The Shields Painting Difference: Perfection with Every Brush Stroke
Many painting companies in Florida rely on flashy marketing and big promises to try and attract new clients. But when it comes time to work, they fall short of their promises. This is often due to a lack of experience, qualified painters, and a drive to overachieve. At Shields Painting, we do things a little differently than other painting companies in Citrus County. We believe that a professional paint job should be as close to perfect as possible. Our goal is to leave you 100% satisfied, whether we're touching up an old residential paint job or performing a complex commercial project. It might sound simple, but we achieve that goal through honesty, hard work, beautiful results, and reasonable pricing.
As a family-owned and operated painting company in Weeki Wachee, FL, we strive to provide personalized, professional, and friendly service. Shields Painting has been in business since 1968 for a good reason. Whenever possible, we go the extra mile to make sure our customers are happy. Unlike some of our competition, we want to know all about your house or business painting project: your vision, your preferences, your challenges, and your goals. When we understand your needs, we can present you with a fantastic final product - one that you're proud to show off to friends and neighbors.
At Shields Painting, we combine our extensive experience with time-tested, meticulous painting processes, resulting in the highest quality painting results around. As a painting contractor in Citrus County, we can take on a variety of residential, commercial, and industrial projects in Florida.
A few of our most popular painting services include:
- Interior Painting
- Exterior Painting
- Residential Painting
- Commercial Painting
- Cabinet Painting
- Ceiling Painting
- Fence Painting
- Sign Painting
- MUCH More!
Our commercial, industrial, and residential painting contractors take the proper steps to protect your property and belongings while we work. Our team will clean up after ourselves, so your property is left clean and free of debris when we're done. After all, we think there's only one way to do a job, and that's the right way.
Painting Services

Eco-friendly & clean work area.

PDCA Certified Member.

Your Go-To House Painting Company in Weeki Wachee, FL
Your home is a haven of relaxation and solitude. It is uniquely you - a place where you can express who you are through style and design. Whether you need interior touch-ups for your crown molding or a new exterior coat of paint, hiring a reliable painting contractor is the best way to get quality results.
At Shields Painting, we know how important it is to have a home that highlights your tastes and personality. That's why we offer an extensive array of residential painting services in Citrus County. As tempting as it might be to try a DIY paint job, without the proper skills and experience, there is a good chance that the results will turn out less than satisfactory.
High-quality painting requires skill, experience, and patience. If you're a homeowner who needs residential painting services but doesn't have the time, patience, or skills to handle the job, look no further than Shields Painting. We offer accuracy, precision, and longevity with each paint job we perform. Our customers choose Shields Painting for their home because they receive:
- Free Quotes with Detailed Project Breakdowns
- Affordable Pricing
- Expert Painting Contractors
- High-Quality Paint Products
- Combo of Traditional and Modern Techniques
- Well-Maintained Tools
- Unmatched Craftsmanship
- Friendly, Personalized Service
- Good Old-Fashioned Hard Work!
The majority of our house painting services come in two forms: interior and exterior.
Interior Residential Painting
As an interior painting contractor with decades of experience, our expert technicians have developed an interior painting process that maximizes quality and emphasizes customer satisfaction. We understand that interior painting goes beyond aesthetics. It protects your ceilings and walls and helps you sustain a healthier place to live for your family. When only the finest craftsmanship will do inside your home, Shields Painting is here for you.
Our seasoned team of painting experts and craftsmen is dedicated to respecting your space and providing you with the look and feel you're craving inside your home. Whether you bought a new house and want to make it your own or need minor touch-ups but have no time, Shields Painting is ready to tackle the job, no matter how small or large.
Unlike some painting companies, our interior house painters take the time to get the details right, every time. For instance, color is only one aspect of your interior paint job. The paint sheen or finish is just as important. Certain finishes are better for living rooms and bedrooms than in kitchens and bathrooms. We'll help you find the right finish and paint colors for your home, so you don't have to worry about touch-ups or repainting.
