Water bodies, watersheds and storm water
Classification of springs
Springs are classified by magnitude (from one to eight) on the basis of their volume of flow, or discharge of water (Rosenau et al. 1977). Springs have dynamic flows dependent on climate and hydrogeology, and a spring classified as being a certain magnitude at one time may not continue to flow at that rate at other times. This report classifies a spring’s magnitude based on the median value of all discharge measurements for the period of record. Consistency in the location of the discharge measurements is also critical for accurate classification.
First-magnitude springs discharge the greatest amount of water. There are four first-magnitude springs in SJRWMD, 16 second-magnitude springs, 31 third-magnitude springs, plus another 45 springs classified as fourth- to eighth-magnitude. The following is a summary of spring classification by volume.
Spring classifications
| Magnitude | Volume of Flow (Discharge) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 100 cfs or more |
| 2 | 10 to 100 cfs |
| 3 | 1 to 10 cfs |
| 4 | 0.223 cfs (100 gpm) to 1 cfs |
| 5 | 0.0223 cfs (10 gpm) to 0.223 cfs |
| 6 | 0.0022 cfs (1 gpm) to 0.0223 cfs |
| 7 | 0.00028 cfs (1 pint/min) to 0.0022 cfs |
| 8 | 0.00028 cfs or less |
gpm = gallons per minute
pint/min = pints per minute
Conversions: 100 cfs = 64.6 million gallons per day
1 cfs = 646,316.9 gallons per day
1 gallons per minute = 0.0022 cfs
1 pint per minute = 0.00028 cfs
