Florida Caverns State Park
Kimley-Horn provided environmental services for the restoration of the Florida Caverns State Park—the only park to offer cavern tours in the state. The park is also popular for camping, swimming, fishing, picnicking, canoeing, boating, hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding.
When the state of Florida wanted to restore this natural spring’s ecological habitat and function to its natural state, Kimley-Horn provided the environmental study, analysis, and environmental recommendations for the design and permitting of the Blue Hole Spring restoration project within Florida Caverns State Park. Subsequently, Kimley-Horn performed the actual design and permitting. The project area extended along a stream corridor that lies between the Blue Hole swimming area and a historic dam.
The assessment focused on identifying the feasibility and potential constraints for the removal of a breached historic dam in order to restore natural hydrological conditions and to protect the Blue Spring boil. This analysis was made relative to an assessment of the cultural features, vegetative communities, sediment profile, and potential listed species or listed species habitat and existing readily available GIS data.
The project included review of historic data; site grading, dredging, and filling to historic grades; natural landscape plan for the reestablished stream bank with plant species found in the river basin; stabilization and turbidity protection of the newly-established side banks.