Some of our most popular interior house painting services include:
- Ceiling Painting
- Popcorn Ceiling Removal
- Living Room Painting
- Bathroom Painting
- Basement Painting
- Color Consultations
- More

Cabinet Painting
Citrus County cabinet painting deserves its own section on this page because it requires more time, skill, and quality paint than most sections of your home. If your home's cabinets are built into its woodwork, replacing them can be obnoxiously expensive. Compared to the cost of installing new cabinets, painting your kitchen cabinets is much more affordable.
At Shields Painting, we specialize in transforming old cabinets into new, gorgeous features that are just as usable as they are beautiful. Each step of our cabinet painting process is meticulous and thorough. And we'll take care of the entire job, from cleaning, prep, and sanding to priming, painting, and reassembly. This unique service lets you enjoy a brand-new look in your kitchen without having to go into debt by replacing your cabinets.
Whether your cabinets are new, but you want to change their color or you'd like to transition wood cabinets to a painted finish, Shields Painting has the expertise and experience to give you a new look you'll love.

Exterior Residential Painting
Your home - it's a place that not only keeps your belongings safe. It protects your family and loved ones, too. It's one of your largest investments, and like anything else of value, it should be protected. However, Florida weather can take a toll on your home's structure and paint, lowering your home's value and even putting your family at risk.
While it's true that a beautiful exterior affects your house's value, it shouldn't take thousands of remodeling dollars to make a positive change to your home. There's a fine line between reasonable pricing and top-quality painting, and that sweet spot is what Shields Painting aims for. If you want to transform how your friends and neighbors see your home, never underestimate the power of a professional paint job.
Our exterior residential painting services are designed to boost curb appeal, give your home a fresh look, and help it stand up to Florida's unique weather. But we provide more than that. When you hire Shields Painting for your outdoor painting project, you will enjoy peace of mind in knowing that your home is in truly capable hands. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and help bring out the best in your property, whether you need to re-stain your deck or remove old, peeling paint from your siding.
If you're on the hunt for the very best exterior painting contractor in Weeki Wachee, FL, look no further than Shields Painting.
Some of our most popular exterior house painting services include:
- Vinyl Siding Painting
- Deck Painting and Staining
- Stucco Exterior Painting
- Wood Exterior Painting
- Porch Painting and Staining
- Soffit Painting
- Fascia Painting
- Window Painting
- Front Door Painting
- Thorough Painting Prep
- More

The Premier Commercial Painting Company in Weeki Wachee, FL
When it comes to first impressions, your businesses' appearance plays an important role. Your commercial property's paint job factors into its overall aesthetics. A great-looking, well-maintained paint job can mean the difference between a customer walking in your storefront and passing by. Conversely, an old, worn-out commercial paint job can send the wrong message to prospective customers. If you can't take the time to keep up your property's appearance, why would a customer spend their hard-earned money on your products?
The same goes for your businesses' interior paint. Would you want to do business with a company that has peeling paint or unsightly crown molding? At Shield's Painting, our goal is to create a beautiful environment that your customers and employees will love inside and out. When you work with our business painters, you can rest easy knowing we treat your business like it were our own. We always clean up after ourselves and know that operations cannot come to a halt just because we're painting. As such, we'll work with your busy schedule to ensure the job gets done right the first time without disrupting your day-to-day commitments.
With decades of commercial painting experience, we know the demands of a commercial painting project necessitate a disciplined and focused approach from the start. Our team of business painters is committed to delivering quality, on-time results on every project, every time - no excuses

We offer professional business painting services to a variety of building types, including:

01
Industrial Painting
A high level of care and finesse are required to effectively paint an industrial property. At Shields Painting, we know that industrial paint jobs involve much more than aesthetics. That's why our industrial services are customized to your specifications, using industrial-grade materials that stand up to heavy-duty operations.
02
Retail Store Painting
Our commercial painters apply effective, yet appealing interior and exterior paint that stand up to the daily rigors of busy retail environments.


03
Small Business Painting
Do you own a restaurant franchise? Have a small "mom and pop" location that needs a fresh coat of paint? Shields Painting has the resources and reliability to efficiently get the job done the first time. That way, you can focus on serving your customers, not having your business repainted.
04
Healthcare Location Painting
From walk-in clinics to long-term care facilities, Shields Painting is sensitive to your patients' needs. We know you must protect your patient's privacy while maintaining productivity. Our approach to healthcare location painting centers around your schedule to avoid disruptions in care.


