhere

In the late 1950s, a group of South Florida investors who owned hundreds of acres south of State Road 46 wanted to develop a community between
Mount Plymouth Mount Plymouth or Mount Osorno is a conspicuous peak rising to in the northeast extremity of Dryanovo Heights, Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The peak has precipitous and partly ice-free northern slopes, and surmoun ...
and the Wekiva River. The first step was creating a road (now County Road 433) that would go south from East Lake County through Orange County and into Seminole County. The state of Florida built CR-433, but only in Lake County from SR-46 south to the Orange County line while the private group built the bridge across the Wekiva River. The unfinished portion of CR-433 in Orange County was supposed to connect to the bridge. Plans for the development failed (and so did the completion of the road) and the undeveloped land was donated to the state of Florida. Today, CR-433 is part of Rock Springs Run State Reserve. The
bridge to nowhere A bridge to nowhere is a bridge where one or both ends are broken, incomplete, or unconnected to any roads. If it is an overpass or an interchange, the term overpass to nowhere or interchange to nowhere may be used respectively. Origins Th ...
spans the river before the Wekiva Island marina about from the confluence with Rock Springs, the first of the two bridges that spans the river. The bridge is located at the end of Miami Springs Drive in Seminole County.


Sweetwater Creek

The Wekiva is joined by Seminole County's Sweetwater Creek about from the headwater. The -long stream is merged by the outflow of Miami Springs, a third- magnitude spring, about before the confluence with Wekiva River.


Wekiva River Buffer Conservation Area

Beyond the creek, the eastern side of the river is protected by the Wekiva River Buffer Conservation Area, a protected seasonal
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
s of lush
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
forest of
hardwoods Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes ...
,
fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
s, and sabal palms along the Wekiva and Little Wekiva Rivers. Protecting the natural condition of the area helps preserve the water quality of both rivers.


Little Wekiva River

The Little Wekiva River merges with the Wekiva River about from the source. The -long Little Wekiva River is the only tributary influenced by the areas north and west of urban
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
. The St. Johns River Water Management District has worked with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the
Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the U.S. state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the power ...
, the city of Altamonte Springs, Seminole and Orange counties, environmental interest groups and basin residents to find solutions in rehabilitating and protecting the Little Wekiva to minimize its negative impact in the water quality of the Wekiva River."Little Wekiva River"
St. Johns River Water Management District. Retrieved on 2013-04-16.
In Longwood before the Little Wekiva enters the Wekiva River Buffer Conservation Area, several second- and third-magnitude springs, including the Sanlando Springs, replenish the Little Wekiva with fresh underground water."Seminole County Springs"
St. Johns River Water Management District. Retrieved on 2013-04-16.


River Bridges

The State Road 46 and State Road 429 tri-spans are the only active roads that span the river with the bridges about from the Wekiwa Springs State Park.


Black Water Creek

The last main tributary of the Wekiva River is the Blackwater Creek, which joins the Wekiva about before the Wekiva joins the St. Johns River.


See also

*
List of Florida rivers This is a list of streams and rivers in the U.S. state of Florida. With one exception, the streams and rivers of Florida all originate on the Coastal plain. That exception is the Apalachicola River, which is formed by the merger of the Chattahooc ...


References


External links


Map of Wekiva River Aquatic Preserve


a
PaddleFlorida.net
{{authority control Rivers of Florida Rivers of Lake County, Florida Rivers of Orange County, Florida Rivers of Seminole County, Florida Outstanding Florida Waters Tributaries of the St. Johns River Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States