News Update
Engineering students recognized for work to restore Cypress Spring
Staff report
Enviro-Net
Five recent graduates from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering were rewarded recently for their efforts in designing a project to restore and protect Cypress Spring.
The students consulted with engineers and staff at the Northwest Florida Water Management District to create designs for the project that calls for stabilizing the shoreline and enhancing recreation access at the second magnitude spring located in Washington County.
The students--Abigail Burns, Lindsey Furrow, Maria Leal-Bruce, Jennifer Magi, and Caroline Wells--worked on the project as part of their Senior Design class during the 2019-2020 school year. Nestlé Waters North America Inc. awarded each of the students $1,000 for their efforts and made a $10,000 donation to the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
Cypress Spring has long been one of northwest Florida's most beautiful springs. Canoeists, kayakers, boaters, swimmers, and nature enthusiasts all make frequent stops at the spring, located roughly a mile east of Highway 79 and slightly north of the town of Vernon.
In 2018, the district purchased a conservation easement for $812,000 from Nestlé Waters NA on approximately 300 acres, which includes Cypress Spring and more than 1,000 linear feet of shoreline along Holmes Creek. NWNA then donated that money back to the district to help pay for the shoreline restoration project and to offset ongoing land management costs.
The student project focused on addressing erosion problems along the shoreline, reconfiguring a culvert system originally designed to divert tannic water away from the spring, and designing a public restroom that will not contribute nutrients to the spring. The students completed their design in the spring of 2020.
The success of the Cypress Spring project led to the district partnering with another student group from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering this academic year. The second group of students began working this past fall on a design to create a recreation site on a recently acquired property in Wakulla County.
Source: Northwest Florida Water Management District