New rules for boaters, kayakers on Weeki Wachee River now in effect
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- čas přidán 1. 05. 2024
- New rules for boaters and kayakers are now being enforced on one of Florida’s favorite waterways.
Hernando County, FWC and community leaders were on hand Thursday to unveil and post new signs designating a 5.6-mile stretch of the beautiful Weeki Wachee River as a “Springs Protection Zone.” Anchoring, mooring, beaching and grounding of boats or kayaks in the river is now prohibited from Rogers Park through the state park.
“We still want you to come out and enjoy the river. We want you to swim and snorkel and do those things. It's just, we don't want you to anchor, we don't want you to beach your boat or your kayaks,” Hernando County Commissioner Brian Hawkins said.
The enforcement comes after a years-long push from locals and environmentalists to protect the river from human-caused degradation.
“It's shockingly wonderful. And I think that's one of the things that made us feel very, very motivated to try and protect it,” Jilan Crowley, a member of the Sierra Club who calls Hernando Beach home, said.
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Are they looking at leaking septic tanks on the river?
I second this comment, and dont even go north and check the roadside flats on the way into Cedar Key, Floating sewage and the mud stinks like human waste.
I say put a 5 mile buffer zone on private and corporate properties that developers built on both sides of the river to have them removed .Or increase their water front property tax for polluting the river
No one owns 5 miles of land to put a buffer on genius
I was out there about a month ago and they got pipes running through the River and digging all over the place. But it's a swimmers and boaters that are ruining it right. The people that live on the river are the ones destroying it with all the chemicals in their lawns. The government ain't helping it much either
i noticed those ugly pipes too. I asked a worker what they are for, he said they are for dredeging sand and moving it over to a 'site' of some kind??
Not enough, how about the toxic effect of yard chemicals? Landing boats is a private property issue and doesn't address the real problem.
I'm glad somebody sees this. IMO, fertilizers & pesticides are the biggest threat to Florida's waterways, followed closely by excessive development.
Exactly. So 1 anchor is a problem to the grass bed, or maybe 20 in a day. Yet hundreds of people walking and stepping on grass beds on daily basis is totally ok? These laws make zero sense
cries from his computer 🥱 Go clean something up in your local area then
@@MarkTrades__ who? I've been environmentally pro active my entire life
@@DELANDIGS well sounds like you've got better things to do then be in this comments section. Let's go do some stuff today. Cheers man have a good one!
protect it i was just out there a months ago they are dredging the whole thing how is that protecting it???????
can't really think of anyone just setting there anchored up biggest impact NEW HOME BUILDING get rid of that
Not sure if it's the biggest, but it certainly is one of them.
Such a sad thing to happen. All because one lady wanted to make it only river lot residents only.
Move the Homes back 1 mile and make fertilizers and pesticides illegal within 5 miles and watch it come back.
Tear out the vegetation that stabilises the stream to build those houses.
I drifted it in the late 70's when you rented a truck tube from a guy on the side of the road and just put in and drifted down to where you had the other car parked. Only remember one area towards the end that had any houses at all. Was beautiful then.
"We haven't restricted people's access to the river"... Yes you did. It is not allowed to launch your kayak from weeki wachee springs becaust it was sold to vendor and they prohibit regular kayakers from launching. You have to reserve 1/15 spots months and months in advance and they have authority to prohibit you from launching due to literally any reason. They do not allow you to carry water, food or anything too. Also shuttle company by Roger's park has been banned from river access to WW headwater. And all the people trying to kayak up the river from Rogers park spend like 3 hours trying to paddle past homes to amphitheater (where interesting stuff actually begins) but tired and exhausted they have to turn back without seeing the actual river they came to see And vendor has a CONVEYOR BELT on the river where they take hundreds of cattled people for 1 hour ride from WW to conveyor belt lift. But noooo... they have not restricted access to the water. Pfft...
They're closing the boat ramp on June 15th for dredging so how does that help the environment ?
..real issues are not addressed: Motor boats, uneducated (motorized) boaters, yard chemicals.
That cant have anything to do with the houses built there that spray chemicals on there grass and so much more...
It’s always the little peoples fault! Never mind the pollution and eroding from business’s surrounding the area.
yep, its those damn kayakers floating down the river they are destroying everything (sarc)
Great job. Now all the boats will be floating around banging into everyone. What is worse a boat or a bunch of people trampling up the river? Can I tie off my inner tube ? Can someone please splain what the goal is here for this river?
Take the tourist dollars elsewhere then, simple
How are we supposed to get out of our boats if we can’t anchor ? What about if we have a power pole ? That’s better than an anchor ..
I think that is the point. No more swimming!
@@cavedivecamp6377 that’s lame. I know the state park has the sign up that says stay in your vessel. And I seen plenty of people recently on facebook posting pics of them partying, swimming and drinking too .: my luck is get busted lol
Not to mention its best they get ahead of any situations that may arise as summer heat kicks in and people get sketchy.
So you might want to get a GPS controlled trolling motor to hold your boat or kayak from floating away...I think this new law is expecting people to not stop at all if you can't anchor anywhere. They figured that's one way they can tell everyone to stop from stopping without telling everyone to stop from stopping if you get me..loophole against loophole I guess.
Go to Rainbow Springs instead, its way better
No don't
We are full
@@johnx4181 Hopefully not during the weekdays... 😉
what is mooring? what exactly are you allowed to do and not allowed to do?
Humans…the bane of the Petri dish.
How does beaching a kayak hurt the sand? Limiting access is horrible
Go back and look at video again. It'll help you understand
Like parking your car on an infinite hill in neutral.
