News Release

FWC lifts Zone 2 restrictions on Suwannee River  

April 30, 2009
Contact: Karen Parker, 386-758-0525

• Map of Suwannee, Santa Fe flood zones  (1.53MB)

When Suwannee River floodwaters at Branford fell below 26 feet today, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) deactivated boating restrictions in Zone 2.

Zone 2 stretches from the State Road 51 Bridge at Luraville to Little River Spring. This 18-mile segment becomes an idle-speed, no-wake zone when the Suwannee River is at 26 feet or more above mean sea level, as indicated on the Branford gauge, where flood stage is 29 feet.

The FWC activated restrictions in this zone on April 9.

"This morning, we verified with the Suwannee River Water Management District that the water level there has fallen below the required 26 feet at Branford," said Capt. Roy Brown, area supervisor at the FWC's Lake City office.

"Zones 3, 4 and 5 are still idle-speed, no-wake," Brown said. "Because of a malfunctioning gauge, we briefly put out information about Zone 4 being lifted. However, this information was erroneous. Zone 4, from the County Road 340 Bridge at Rock Bluff to one mile below the Fowler Bluff boat ramp, is still active, and we still have officers patrolling that area to enforce the idle-speed, no-wake zone."

For information about which zones are still active and which zones have been lifted, check out MyFWC.com, Brown said.

An idle-speed, no-wake zone means a vessel must proceed at a speed no greater than what is required to maintain steerageway and headway. At no time is any vessel required to proceed so slowly that the operator is unable to control it or anything it may be towing.

The Suwannee and Santa Fe rivers are divided into five flood zones.

• Zone 1 is from the U.S. 90 Bridge at Ellaville south to the State Road 51 Bridge at Luraville. This 39-mile segment becomes an idle-speed, no-wake zone when the Suwannee River is at 47 feet or more above mean sea level, as indicated on the Ellaville gauge, where flood stage is 54 feet. This zone was deactivated Tuesday, April 28.
• Zone 2 is described above.
  The three other zone restrictions are still in effect.
• Zone 3, from Little River Spring to the County Road 340 Bridge at Rock Bluff, was activated April 8.  This 23-mile segment will be an idle-speed, no-wake zone as long as the Suwannee River is at 24 feet or more above mean sea level, as indicated on the Branford gauge.
• Zone 4 is the section from the County Road 340 Bridge at Rock Bluff to one mile below the Fowler Bluff boat ramp. This 51-mile segment falls under the boating restrictions as long as the Suwannee is at 9 feet or more above mean sea level, as indicated on the Wilcox gauge, where flood stage is 11 feet. This zone was activated April 11.
• Zone 5 is from River Rise in O'Leno State Park west to the confluence of the Suwannee River. The FWC activated restrictions on this section April 7. This 32-mile segment will be an idle-speed, no-wake zone as long as the Santa Fe River is at 17 feet above mean sea level or higher, as indicated on the Three Rivers gauge, where flood stage is 19 feet.

For more information about the flood zones, please call 386-758-0525. To report violations, please call 888-404-3922.  

To obtain real-time river level information, visit www.mysuwanneeriver.com.