No Karst, no springs. But the same features that allow springs to form are now contributing to their decline. Everything that falls on Karst land seeps easily into the earth, moving unimpeded into the deep-water reserve known as the Floridan Aquifer. All kinds of water sources recharge the surficial system, from rainfall to septic tank effluent to upsurges from the deeper aquifer. Below the surficial waters is the intermediate aquifer system, layered with ancient sediments, phosphates, limestone, dolomite and clay.
Water here is confined.
This system is recharged by the surficial aquifer above and the Floridan aquifer below. Deepest is the Floridan Aquifer system. It is the most active aquifer on the planet, yielding 7.7 billion gallons of water a day. It is the main target of utilities' deep-drill wells, which suck fresh groundwater from its limestone channels and from the nooks and crannies of its lacy catacombs. Once a pristine resource, the Floridan Aquifer is part of a complex hydrologic system now under tremendous stress.