Interview with Christopher Meindl, author of “Florida Springs: From Geography to Politics and Restoration”
Christopher Meindl, PhD, is an associate professor of geography and director of the Florida Studies Program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. His new book, Florida Springs: From Geography to Politics and Restoration (University Press of Florida, 2024), has already won the Gold Medal for Florida Nonfiction in the Florida Book Awards and the American Association of Geographers Globe Book Award for Public Understanding of Geography.
Florida's springs are pretty distinctive. Is there any other state or part of the world that has the same amount and type of springs? Or is Florida more or less unique?
Some folks claim that Florida (and north and central Fla. in particular) has a larger concentration of springs than anywhere else in the world. But nobody can tell me who has the second largest concentration, so I shy away from the stark claim, preferring the line that Florida has ONE of the largest concentrations of springs in the world. Indeed, I think Texas has more springs, but they are spread out over a much larger area.
How did you become interested in the topic of the Florida springs? Did you come to it through experiences with the springs or from science first, or both?
I wish I could say that I’ve always been intensely interested in springs. After all, I do have fond memories of visiting Ocala National Forest’s Juniper Springs when I was very young. But my academic interest in springs came to me much later. I’m a Florida native, I direct USF’s Florida Studies Program, and I had been teaching water resources management for several years when I heard a science presentation on Fla. Springs by Dave DeWitt, now retired from the Southwest Fla. Water Management District (around 2013). I was captivated. The more I explored, the more I needed to learn. Moreover, I discovered that the books on Florida springs, although helpful, left me with too many unexplained issues. It did not take long before I realized that I could probably write a book about Fla. Springs. I held my breath when I read Bob Knight’s 2015 book Silenced Springs. I learned a lot from that book, but I thought I could get into a range of other issues, too.
How long have you been studying the Florida springs and how long did it take you to complete this book?
I think I began my Fla. Springs journey in later 2013 and it took me every bit of 10 years or so to write this book. Part of the problem was the near constant distraction of other work at USF (teaching, advising students, administrative work galore, and so forth), but some of it was because I envisioned (and wrote) a much longer book. The Univ. Press of Fla. essentially told me to chop off the second half of my planned book because they told me that they sold books not doorstops (my words, not theirs!).
I'm assuming most people don't know much about the Florida springs in terms of their history or how they work. What is something you wish most people knew or understood about them?
Florida’s springs are highly variable and there is an ongoing struggle for truth about problems in springs and how to fix them. Nothing nefarious. For example, many observers contend that excess nitrate/nitrogen is the cause of excess algae in Florida’s springs. This might be true in springs where the water moves slowly, or where dissolved oxygen suddenly drops low enough to kill off the algae grazers (mostly aquatic snails), but there are some springs with excessive nitrogen in the water that do NOT have excess algae. Another example: many people think water bottlers are stealing all of Florida’s water. Perhaps in one or two Fla. Springs, we should not permit water bottling, but in most others—this is not a problem. There are plenty of reasons to be mad at water bottlers, but they are not sucking the state dry.
I would guess many people think of Florida as a saltwater state, because of all the beaches, but do you think of Florida as a freshwater state because of all the springs and the role of water in the state? Or do you just see it as both?
One of the phrases I use in the book (and I was NOT the first to use it) is that if Florida was not already called the Sunshine State, it could just as easily be called the Water State. We have this huge coastline, yes, but we also get more rain than any other state except Louisiana; we have more wetlands than any state except Alaska; and Minnesota may be the land of 10,000 lakes, but we are the land of roughly 8,000 lakes (at least an acre large, and many more puddles smaller than this). And then there is the enormous store of groundwater, some of which bubbles up in our 1,100+ springs, and much of which we pump and consume for our own purposes.
Was there anything you learned in the process of researching or writing this book that surprised you?
I thought that if I just kept reading and exploring, I would learn all there is to know about springs. The truth is that I think I have more questions now than I did when I began! I guess the other thing that surprised me was the extent of exploration that SCUBA divers have done in extensive cave systems associated with many springs. Not all spring caves are stable enough to be explored (they cannot plow through Homosassa Springs’ caves), but several have been explored. Check out the wonderful interpretive trail at Peacock Springs State Park: there are several “stops” in the woods that have signs explaining what is beneath your feet!
What are the biggest short and long-term threats for the Florida springs?
Threats (and not always in this order; it depends on the spring): excess algae, reduced spring flow, and the one nobody wants to talk about: overcrowding. As Florida’s population (over 23 million) and its annual number of tourists (now over 140 million) continue to grow, and as people grow to appreciate Fla.’s Springs, they are becoming more and more crowded. Often in the summer, park managers must close gates because all the parking spaces are full. Many scientists and springs advocates have latched onto excess nitrogen as the “threat” and maybe in a few springs it is. But the real issue is excess algae—which MIGHT be caused by excess nitrogen in spring water in some cases, but I think the algae issue is more complicated.
Do you have a favorite Florida spring?
I’m not sure I can really single one out, but if I must, I might say Juniper Springs—and its nearby cousin (a quarter mile hike on a trail through the woods) Fern Hammock Springs in Ocala National Forest. Juniper has an old water wheel (originally built in the Great Depression) and Fern Hammock has multiple sand boils where water clearly and continuously boils up out of the ground.
Do you have any books that you find yourself always recommending to people who want to better understand geography or hydrology or ecosystems?
