Ground Water Program
Sources of high quality ground water underlie virtually all
of Florida. Ninety percent of this state's population relies
on these ground water resources for their drinking water.
Additionally, over 50% of all other water needs including
agricultural, industry, mining, and electric power
generation are supplied by ground water resources. Ground
water also serves as the source for Florida’s many springs
and provides a significant input to many of Florida’s lakes
In DEP, responsibility for ground water is distributed
throughout the agency, but ground water quality on a
regional scale is addressed in two programs, the Aquifer
Protection and Ground Water Management Programs.
The Ground Water Management
Program is responsible for evaluating and addressing
ground water resources that adversely affect surface water
quality as part of Florida’s Watershed Restoration Program.
These activities include conducting assessments of the
interaction of ground water with surface waters that are
impaired, identifying causes of these impairments and
helping to identify actions that can be taken to restore
them. Much of this work focuses on springs, which are among
the most treasured natural resources of the state. Other
responsibilities of this section are to coordinate with
other programs in the development of Florida’s Integrated
Water Quality Assessment Report to EPA, manage spring
research and monitoring, provide oversight of agricultural
best management practice ground water monitoring studies,
and participate in evaluations of new pesticides that have
potential ground water impacts.
Ground Water Management activities include:
- Ground Water – Surface Water Interaction & Basin
- Springs Restoration
- Ground Water and Springs Data Management
- Agrichemical Effects – Pesticides & Best
Management Practices (BMPs)
The Aquifer Protection Program
is responsible for implementation and support of regulatory
programs affecting ground water. The Department of
Environmental Protection exercises regulatory authority over
ground water quality under Chapter 62-520, F.A.C. In Florida
the ground water standards are equivalent to the drinking
water standards. By definition, a violation of any ground
water standard or criterion constitutes pollution.
Regulatory programs within the Aquifer Protection
Underground Injection Control Program (UIC)
Regulation of Wells
Water Well Construction
Source Water and Wellhead Protection Programs
Ground Water Classes, Standards and Monitoring
Protection of ground water is integrated into many other
Department Programs, including Solid Waste, Phosphogypsum,
Industrial and Domestic Wastewater and Drinking Water. The
following list provides links to some of the most frequently
Where do I go if I need information about:
Ground Water Cleanup Target Levels?
Discharge of Produced Ground Water from any
Non-Contaminated Site Activity?
DEP Document 62-621.300(2), F.A.C.
For additional information on rule and permit
requirements, please contact the Industrial
Wastewater Program at 850-245-8589. For specific
sites, please contact the
office covering the area where the proposed
discharge will occur.
What is this tag on my
Water Well Contractors?
My Household Water Well?
Wells that serve public water