The Blue Sink Watershed Management Plan is a cooperatively funded project between Hernando County and the District's Withlacoochee River Basin Board. Blue Sink is a sinkhole, located approximately four miles northeast of Brooksville, which is directly connected to the Upper Floridan Aquifer . Storm water from a 19,000-acre basin regularly drains into the sinkhole before entering the aquifer. The goal of the project is to improve the quality of water entering the sink by providing pre-treatment of stormwater runoff, and to provide flood protection by protecting the ability of the Blue Sink complex to accept storm water runoff.
Storm water is water that flows over land during and immediately after a rainstorm.
The Environmental Protection Agency has identified stormwater runoff as our most serious water quality problem today. Pollutants associated with stormwater runoff include sediment, nutrients, heavy metals, oils, greases, pesticides and bacteria. Without proper treatment in developed areas, these pollutants in runoff adversely impact the quality of the receiving water. The project consists of three phases. Phase I includes watershed analysis, data development and watershed evaluation.