3 Sisters Springs Federal Park - Dive Site Map of Florida & Bahamas from www.ScubaLessonsInc.com (sitios de interés)
Descripción del sitio
Kings Bay and the Three Sisters Springs also attract large numbers of boaters, recreational divers, snorkelers, and swimmers, many of whom seek out manatees for a close viewing experience. The influx of visitors, primarily there to see manatees, provides a major economic impact to the Crystal River community.
The mouth of the Three Sisters run is blocked by concrete posts to prevent boat access; only swimmers, canoers, and kayakers can enter. The land around the springs is private and posted and much of it has been extensively dredged to allow homes to be built along the channels and have access to King's Bay.
At one time, Three Sisters Springs was used by Jacques Cousteau to help rehabilitate "Sewer Sam," a manatee named after he became trapped in a Miami sewer system and was subsequently rescued. Cousteau and his crew and volunteers kept Sam in Three Sisters Springs until the manatee was acclimated to the area. Upon release, Sewer Sam swam out into Kings Bay, where he joined the other manatees gathering there.
In the 1980s, the then owner of the property known as Three Sisters Springs decided to fill the hardwood swamp that spread out from the Three Sisters Springs and the adjacent Idiot's Delight and Magnolia Springs. The owner brought in a huge drag line and spent more than a year digging a 15-acre, 40-foot deep borrow pit. Dirt from this borrow pit, now called Lake Linda, was used to fill the adjacent hardwood swamp, burying trees and vegetation, filling the area one to two feet higher, and obliterating the much-needed filtering action of the entombed swamp.
The current owners of Three Sisters Springs property have plans to develop the 57 acres of land adjacent to the Three Sisters Springs second magnitude springs and Magnolia Springs first magnitude springs. This development would entail residences and multi-family residences as well as the potential removal of "spring water" to be bottled from the borrow pit dug in the 1980s. The owner initially sought a permit to extract 1.2 million gallons per day. The request was later reduced to 426,000 gallons per day, and the owner is considering building a bottling company near the site. As of February 2003, the landowner was allowed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District to withdraw up to 100,000 gallons per day, and water had to be pumped from a site away from the spring.
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