Outstanding Florida Waters are rivers, lakes and other water features designated by the

Florida Department of Environmental Protection The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is the Florida government agency responsible for environmental protection. History By the mid-1960s, when the federal government was becoming increasingly involved in initiatives design ...

(DEP) under authority of Section 403.061 (27), Florida Statutes as "worthy of special protection because of their natural attributes." Outstanding Florida Waters have special restrictions on any new activities that would lower

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

or otherwise degrade the body of water. The Outstanding Florida Water designation has been applied to all bodies of water in

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

national wildlife refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

national seashore The United States has ten protected areas known as national seashores and three known as national lakeshores, which are public lands operated by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the Department of the Interior. National seashores an ...

national preserve There are 21 protected areas of the United States designated as national preserves. They were established by an act of Congress to protect areas that have resources often associated with national parks but where certain natural resource-extracti ...

national marine sanctuaries A U.S. National Marine Sanctuary is a zone within United States waters where the marine environment enjoys special protection. The program began in 1972 in response to public concern about the plight of marine ecosystems. A U.S. National Marine ...

and estuarine research reserves, state parks and recreation areas, state preserves and reserves, state ornamental gardens and botanical sites, environmentally endangered lands programs, conservation and recreation lands programs, Save Our Coast program acquisitions, state aquatic preserves, scenic and wild rivers (both national and state), and certain waters in national forests. The DEP has also designated these 'special' Outstanding Florida Waters: *

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

Aucilla River The Aucilla River rises in Brooks County, Georgia, USA, close to Thomasville, and passes through the Big Bend region of Florida, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico at Apalachee Bay. Some early maps called it the Ocilla River. It is long and ha ...

Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black te ...

* Butler Chain of Lakes * Chassahowitzka River System *

Chipola River The Chipola River is a tributary of the Apalachicola River in western Florida. It is part of the ACF River Basin watershed. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15 ...

Choctawhatchee River The Choctawhatchee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map , accessed 15 April 2011 river in the southern United States, flowing through southeast Alabama and the Panhandle o ...

* Clermont Chain of lakes * Crooked Lake * Crystal River *

Econlockhatchee River The Econlockhatchee River (Econ River for short) is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 21, 2011 north-flowing blackwater tributary of the St. Johns River. The E ...

System * Estero Bay tributaries *

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

* Hillsborough River *

Homosassa River Homosassa River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 18, 2011 river in Citrus County, Florida, in the western part of the state. Its headwaters are the Homosassa ...

System *

Kingsley Lake Kingsley Lake is an almost perfectly circular lake of about in North East Florida, is located inside Clay County about east of Starke, Florida. According to some sources, it is the oldest and highest lake in Florida, located on the edge of th ...

and Black Creek (North Fork) *

Lake Disston A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larg ...

Lake Powell Lake Powell is an artificial reservoir on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, United States. It is a major vacation destination visited by approximately two million people every year. It is the second largest artificial reservoir by maximum ...

Lemon Bay Lemon Bay is a long, narrow and shallow body of water covering 8,000 acres in Charlotte County, Florida and Sarasota County, Florida. It is protected as the Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve, designated in 1986. It is one of five Charlotte Harbor Aquatic ...

estuarine system *

Little Manatee River The Little Manatee River flows , from east of Fort Lonesome, Florida South of Hwy 674 and Earl Reynolds Rd In Hillsborough County through southern Hillsborough County, Florida including towns such as Sun City, Florida, and Gulf City, Florida ...

Lochloosa Lake Lochloosa Lake is a lake about in area in Alachua County, Florida, about south of Hawthorne, and is up to deep. It is drained by Cross Creek into Orange Lake. It is largely surrounded by the Lochloosa Wildlife Management Area, and is a Fish M ...

Myakka River (big water) , image = Myakka River.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Myakka River in El Jobean , image_alt = , map = Myakkarivermap.png , map_size = 200px , map_caption ...

(lower part) *

Ochlockonee River The Ochlockonee River ( ) is a fast running river, except where it has been dammed to form Lake Talquin in Florida, originating in Georgia and flowing for before terminating in Florida. Background The name is from the Hitchiti language words ...

Ocklawaha River The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 21, 2011 Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is derived ...

* Orange Lake,

River Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

, and Cross Creek *

Perdido River Perdido River, historically Rio Perdido (1763), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. states of Alabama and Florida; the Perdido, a desig ...

Rainbow River The Rainbow River is located in Dunnellon, Florida, United States, in the southwest corner of Marion County, about southwest of Ocala, northwest of Orlando and north of the Tampa Bay area. It is formed by a first-magnitude spring (Rainbow Sp ...

* St. Marks River * Santa Fe River system *

Sarasota Bay Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota Counties, it ...

estuarine system *

Shoal River Shoal River is a river located primarily in Okaloosa County, Florida, near the city of Crestview. It is a tributary of the Yellow River, emptying into Pensacola Bay Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United S ...

* Silver River * Spruce Creek *

Suwannee River The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset hig ...

Tomoka River The Tomoka River is a north-flowing river in Volusia County, Florida, Volusia County, Florida, United States. It drains an area of about and has a length of .U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe N ...

Wacissa River The Wacissa River is a large, spring-fed stream located in south-central Jefferson County, Florida. Its headwaters are located about a mile south of the town of Wacissa, where the river emerges crystal clear from a group of large limestone spri ...

Wakulla River The Wakulla River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 18, 2011 river in Wakulla County, Florida. It carries the outflow from Wakulla Springs, site of the Edward ...

* Weekiwachee riverine system *

Wekiva River The Wekiva River (sometimes spelled Wekiwa, a Creek word meaning "spring of water") is a river in Central Florida, north of Orlando in the United States. It originates in Apopka and joins the St. Johns River, the longest river in the state, in ...

* Wiggins Pass estuarine system FlaWaterwaysMap

References

Outstanding Florida Waters Fact Sheet
- URL retrieved September 24, 2006

External links

FloridaRivers.org
{{Authority control

Rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

See also

References

External links