The rivers that flow through all of us 

By Joe Murphy 

Rivers are sacred things, all the more important and sublime in a watery land like Florida. Rivers connect our present to our past, connect our swamps and wetlands to our oceans, and create boundless opportunities to connect us to the Florida experience and wild Florida.

Everyone should have a river they think of as their own. We all need a river that we connect to, dream of and spend time on. And if everyone in Florida decided that they would connect to, conserve and explore their river … Florida would fast become a better place for all.

If I was to choose my river, the river of my life, it would have to be the Withlacoochee River. I spent my childhood on and near it, and returned to live near it for the last 20 years. My family and I have paddled it, fished it, swam in it, camped along it and hiked alongside it. Its dark tannic stained waters call me home whenever I can join them.

In my 20s and 30s I had a brief dalliance with the Hillsborough River, another magnificent Florida river. Both the Hillsborough and the Withlacoochee are born in Florida’s liquid heart, the Green Swamp. The Green Swamp covers more than 500,000 acres and gathers regional rainfall to create several of Florida’s most magnificent rivers.

Rain falls in the Green Swamp. Waters gather in small streams and creeks in shared purpose. Soon, two rivers are born from the same birthplace. One flows north, over 150 miles seeking the Gulf. The other flows south for roughly 60 miles seeking Tampa Bay. Both hold close the secrets and magic of wild Florida.

I fell in love with my wife on the Hillsborough River. We took a late-night paddle in the Narrows, just upstream of Lettuce Lake and as a cacophony of frogs and gators called around us, I realized that when you meet someone who will paddle into the darkened night with you, you hold on tightly to them. Almost 30 years later we are still together.

If all of us had a river we called our own, perhaps we could reverse decades of questionable environmental policy that guides how we manage rivers in Florida. Perhaps we could treasure rivers for the true, transcendent, invaluable natural resources they are.

I do sympathize with those who manage rivers in Florida. It is a hard job. I often ponder if a simple change in paradigms might make their work easier.

Water management districts manage rivers in Florida with a concept called “minimum flows and levels.”  This could be construed as the idea that permits can be requested that lead to increasing withdrawal levels from rivers, among other water bodies, until significant harm occurs to those rivers or the natural systems of the area.

But a true lover of those rivers, someone with a sense of connection to them, might argue we need to rethink this and seek maximum flows and levels. How can we manage withdrawals and water levels to ensure that maximum ecological function and robust long term river health is the goal for our sacred rivers? Water for rivers first, for withdrawal applicants second.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection uses a concept when making decisions about pollution in our rivers called Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL). A TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still safely meet water quality standards.

But a true lover of rivers, someone with a sense of connection and place, might argue that we should consider a standard of Total Minimum Daily Loads. What is the minimum amount of a pollutant that should ever be allowed in the rivers we drink from, swim in, fish in and share with the creatures of creation? Value the river, the wildlife, the fishermen and the public over the polluter.

So, spend some time and ponder what river truly speaks to your soul. What river flows through you and leads you to deeper connection to all things wild in Florida? And when you find that river, explore it and conserve it. Fight for it. You will never regret it.

Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives in the southern Nature Coast. Banner photo: Another image of the Hillsborough River (Benjamin Compton photo).

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