I like a lot of Cynthia Barnett’s books, especially Blue Revolution. Bill Belleville’s River of Lakes is a wonderful and wide-ranging treatment of the St. Johns River and much more. I still like Ronald Myers and John Ewel’s Ecosystems of Florida (originally published in 1990). For geography, FSU published a couple of remarkable (but now outdated) books: Atlas of Florida, and Water Resources Atlas of Florida. These are still wonderful resources. But there is no solid, hard core, geography of Florida. THAT will hopefully be something I can produce much further down the road….
Your book has won a few awards already. To do that, you need a good topic and good writing. What's your method for writing and putting together a good book?
Oh boy. I wish I could say “do what I did” but that probably would not work for most folks. Did I mention that it took me more than 10 years to finish this book? I will say this: resist the pressure to do a rush job. Take your time to learn as much as is reasonable about topics and work hard to anticipate a reader’s questions. If something confused me, it probably confuses other people, too. Provide a patient explanation of what is going on.
You're the director of the Florida Studies program at University of South Florida St. Petersburg, can you describe that program a bit? What kinds of classes do students take?
Our degree is technically a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Fla. Studies. The Tampa campus offers MA in LA degrees with concentrations in other fields. We require an Intro to Graduate Study course that we (I) will offer online this coming fall 2025 term. It is a wide-ranging reading and writing course that introduces students to a host of Florida stuff in history, geography, literature, politics, and anthropology. I have them read short books in each of these areas from the Why it Matters series by Polity Press. We also require a Research Seminar, which is intended to help students develop a research proposal. In between, there are a series of other classes, some related to Florida, some not: Modern Fla. History; Early Fla. History; Florida’s Land, Water and People; Florida Politics; Fla. Springs; Nature Writing; Environmental history; the Civil War; Natural Hazards; Wetlands, People, and Public Policy; Advances in Water Resources; Spanish Paleography (learning to read colonial era Spanish handwriting). We require three Florida-ish classes but then allow folks to explore things/take electives not related to Florida.
What makes Florida Studies different from, say, Tennessee studies? Do you think the types of classes would be the same, but with different content or do you think even the types of classes would be different?
I suspect that many of the classes could be similar except that some might focus more on Tennessee history, geography, and literature. In Fla. Studies, and this would be true for studying any other state or region, we try to ask significant questions about smaller places. Look, gentrification happens everywhere. So, we may have students studying that in one Florida or Tampa Bay community, but we try to get students to connect to the broader literature on gentrification. We would like to think that what we teach can travel anywhere. It ain’t just memorizing facts about Florida. That said, Florida is a significant state: 23+ million people live here, and an unusual number are not from here. And did I mention: 140 million annual tourists?
On our review, we try to feature Florida books and authors pretty regularly. What recommendations do you have for us: topics, authors, publishers, etc.?
You have to be locked into the University Press of Florida as well as Pineapple Press. Maybe check the book review section of the Florida Geographer (electronic journal; we will publish a couple of reviews later this year) and Fla. Historical Quarterly. You might also look at all the annual winners of the Florida Book Awards, run by the FSU Libraries. On the academic side, Gary Mormino, Jack Davis, Leslie Kemp Poole, Cynthia Barnett, Craig Pittman are among our most significant non-fiction writers. I am not as familiar with the literature side, but I can tell you that my colleagues Tom Hallock and Julie Armstrong are working on a two-volume anthology of Florida Literature covering the past 500 years. And by the way, I had FAU’s Taylor Hagood to discuss his biography of Fla. author Theodore Pratt, and he was fabulous.
What's your next project?
Well, my Fla. Springs book was supposed to be much longer. UPF cut it way down (and it is hard to argue with them; it won a couple of awards). Essentially, that book focuses on springs at the macro level. I intended to include a more detailed discussion of 40-50 springs at the micro level. THAT material (updated) will hopefully become a second book on Fla. Springs. I am hoping to team up with my best friend from grad school who is a drone pilot and GIS person to include lots of drone images, Google Earth images, maps and graphs. Not a picture book, mind you, just an attractive, well-illustrated discussion of selected springs. As it happens, I will speak to my editor at UPF (as if I am a big shot or something; rest assured that my wife keeps my feet on the ground!) tomorrow about the possibility of cashing in on my 20+ years of teaching natural hazards and maybe teaming up with a cartographer to produce an Atlas of Florida Natural Hazards. Lord knows that we have plenty to work with in this state! Long way to go. It is just the germ of an idea but I think it is worthy.
Is there anything that I didn't ask you that you were hoping I'd ask, or that you wanted to talk about?
Oh boy. My wife would say that this door may never be closed again!
I will add that we are trying to develop an online Fla. Studies certificate, requiring the on-line Intro class I discussed earlier plus two other Florida-ish classes so that we can reach people anywhere.
I have to say that I have long been a fan of books that are written in plain and reasonably entertaining English; books that can be appreciated by a wide range of readers. I remember a repair man who came to the house a long time ago and when I told him I was a professor, he responded with something like “Oh yeah, you write a bunch of stuff that collects dust, sitting on a shelf in a library.” I was not offended. I knew exactly what he meant. I suppose it is OK for some scholars to “talk to each other and push the frontiers of knowledge” and all that. But as you know, we (most of us) are drowning in information while we are starving for understanding. More of us professors need to write good synthetic works that explain complicated things in attractive English. And as you know, this is hard because we all have too much to do AND we face serious academic pressure to write “super scholarly stuff” not books that the public appreciates.
Interview conducted by Elizabeth Stice