05
Apartment Complex Painting
Erase signs of wear and make your apartment complex or multi-family building a more desirable place to live with a stunning, professional paint job.
Florida's Most Trusted Painting Contractor
Shields Painting has been in the business since 1968. In a world where so much has changed, we are proud to uphold the ideals that make us successful: hard, honest work, getting the job done right, and excellent customer service. Providing you with trustworthy, quality work will always take priority over rushing through a project to serve the next customer. That is just not the way we choose to do business.
As professionals dedicated to perfection, we strive to provide a unique painting experience for every customer - one that focuses on their needs and desires instead of our own. Whether you need residential painting for your home or commercial painting for your business, we encourage you to reach out today to speak with our customer service team. Whether you have big ideas about a new paint project or need our expertise and guidance, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Latest News in Weeki Wachee, FL
Weeki Wachee advocates want restrictions before the river is 'loved to death'
Steve Newbornhttps://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/environment/2023-05-10/weeki-wachee-advocates-restrictions-before-river-loved-to-death
On Thursday, state environmental officials will vote on new restrictions for people mooring boats in the Weeki Wachee River. But many people in the area think that's not enough to prevent its sand banks from eroding.The Weeki Wachee River is where the Florida of the past flows headfirst into the Florida of the present.It has mermaids and manatees with propeller scars.Water the color of emeralds rumbles under a crush of boats, pontoons and kayakers.On its south banks, bald cypress, palms and oaks tower over a wil...
On Thursday, state environmental officials will vote on new restrictions for people mooring boats in the Weeki Wachee River. But many people in the area think that's not enough to prevent its sand banks from eroding.
The Weeki Wachee River is where the Florida of the past flows headfirst into the Florida of the present.
It has mermaids and manatees with propeller scars.
Water the color of emeralds rumbles under a crush of boats, pontoons and kayakers.
On its south banks, bald cypress, palms and oaks tower over a wildlife management area.
To the north, homes with protruding docks bear signs advertising vacation rentals.
The Weeki Wachee, many local residents say, is being loved to death.
George Foster drives about a mile through pristine forest, then gets out of his pickup to walk over a fallen tree. The sound of music from partying boaters hits you first, before you can see the crush of boaters on a Sunday afternoon.
Foster, who owns an environmental consulting firm in Brooksville, co-owns a large, undeveloped lot on the north shore of the Weeki Wachee.
"I've lived here all my life," Foster said. "And this river is a mere shadow of its former self. It's nothing like it was when I was a kid. Nothing."
It's just another weekend when he walks to the riverbank and points to boaters moored on a sandbar that’s getting bigger as the shoreline erodes at the foot of his property.
"I've lived here all my life. And this river is a mere shadow of its former self. It's nothing like it was when I was a kid. Nothing."George Foster
"The edge of the river went out at least 20 feet — maybe 25 feet — beyond where it goes today, just five years ago," Foster said. "Now, everybody just crashes their boats into the banks, canoes, kayaks, whatever, party here, crawl out ... you know, just abuse the hell out of it."
Foster points to a pair of men’s underwear hanging from a tree branch on his property.
He says there's not a blade of eelgrass that manatees feed on left in this stretch of the river.
Foster supports Hernando County's proposal to ban boaters from anchoring or leaving their watercraft. The ban would cover roughly two miles between the boundary of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park — where mermaids have frolicked in the water for75 years — to the popular Rogers Park boat ramp.
Not so fast, the state said. Instead, it wants to make 20 sandbars in that stretch off-limits to mooring.
"If you ban the people from the point bars, they're not going to go home, they're just going to move their party down the river, up the river, to a place that's legal, and destroy that part of the river," Foster said. "So it's just stupid to think that you can limit activity to certain areas on the river. The whole river's got to have the same protection."
John Allocco, chairman of the Hernando County Commission, has been pushing for a plan that would do just that.
"There is nobody who can honestly look at this plan that's been given forth after ours was denied — and Florida Fish and Wildlife modified it — there's nobody that can look at this and think that it's enforceable or that it will actually do anything to protect the springs," said Allocco.
