Engineering students recognized for work to restore Cypress Spring

TALLAHASSEE – Five recent graduates from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering were rewarded Thursday for their efforts in designing a project to restore and protect Cypress Spring.

The students consulted with engineers and other staff members at the Northwest Florida Water Management District to create designs for the project, which calls for stabilizing the shoreline and enhancing recreation access at the second magnitude spring located in Washington County.

The students – Abigail Burns, Lindsey Furrow, Maria Leal-Bruce, Jennifer Magi, and Caroline Wells – worked on the project as part of their Senior Design class. Nestlé Waters North America, Inc., awarded each of the students $1,000 for their efforts and made a $10,000 donation to the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

“Protecting one of northwest Florida’s natural treasures while making it more accessible to the public is one of the more satisfying projects we have undertaken at the water management district,” said Ted Everett, a member of the District’s Governing Board who represents Washington County. “These students embraced that idea and created a design that will welcome the public to enjoy the spring while still protecting its beauty.“

Cypress Spring has long been one of northwest Florida’s most beautiful springs. Canoeists, kayakers, boaters, swimmers, and nature enthusiasts all make frequent stops at the spring, located roughly a mile east of Highway 79 and slightly north of the town of Vernon.

“My family has a special connection with the springs in northwest Florida and it began when my great-grandfather explored and settled in the area in the 1800s,” said State Sen. George Gainer, who represents Washington County. “The work of these students will go a long way toward ensuring Cypress Spring remains a place visitors can enjoy for generation to come.”

In 2018, the District purchased a conservation easement for $812,000 from Nestlé Waters North America on approximately 300 acres, which includes Cypress Spring and more than 1,000 linear feet of shoreline along Holmes Creek. NWNA donated that money back to the District to help pay for the shoreline restoration project and to offset ongoing land management costs.

Thanks to additional funding from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida legislature, and the Department of Environmental Protection, the District has budgeted $1.6 million for restoration work at Cypress Spring.

“When the public and private sectors work together for a common goal, wonderful things can happen,“ said State Rep. Brad Drake, who represents Washington County. “This partnership between Nestlé, the College of Engineering, and the water management district is a perfect example of how we can work together to protect the precious natural resources in northwest Florida.”

The student project focused on addressing erosion problems along the shoreline, reconfiguring a culvert system originally designed to divert tannic water away from the spring, and designing a public restroom that will not contribute nutrients to the spring. The students completed their design in the spring of 2020.

Four of the five women who worked on the project began their professional engineering careers following graduation in 2020. The fifth enrolled in graduate school this past fall.

The success of the Cypress Spring project led to the District partnering with another student group from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering this academic year. The second group of students began working this past fall on a design to create a recreation site on a recently acquired property in Wakulla County.

“Inviting students from the College of Engineering to these projects gives all of us a chance to look at things through a different lens,” said Kellie Ralston, a member of the District’s Governing Board who represents Leon County. “They bring energy and innovation to the process and we are impressed by their approach to tackling the challenges in these projects.

“It is a testament to program built by Dr. Murray Gibson, the dean of the College of Engineering, and Dr. Sean Martin, the students’ professor who helped coordinate this partnership.”