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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.”