The Hernando County study says the river is getting so much use that shorelines are eroding, as people get out of their boats and trample sand bars. The sand is flowing into the middle of the river, making it too shallow in places for manatees to glide. And trees are falling into the river because of the erosion.
When asked for comment, officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission referred to their proposal. There, they acknowledged that prohibiting mooring at the 20 sandbars could cause people to moor outside that zone — meaning they might have to "revisit" the rule in the future.
Allocco said they're stating the obvious.
"So there's a sign that says you can't moor on this point bar," Allocco said. "So what are you going to do? You're going moor adjacent to it and walk on to the point bar. So you're just destroying it."
The county is working with state officials in other ways to protect the river. Allocco says millions are being spent to hook up thousands of homes with septic tanks in the river basin to a central sewage system. This would reduce the amount of nutrients flowing into the river in an effort to reduce algae blooms that darken the otherwise gin-clear springs.
"There's so many other things that we're spending money on to protect this river. And what's the point of spending all this money to protect the river if you're not going to actually protect the river?" Allocco said.
John Prout says he’s been enjoying the river for over 20 years. Recently, he says he's seen a lot more manatees here than in decades past — even though the seagrasses they feed on are being trampled by feet and smothered by algae.
A short visit to the river yielded views of three manatees — a mother and her baby, and another one bearing propeller scars.
Prout is hanging out on the dock of the residence he shares with other renters. Behind him and his friend William Vislocky, there’s a sign on the dock dubbing it the No Tell River Hotel. Behind are signs saying "nude beach" and "manatee spear rentals."
Prout says he wants as many people as possible to enjoy the river — just like he has for decades.
"A lot of these people that have been here for a long time. They were used to it being more peaceful and not as many people out here, not as much chaos," Prout said. "And that's great and all, but things change. And now there's more people here. And they want an excuse to get rid of them. They don't want the people here. They want it all to themselves."
Allocco says the county’s plan doesn’t restrict people from enjoying the river; it protects it for future generations. If the state moves forward with its proposal at Thursday’s meeting, he says he’ll appeal to state lawmakers.
Weeki Wachee advocates say the central Florida river is being loved to death
Steve Newbornhttps://news.wfsu.org/state-news/2023-05-11/weeki-wachee-advocates-say-the-central-florida-river-is-being-loved-to-death
The Weeki Wachee River is where the Florida of the past flows headfirst into the Florida of the present. It has mermaids and manatees with propeller scars.Water the color of emeralds rumbles under a crush of boats, pontoons and kayakers. On its south banks, bald cypress, palms and oaks tower over a wildlife management area. To the north, homes with protruding docks bear signs advertising vacation rentals.The Weeki Wachee, many local residents say, is being loved to death....
The Weeki Wachee River is where the Florida of the past flows headfirst into the Florida of the present. It has mermaids and manatees with propeller scars.
Water the color of emeralds rumbles under a crush of boats, pontoons and kayakers. On its south banks, bald cypress, palms and oaks tower over a wildlife management area. To the north, homes with protruding docks bear signs advertising vacation rentals.
The Weeki Wachee, many local residents say, is being loved to death.
George Foster drives about a mile through pristine forest, then gets out of his pickup to walk over a fallen tree. The sound of music from partying boaters hits you first, before you can see the crush of boaters on a Sunday afternoon.
Foster, who owns an environmental consulting firm in Brooksville, co-owns a large, undeveloped lot on the north shore of the Weeki Wachee.
"I've lived here all my life," Foster said. "And this river is a mere shadow of its former self. It's nothing like it was when I was a kid. Nothing."
It's just another weekend when he walks to the riverbank and points to boaters moored on a sandbar that’s getting bigger as the shoreline erodes at the foot of his property.
"The edge of the river went out at least 20 feet — maybe 25 feet — beyond where it goes today, just five years ago," Foster said. "Now, everybody just crashes their boats into the banks, canoes, kayaks, whatever, party here, crawl out ... you know, just abuse the hell out of it."
Foster points to a pair of men’s underwear hanging from a tree branch on his property.
He says there's not a blade of eelgrass that manatees feed on left in this stretch of the river.