Can someone explain to me how you’re able to “snorkel and swim on the river” while not being able to beach/anchor your boat/kayak anywhere? Like actually, how the heck are you supposed to swim in the river, say if you’re on a kayak and you want to get out and go for a swim… how? Do you tie it to a tree? No, so how else? Where are you supposed to leave your kayak and how with the current ripping?? This literally makes no sense. Am I missing something here???? This law is basically forcing people to not swim or snorkel anywhere on the river since there’s no place for you to leave your kayak while do so! Haha.
i'm confused as to why this isn't clear to you, grab the bow line on your kayak and go for a swim. pretty simple. so to answer your question, it seems you are missing common sense.
I've snorkeled these beautiful springs/rivers. The best way to do it is paddle/motor upstream as far as you can and drift back slowly with the natural flow of current. You'll see much more and not be exhausted trying to swim against it. I toss a line in the water and grab it when needed.
it's called tethering. just slide a bowline loop over your shoulder and drift along with your craft.. better than forced swimming against the current to regain your boat. drift dives are standard practice in Florida.
@@davidgough3512 Ok, next time you go to week wachi, get yourself a bowline and drift down the river/snorkel with your 16/17’ boat and film yourself doing it so we can all see how it’s done. I’m a full time Florida resident for the last 10 years so I know how things are here. Thank you
@@AlexKorobov i'm a lifelong 70 yr old floridian, norCal, b.c.surfer, waterman.. snorkel-rig scuba ("snuba") works this way, drift diving coastal reefs works this way.. most kayaks are 10' -14'.. it's easy.. best harness is to the waist, but have a quick release
It’s true. As a kid it was pretty. More like a toilet now.
What about scuba diving at hospital hole ?
Just fyi a lot of locals voted against this …it’s terrible, but it will cut down on people wanting to come now lol 😂… this isn’t from boats and if youre from that area we all know this ..
Keep it clean… please
did she say ''crown in the jewel' ????
Actual content: 1:07 - 1:08.
Funny how people don’t own the water make rules for people who love the water and want to enjoy the river and swim and have a great day but the Karen’s of the river don’t want that. How about all the shit the put on there yards where do they think it drain when it rains oh yea right in the river. Simple fix to the problem gotta find the loop hold in the rules no beach shoring mooring or anchoring ok cool nothing about putting a push pole on and tying to that not break any rules that way.
Ok troll
The good news is the state is still going to make their money by letting a thousand kayakers a day down the river. Do they honestly think they will not stop along the way?
$140 each one that stops.. thats good income!
Now we just need a new rule to stop the loud annoying rap music
Ok karen
that would be called infringing on a constitutional right, and it aint gonna happen karen.
@@Anthony-pi6pf last I checked there is a portage law that allows an easement on all property on a riverside for boaters to walk , moor, anchor their boats. If they can violate that, they can violate loud music. Besides that, there are laws against noise.
@@ScreamingEagleFTW laws against unreasonable noise. There’s a difference.
0:40 “Unique crown in the jewel of Florida…” She’s trying so hard to sound smart, but… 😂😂😂
We still want you to swim and snorkel yet you can't dock your boat? So do I simply let it float away???
nothing new.. tether together, drift together
How are you supposed to swim and snorkel if you can’t stop anywhere on the river.
I've been down weeki wachee River in my boat for years and this will cause people to stop boating there because the current on the river is so strong you will not be able to stop and swim.. this will kill the economy..
Opinions are not facts
Wrong. Fewer motorized boats equates to more more paddlers & swimmers, but they will do less damage. They will spend their money instead, so keep your stinkpots and your filthy lucre.
The river isn't there for the economy, it was there first,
Just more destruction of a once peaceful river, I sure miss old Florida
Why not implement pole anchors instead? A 1” fiberglass rod, this goes deeper. It’s the most corrupt county around.
1:29 COP NAMED ROTHCHILD? OHH YEAH, HE WILL TAX WITH FREEDOM TICKETS.....
Haha the big money family are the Rothschilds. Ole boy is missing an S
So go swimming without a boat. You can swim 5.6 miles right
Huh? They didn't say you couldn't use a boat or kayak. Did you even watch the video?
Great job, Protecting Florida. Now for all the sand bars. I'm so tired of watching CZcams videos of idiots anchoring on Seagrass beds, setting up barbecues and tables on top of Seagrass beds as they hold boat brand parties. Stop the stupidity 😊
About time
KRens hmmm
GUYS ITS ONLY HALF THE RIVIER JFC USE THE OTHER HALF WOW ITS CALLED COMPROMISE AND BALANCING EVERYONES INTERESTS CMON YALL
Lame
Dumb let's ruin million dollar industry for a few non-paying state tax homeowners...
NOw stop gas powered boats, go electric only
How disrespectful to mother nature
BOUT FRIKKIN TIME
Yes please everyone in this comment section bitching about the fact that they've done this..... absolutely for the love of God please take your tourist money and selves somewhere else! The whole reason that they're doing this is because it's being ruined..... meaning, it won't be here for anybody to visit or completely turned into a trash hole like so many other areas of Florida . Ppl can be so dense. I am a born and raised Florida girl and what I see being done to my States geography and nature rips my soul out.... these places are some of the last of their kind and they're being destroyed because people don't know how to respect and take care of the land😢 like it doesn't even cross their mind the entitlement of it all😞
The existing home owners there just want it to themselves, nothing to do with conservation, get back to waiting tables
I say ban all motorized boating and fishing in the state for the next five years, including our coastal waters
I hope that is a joke.
@@robertburroughs8962 it’s not