St. Marks Watershed

St. Marks River / Apalachee Bay Watershed

The St. Marks River watershed covers approximately 1,170 square miles from Thomas County in the red clay hills region of southern Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico.  It includes the St. Marks River, the Wakulla River, Apalachee Bay, Lake Lafayette, Lake Miccosukee and Lake Munson.  The St. Marks River watershed drains approximately 1,180 square miles; almost all of this is in Florida.  The headwaters of the St. Marks River originate from springs east of Tallahassee, Florida and winds its way as a small blackwater stream through a series of sloughs and ponds.  The St. Marks River has excellent tree canopy and provides good species and habitat diversity.

The Wakulla River, the Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve, and portions of the St. Marks River are classified as Outstanding Florida Waters (OFW) in recognition of their exceptional resource values.  This designation prohibits further water quality degradation and makes these waterbodies state priorities for water quality protection.  Additionally, the St. Marks River watershed is a SWIM priority waterbody and a Group 1 watershed of the Department’s rotating basin approach to the development and implementation of TMDLs.

Resource dependent activities, important within the watershed, include commercial and recreational fishing, navigation, wildlife observation, and many other water and outdoor recreation activities.  The diverse aquatic, wetland, and upland habitats support numerous listed species and are important to regional biodiversity (seeSt. Marks Watershed Land Use Map – 2004).  Major conservation lands in the watershed include the Apalachicola National Forest, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, and Wakulla Springs State Park.

Additional information on this watershed is available in the St. Marks River SWIM Plan.