Foster supports Hernando County's proposal to ban boaters from anchoring or leaving their watercraft. The ban would cover roughly two miles between the boundary of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park — where mermaids have frolicked in the water for75 years — to the popular Rogers Park boat ramp.
Not so fast, the state said. Instead, it wants to make 20 sandbars in that stretch off-limits to mooring.
"If you ban the people from the point bars, they're not going to go home, they're just going to move their party down the river, up the river, to a place that's legal, and destroy that part of the river," Foster said. "So it's just stupid to think that you can limit activity to certain areas on the river. The whole river's got to have the same protection."
John Allocco, chairman of the Hernando County Commission, has been pushing for a plan that would do just that.
"There is nobody who can honestly look at this plan that's been given forth after ours was denied — and Florida Fish and Wildlife modified it — there's nobody that can look at this and think that it's enforceable or that it will actually do anything to protect the springs," said Allocco.
The Hernando County study says the river is getting so much use that shorelines are eroding, as people get out of their boats and trample sand bars. The sand is flowing into the middle of the river, making it too shallow in places for manatees to glide. And trees are falling into the river because of the erosion.
When asked for comment, officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission referred to their proposal. There, they acknowledged that prohibiting mooring at the 20 sandbars could cause people to moor outside that zone — meaning they might have to "revisit" the rule in the future.
Allocco said they're stating the obvious.
"So there's a sign that says you can't moor on this point bar," Allocco said. "So what are you going to do? You're going moor adjacent to it and walk on to the point bar. So you're just destroying it."
The county is working with state officials in other ways to protect the river. Allocco says millions are being spent to hook up thousands of homes with septic tanks in the river basin to a central sewage system. This would reduce the amount of nutrients flowing into the river in an effort to reduce algae blooms that darken the otherwise gin-clear springs.
"There's so many other things that we're spending money on to protect this river. And what's the point of spending all this money to protect the river if you're not going to actually protect the river?" Allocco said.
John Prout says he’s been enjoying the river for over 20 years. Recently, he says he's seen a lot more manatees here than in decades past — even though the seagrasses they feed on are being trampled by feet and smothered by algae.
A short visit to the river yielded views of three manatees — a mother and her baby, and another one bearing propeller scars.
Prout is hanging out on the dock of the residence he shares with other renters. Behind him and his friend William Vislocky, there’s a sign on the dock dubbing it the No Tell River Hotel. Behind are signs saying "nude beach" and "manatee spear rentals."
Prout says he wants as many people as possible to enjoy the river — just like he has for decades.
"A lot of these people that have been here for a long time. They were used to it being more peaceful and not as many people out here, not as much chaos," Prout said. "And that's great and all, but things change. And now there's more people here. And they want an excuse to get rid of them. They don't want the people here. They want it all to themselves."
Allocco says the county’s plan doesn’t restrict people from enjoying the river; it protects it for future generations. If the state moves forward with its proposal at Thursday’s meeting, he says he’ll appeal to state lawmakers.
Copyright 2023 WUSF 89.7. To see more, visit WUSF 89.7.
New rule for paddling, boating Weeki Wachee River will be rolled out by year's end
Chad Millshttps://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-citrus-hernando/new-rule-for-paddling-boating-weeki-wachee-river-will-be-rolled-out-by-years-end
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Soon, a new rule will change how thousands of people enjoy the natural gem. Approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) during a Wednesday meeting, the rule change bans “anchoring, beaching, mooring, and grounding” virtually all boats, paddleboards, and kayaks on a 5.6-mile span of the river between Rogers Park and Weeki Wachee Springs State Park which will be designated as a Springs Protection Zone.
WEEKI WACHEE, Fla. — Kara Slaybaugh and Zoey Diekema drove from Clearwater to Hernando County on Thursday to paddleboard a Florida icon: the crystal clear, spring-fed Weeki Wachee River.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Slaybaugh said. “I mean, all the natural springs and manatees that come by — the water’s just so clear. And the best part is that it’s so refreshing.”
On this trip, however, they learned it might be their last.
Soon, a new rule will change how thousands of people enjoy the natural gem.
Approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) during a Wednesday meeting, the rule change bans “anchoring, beaching, mooring, and grounding” virtually all boats, paddleboards, and kayaks on a 5.6-mile span of the river between Rogers Park and Weeki Wachee Springs State Park which will be designated as a Springs Protection Zone.
“It is 100-and-something degrees, so we need some shade,” Diekema said in frustration with the impending rule change. “I need to stop and get water. I can’t paddle and drink water or even take a break.”
It’s not just stopping along the river that will be complicated by the new rule. It also complicates the process of swimming outside the designated areas at the state park, and Rogers Park since boats cannot be anchored, beached, or moored.
“It’s going to be an adjustment, but it’s a win,” said Marryann Johnson, who lived along the river.
Johnson and other river allies, including Stephanie Kozuch, say the rule change was badly needed to prevent a beloved natural wonder from being loved to death.
“It should be a serene place for people to gather and listen to nature, but that’s not what it’s become anymore, and the river just needs a rest,” Kozuch said. “Nothing about it is the same other than the clear waters. The depth has changed. The sand is changed.”
As kayakers, paddleboarders, and boaters anchor, beach, or tie off along the river’s edge, they’re causing an unintentional but detrimental environmental impact. Aquatic plants are being trampled.
As the vegetation dies, riverbanks are eroding. Eroded sand changes the river's depth in some areas by creating unnatural sand point bars. Some of the mature trees along the riverbank are being uprooted as the erosion worsens.
According to Hernando County Administrator Jeff Rogers, the damage isn’t just anecdotal. It’s been proven through evidence-based research.
“We have a scientific study that says that all this extra activity outside — in the docking of vessels and outside of vessels — is causing a large impact, and you can see it with the loss of vegetation along the shoreline,” he said.
Rogers hopes the new rules will heal the river.
According to Rogers, the rule isn’t yet in effect but will be gradually rolled out during the coming months.
Signs will be installed along the river in October or November. The FWC and a Hernando County deputy, who’s assigned to the river full-time, will begin enforcement by the end of the year.
First, however, the county will focus on education to make sure river-based businesses, tourists, and locals are well aware of the new rules before any citations are written.
“Any time you change anything, you basically go out first and just educate people for a long time,” Rogers said.
Rogers, along with river advocates, believes the rule change will ensure the natural wonder exists for the enjoyment of future generations.
Slaybaugh and Diekema, however, believe the change could cost Hernando County tourism dollars.
“I mean, it’s bringing people in to stay at Airbnbs, at hotels — eating at the restaurants. And we drive an hour and a half,” Diekema.
“I don’t think I would come back,” Slaybaugh added.
Copyright 2023 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Springs Protection Zone approved to help preserve Weeki Wachee River
Calvin Lewishttps://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2023/07/24/springs-protection-zone-approved-to-help-in-protection-of-weeki-wachee-river
HERANDO COUNTY, Fla. — New protections are being made to help preserve the Weeki Wachee River.What You Need To Know Last week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to prohibit visitors from beaching, grounding, mooring or anchoring their watercraft along the river. Officials say it's an issue that has been slowly plaguing the waters.“What once was a beautiful, serene atmosphere is not that way anymore," said longtime Weeki Wachee resident Stephanie Kozuch. She s...
HERANDO COUNTY, Fla. — New protections are being made to help preserve the Weeki Wachee River.
What You Need To Know
Last week, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted to prohibit visitors from beaching, grounding, mooring or anchoring their watercraft along the river. Officials say it's an issue that has been slowly plaguing the waters.
“What once was a beautiful, serene atmosphere is not that way anymore," said longtime Weeki Wachee resident Stephanie Kozuch. She said there is nothing like walking in one’s back yard to the pristine view.
“The crystal-clear water, the nature, and every time I see a manatee, after all these years, it’s still amazing to me and exciting," Kozuch said.
Recently, concern has been growing among those who call the river home — many have the opinion that the river is being loved to death.
“It became a problem because of the depth of the river, the amount of people, and the activity on the river — it became almost impossible," Kozuch said. "It’s a scary situation. You’re moving on a fast-moving river and if you don’t know how to navigate this river or deal with the swift current, it can become a problem.”
Photos taken by those who live along the river show visitors anchoring and grounding their vessels — the very thing officials believe is slowly degrading the river.
