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Early Bird AJuly 7, 2015

Lennart J. Lindahl, P.E.

Assistant Executive Director

South Florida Water Management District

Water Management Districts Created by Legislature to Protect State Resources

Core Mission

√ Flood Protection

√ Water Quality

√ Water Supply

√ Natural Systems

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• 18,000 square miles • ~2,100 miles of canals• ~2,000 miles of levees• More than 600 water

control structures and 625 project culverts

• 70 pump stations• 8.1 million residents• More than 3 million acres of

agriculture• Vast protected natural areas

South Florida

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Water Management is a Daily Balancing Act

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Multi-Purpose System Provides Regional Flood Control and Hurricane Response

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Restoration Focus is Improving Water Quantity, Quality, Timing & Distribution

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Lake Okeechobee &The Herbert Hoover Dike

Everglades Agricultural

Area

WaterConservation

Areas

EvergladesNational

Park

BigCypress

Pre-Development Post-Development

STA treatment capability

WCA water levels

WCA levee integrity

Water levels in NE Shark River Slough

S-12 discharge capacity

EAA flood control

Protected species

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Constraints Limiting Discharges South

Rising Seas Potential Water Management Impacts

Tidal flooding Reduced ability to

release floodwater via gravity flow

Salt water contamination of freshwater supplies

Permanent inundation of natural systems

Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program

Passed by Florida legislature in 2007

Requires watershed protection plans for

– Lake Okeechobee

– St. Lucie

– Caloosahatchee

Plans include water quality and quantity improvement projects

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L-8 FEB~45,000 ac-ft

WCA-3A

WCA-1

LoxahatcheeNational Wildlife

Refuge

WCA-2A

STA1W

Lake Okeechobee

STA-3/4STA-2

STA Earthwork

~800 ac

A-1 FEB~60,000 ac-ft

STA-1W Exp.

~6,500 ac

EasternFlowpath

CentralFlowpath

C-139 FEB~11,000 ac-ft

STA5/6

WesternFlowpath

STA1E

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Restoration Strategies Increases Treatment Effectiveness

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)

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– Storage – Surface & ASR

– STAs for water quality

– Seepage management

– Removing barriers to flow

– Revised operations

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Picayune Strand Restoration Pump Station

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State expediting Stormwater Treatment Area, discharge system and pump station

USACE constructing reservoir

C-44 STA

C-44 Reservoir

Accelerated construction of C-44 Reservoir Project’s STA components

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Portion of site used for temporary storage

State committed $18M in Fy15 to begin construction for early benefits

Interim storage at C-43 (Caloosahatchee River) West Reservoir site (170,000 acre-feet)

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Central Everglades Planning Project

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Chief of Engineer’s Report Signed December 2014– Increase Storage in EAA

– WCA-3 Decompartmentalization and Sheetflow Enhancement

– S-356 Pump Station Modifications

– L-31 Levee Seepage Management

GOVERNOR SCOTT’S 20-YEAR FUNDING REQUEST FOR EVERGLADES RESTORATION

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A 20-Year Commitment toEverglades Restoration

Dedicated source of funding– $5 billion in state funding over the next 20 years– $4 billion in matching federal funds anticipated

Implementation of the Governor’s plan will deliver critical benefits to the Everglades ecosystem:– Capture and store 1 million acre-feet (330 billion

gallons) of fresh water, which will significantly decrease the frequency and intensity of harmful freshwater discharges to the northern estuaries

– Reduce phosphorus loads to Lake Okeechobee, Caloosahatchee Estuary, St. Lucie Estuary and the Everglades by 252 metric tons per year

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Benefits Throughout the South Florida Ecosystem

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A number projects are now underway or have significant planning completed.

Additional projects will be planned and implemented over the twenty years

Along with increased storage and water quality treatment projects will:– Increase more natural flows

– Increase environmental, Tribal, agricultural and urban water supply

– Reduce impacts of sea level rise

DISPERSED WATER MANAGEMENT

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Definition: Shallow water distributed across parcel landscapes using relatively simple structures

Before

After

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Dispersed Water Management (DWM)

• Increased water storage

• Less water sent to Lake Okeechobee and estuaries

• Reduced nutrient loadings

• Increased groundwater recharge

• Improved habitat• Higher soil moisture in

dry season• Rapid implementation

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DWM Program Benefits

• Avoids high cost of land acquisition & management

• Keeps land on local tax rolls

• Supports community economy

• Reduces land conversion

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DWM Economic Benefits - Public

• In some cases, underlying ag use is maintained

• Income diversification• May decrease

irrigation or feed costs in dry season

• Income stream may replace losses from non-production

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DWM Economic Benefits - Landowner

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• Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project Pilot

• Northern Everglades -Payment for Environmental Services

• Regional - Private lands

• Public Lands

• Water Farming

Primary Project Types

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• 92,973 acre-feet of operational storage

• Another 102,000 acre-feet in design and permitting

• Includes private and public lands

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Summary of Created Additional Storage

• Projects are temporary• Limited operational flexibility• Small volumes per acre

require numerous contracts• Comparisons to regional

projects is apples to oranges• Dispersed Water

Management is NOT the solution to all of our resource challenges.

• Ongoing Funding???

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DWM Challenges

• Legislative funding• Implement Lessons

Learned • North of the Lake

storage analysis• Increase interim

storage on District owned lands

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Path Forward

WATER SUPPLY PLANNING

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Regional Water Supply Plan Schedule

Upper East Coast – Current plan approved March 2011– 5-year Update Kickoff meeting on

June 25, 2015– Using density-dependent model

Lower West Coast – Current plan approved November

2012 Lower East Coast

– Current plan approved October 2013 Lower Kissimmee Basin

– Current plan approved September 2014

– Currently working on updated modeling

Upper Kissimmee Basin – Part of Central Florida Water Initiative– Approval ~ November 2015

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2015

2014

2013

2016

2012

Regional Water Supply Plans -Collaboration

District boundaries built on surface water basins

Not sufficient for planning based on:– Groundwater issues– Regional solutions– Stakeholder input

SFWMD actions:– Split Kissimmee Basin into

Upper and Lower planning areas to accommodate CFWI

– Working with SJRWMD on Floridan aquifer modeling in the Upper East Coast area

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Regional Water Supply Plans -Collaboration

Publicly noticed meetings/workshops

Ongoing collaboration:– Joint planning effort in CFWI

– Data collection

– Regional modeling

– Consumptive use permitting

THANK YOU

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