In 2011, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) established a 0.35 milligrams per liter (mg/L) nitrate+nitrite-nitrogen (NOX-N) numeric nutrient criterion for springs. In 2018, the FDEP finalized the Santa Fe River Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) requiring wastewater facilities over 0.1 million gallons per day (MGD) to achieve the advanced wastewater treatment (AWT) standard for total nitrogen (TN) of 3 mg/L as an annual average concentration. The FDEP assumes that natural attenuation of applied reclaimed water with no more than 3 mg/L of TN will also meet the NOX-N standard at spring vents.

The Santa Fe River Basin largely consists of small, rural communities that cannot fund the conventional wastewater treatment upgrades needed to meet the TN standard. These communities have instead considered alternative treatment methods to achieve nitrogen removal to meet AWT. The City of Lake City constructed 120 acres of recharge wetlands in 2016 to meet the BMAP requirements for about 1.5 MGD of their reclaimed water and are proceeding with the design and construction of additional recharge wetlands to fully meet their obligations. These wetlands are constructed above a thick, but discontinuous clay layer that overlays the Floridan Aquifer. To date, the initial Lake City project has removed over 120,000 pounds of nitrogen and recharges the aquifer with TN and NOX-N concentrations below their respective standards. The City of High Springs has permitted and will construct 20 acres of treatment wetlands to comply with their BMAP nitrogen reduction requirements. The geology at High Springs consists of highly permeable sands directly over the aquifer, so lined cells will be constructed to meet the 3 mg/L TN standard before aquifer recharge occurs in unlined recharge wetland cells. These wetland projects have proven to be cost-effective and beneficial AWT alternatives for rural communities.