The recently approved FWC rule will encompass the length of the river from Weeki Wachee Springs State Park to Rogers Park.
“This is where the springs protection zone will end," Kozuch said. "So beyond that bridge, it does not apply.”
The protection designation makes the Weeki Wachee the largest such zone in the state since the legislature began protections last year.
“It’s got to start somewhere," Kozuch said. "And then maybe they’ll look at maybe extending it which could be a possibility — the entire river, possibly.”
Hernando County, along with FWC, will enforce the new rule that is now in effect.
“I hope that we see the river heal — I hope we see the eel grass come back," Kozuch said. "This is such an important sanctuary for manatees, for instance. They come here for sanctuary in the winter time. They’ve got to have something to eat or they are not going to come back.”
Full Weeki Wachee River protection gets boost from state wildlife commissioners
Barbara Behrendthttps://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/2023/05/11/barreto-nicklaus-conservation-commission/
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Hernando County officials and Weeki Wachee River activists got word they found encouraging from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Thursday.
The commission was discussing a staff recommendation to establish a springs protection zone to prohibit mooring, anchoring and beaching watercraft on 20 sandbars in the river. The hearing in Miami is a prelude to the agency’s final decision on the issue, which is expected in July.
But after listening to Hernando County officials, the largest private property owner on the river and several of the most involved river advocates, Fish and Wildlife Commission members wondered if their staff proposal was enough.
They were also told by staff that in the last week, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, have thrown support to a Hernando County proposal to prohibit all mooring and grounding from Rogers Park to the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. The water management district owns nearly the entire southern bank of the river.
Fish and Wildlife Commission chairperson Rodney Barreto said that he was inclined to side with Hernando County government since they are most aware of what their constituents want and are willing to deal with the differing points of view.
But Commissioner Gary Nicklaus said he believed staff was recommending a more conservative approach based on where it could be proven that watercraft mooring was damaging the river. He said the commission had approved a speed zone in another area and was sued for stepping outside the bounds of its legal authority in setting the rule.
The commissioners asked their staff to bring back more information about damage beyond the sandbars before the July meeting.
Hernando residents who spoke with to the commission Thursday offered what they said was proof that watercraft mooring was injuring other parts of the river, not just the 20 sandbars.
They brought photos of the riverbanks just across from the sandbars jammed two weeks ago with kayaks and boaters. Those areas would continue to be open to anchoring and the damage it has been shown to cause under the commission’s staff recommendation.
Roy Johnson, president of the Weeki Wachee Rescue Team, called the staff recommendation “inadequate and ineffective” in that it would actually force more people into smaller spaces. Instead of the entire river, it would only keep people from 13 percent of the shoreline.
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Photos shared with the agency by Mary Ann Johnson also showed the shoreline packed with kayaks and people tied up so they could swim in Hospital Hole, a popular spring in the river that would go unprotected.
Hernando County Administrator Jeff Rogers said that the county and its elected leaders did not support the commission’s staff proposal. “We don’t think it’s going to work at all,” he said.
Rogers said the county has worked with the conservation commission as well as other agencies that control activity along the river to help build the springs protection law now on the books for Florida specifically to help the Weeki Wachee River. He also said that the same state officials used the evidence gathered through a carrying capacity study and professional experiences about the damage to the river to guide that work.
“I’m here to tell you that the river has been been destroyed,” said George Foster, who owns the largest stretch of private land on the shore of the Weeki Wachee. He said the eel grass is gone in the river due to public misuse. He has lost 20 feet of waterfront because of erosion by users of the river. If the state closes just sand bars along the river, “you’re just going to move the party upstream or downstream,” he said.
Eugene Kelly of the Florida Native Plant Society said he has kayaked the Weeki Wachee River dozens of times. He said that the proof that river-long protection zone is needed is clear to anyone who has started their trip inside the boundaries of the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.
That park prohibits those in kayaks from getting out of their craft or getting onto the shore inside the park so there are no sandbars or shores scraped clean of plant life. Lush vegetation thrives undamaged on the banks and in the river itself.
Once outside that boundary, Kelly said, “all of that changes. It’s like night and day.”
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