Crystal River is a very short river in

Citrus County Citrus County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 153,843. Its county seat is Inverness, and its largest community is Homosassa Springs. Citrus County compris ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, flowing into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. It is just seven miles (eleven kilometers) long, and has a drainage basin 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 imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austr ...

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 Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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

Creek language The Muscogee language (Muskogee, ''Mvskoke'' in Muscogee), also known as Creek, is a Muskogean language spoken by Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole people, primarily in the US states of Oklahoma and Florida. Along with Mikasuki, when it is spoken ...

words ''wewa'', meaning "water", and ''haiyayaka'', meaning "clear". The city of Crystal River is located on the river. The Crystal River Energy Complex, which consists of four coal-burning

power plants A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

and the Crystal River Nuclear Plant, is located near the mouth of the river. The

Crystal River Archaeological State Park Crystal River State Archaeological Site is a Florida State Park located on the Crystal River and within the Crystal River Preserve State Park. The park is located two miles (3 km) northwest of the city of Crystal River, on Museum Point of ...

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 ''Lyngbya'' is a genus of cyanobacteria, unicellular autotrophs that form the basis of the oceanic food chain. As a result of recent genetic analyses, several new genera were erected from this genus: ''e.g.'', ''Moorea'', '' Limnoraphis'', '' O ...

, 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 Eurasion 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 due to the fact that 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. andJ. 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