WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, March 2, 2009 (ENS) – In support of watershed protection plans for Florida’s Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board has approved a contract with the University of Massachusetts to study changes in nutrient levels in the rivers’ estuaries during the 2009 wet season. June through September are Florida’s wettest months.

Under the $260,000 agreement, university scientists will take measurements at 50 locations in each estuary for benthic fluxes – exchanges of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, between sediments and the water column.

The research will help identify where and when the sediments are a source for nitrogen and phosphorus.

The scientists conducted a similar study during the 2008 dry season in drought-like conditions. The combined data from the two studies will yield information critical to defining the role of sediments in the overall nutrient budgets for the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, and will support current and future water quality modeling efforts for these systems, which are part of the larger Northern Everglades water system.

Scientists will be able to identify “hot spots,” or areas of particularly high benthic nutrient flux rates, and optimize future sampling efforts.

The project is managed by the Coastal Ecosystems Division of the SFWMD Watershed Management Department and is part of the Watershed Research and Water Quality Monitoring Plans for the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries.

“This project is an important companion to the studies done in 2008,” said Governing Board member Melissa Meeker. “The data collected will ultimately assist in identifying projects needed to achieve water quality enhancements for both estuaries and watersheds.”

The Florida Legislature in 2007 expanded the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act to include protection and restoration of the Lake Okeechobee watershed and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers and estuaries.

Subject to ratification by the Legislature, the Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie River Watershed Protection Plans will be implemented using a phased implementation approach.

Phase 1 will include projects initiated or constructed between 2009 and 2012, followed by Phase 2 including projects initiated between 2013 and 2018. The Long Term Implementation Phase will include projects initiated beyond 2018.

The Caloosahatchee River and Estuary extend about 70 miles from Lake Okeechobee to San Carlos Bay on Florida’s southwest coast. The lower reaches are characterized by a shallow bay, extensive seagrass beds and sand flats. Mangrove forests dominate undeveloped areas of the shoreline. Southwest Florida estuaries provide habitat for more than 40 percent of Florida’s rare, endangered and threatened species.

Benefits of the Caloosahatchee River Watershed Protection Plan include implementation of best management practices on 430,288 acres of agricultural lands and implementation of BMPs on 145,281 acres of urban lands by 2015, and restoration of 2,000 acres of wetlands in the watershed.

Construction of about 35,930 acres of reservoirs and 15,007 acres of stormwater treatment areas and water quality treatment areas is planned to reduce total phosphorus and nitrogen loads to the Caloosahatchee estuary.

There is an intersection of waterways in Martin County, commonly known as the crossroads, where the Indian River Lagoon, the mouth of the St. Lucie River and the St. Lucie Inlet meet. As water is released from Lake Okeechobee into the constructed 152-mile long Okeechobee Waterway, sediment from eroding canal banks and pollutants from stormwater runoff have negative effects on water quality in the St. Lucie River.

The St. Lucie River, part of the Indian River Lagoon estuary system, is inhabited by thousands of plant and animal species, including manatees, dolphins, sea turtles and seahorses.
St. Lucie estuary (Photo courtesy SFWMD)

Benefits of the St. Lucie River Watershed Protection Plan include implementation of BMPs on 297,442 acres of agricultural lands and on 83,861 acres of urban lands and restoration of approximately 95,000 acres of wetlands and natural areas.

Construction of about 11,800 acres of reservoirs and more than 8,500 acres of stormwater treatment areas is planned to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen loads to the St. Lucie estuary.

The plans build upon existing and planned programs and projects, and consolidate previous restoration efforts into a broader approach to restoring the entire Northern Everglades system.

In addition, the Governing Board has approved another year of partnership with the state of Florida, the St. Lucie River Issues Team and federal researchers on a project to track fish health as an indicator of the progress of restoration efforts in the St. Lucie Estuary.

The project is part of a 15-year study by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that began in 1996.

“Evaluating fish health as an environmental indicator may provide important insight into the condition of the St. Lucie Estuary and our restoration goals,” said Meeker.

The study is analyzing the potential effects of water quality and environmental stressors, such as freshwater discharges, on the health of fish communities in the St. Lucie Estuary. The results are used to help set performance measures for restoration efforts.

Study results showed a spike in abnormalities of the estuary’s fish populations after the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, but since mid-2006, abnormalities have decreased.

This year, the study will track the effects of restoration projects, agricultural best management projects and urban and agricultural stormwater retrofit projects on fish health, testing to find out if the abnormalities are environmental in nature.

In 2007, the Florida Legislature expanded the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act to strengthen protection for the Northern Everglades, including the Lake Okeechobee Watershed and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie watersheds and estuaries.

The Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program recognizes the importance and connectivity of the entire Everglades ecosystem. Implementation of this program is expected to improve the quality, quantity, timing and distribution of water to the natural system by enhancing land management to reduce nutrient runoff and by constructing local and regional water quality and water storage projects.

Since 2000, the state of Florida has invested more than $3.8 billion to improve the quality and the natural flow of water in the Everglades.

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TALLAHASSE, Florida, December 18, 2008 (ENS) – Governor Charlie Crist today joined the chairman of the South Florida Water Management District, state environmental and economic officials, and environmentalists to applaud the SFWMD Governing Board’s approval this week in favor of an historic land acquisition for Everglades restoration.

By one vote, the seven-member Board of the South Florida Water Management District Tuesday narrowly approved a plan for the nation’s largest sugar company to sell some 180,000 acres of land – about 285 square miles – to the state of Florida.

The $1.34 billion land-only agreement with the U.S. Sugar Corporation is one of the largest environmental land acquisitions in American history. Proponents view the deal as the cornerstone of environmental efforts to restore natural water flow to the Everglades after decades of farming and development.

Florida lawmakers have voiced concern about the deal when the state is gripped by an economic crisis and is cutting services to citizens.

Some environmentalists have also expressed their disapproval, while others approve of the opportunity to restore water flows to the giant wetlands that is the Everglades.

A view over part of the U.S. Sugar property the
state of Florida proposes to purchase (Photo
courtesy U.S. Sugar)

“This land acquisition is the most important, most historic step taken toward true Everglades restoration. It creates unprecedented possibilities for the River of Grass and for our environment,” said Governor Crist at a news conference today.

“I am grateful to the members of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board for their support, which came after thoughtful and deliberate consideration. This land purchase reflects the courage and tenacity of so many people who, like the late Marjory Stoneman Douglas, have worked to protect this unique environmental treasure.”

Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998) was an American journalist, writer and environmentalist known for her defense of the Florida Everglades against draining and development. In 1947, she published the book “The Everglades: River of Grass,” which redefined the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a worthless swamp.

If completed, the land purchase will be used to reestablish a part of the historic connection between Lake Okeechobee and the River of Grass through a managed system of storage and treatment. The land also will be used to safeguard the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and estuaries.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire land in the Everglades Agricultural Area for restoration. The immense environmental benefit of these lands and their value to Florida’s unique Everglades ecosystem cannot be overstated,” SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann told reporters today.

“Without losing sight of Governor Crist’s bold vision for restoration, the board has evaluated the details of the proposed acquisition and listened carefully to the input of Floridians, the Florida Legislature and local elected leaders,” he said.

“Amending the contract before us is an important step for delivering an agreement that not only meets South Florida’s environmental needs but also better protects the interests of the taxpayers. This is good government and the public process at work,” said Buermann. “We are hopeful that U.S. Sugar will agree to this essential and necessary improvement to the contract and accept the Board’s revision.”

Highlights of the purchase and lease agreements include:

* The district would take ownership of a minimum of 180,000 acres land and its improvements for a purchase price of $1.34 billion.

* Under a separate agreement, U.S. Sugar would lease and manage the land for agricultural operation for seven years, avoiding more than $40 million in land management costs to the district over the life of the lease.

* The lease arrangement would allow the release of the first 10,000 acres of property to the district at any time after the first year with appropriate notice. An additional 30,000 acres may be released in year six, on or after December 30, 2015.

* The lease agreement would also allow for the release of up to 3,000 acres in connection with land transfers to municipalities or other governmental entities.

* The company would retain ownership of its major assets, including a sugar mill, refinery, railroad and citrus processing plant.

* Subject to court validation and suitable market conditions, the district would issue certificates of participation to fund the land acquisition. The parties must close on the purchase within 90 days of bond validation and no later than September 25, 2009.

Robert Coker, U.S. Sugar’s senior vice president, public affairs, said in a statement Tuesday, “Governor Crist not only had the vision to take this bold step toward true Everglades restoration, but he and the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board had the courage to actually make it happen.”

“This has been a time of uncertainty, but now that the agreement has been signed, it should provide a greater degree of certainty for our employees, our stockholders and our communities,” Coker said. “We believe this deal serves the best strategic, long-term objectives of the company and its stockholders.

“Some have criticized the transaction as not providing a sufficient return to U.S. Sugar stockholders while others have criticized the transaction as being too generous to U.S. Sugar stockholders. Without a doubt, we would not be doing this if we didn’t believe it was a fair deal for our stockholders,” Coker said.

“In addition, this is a tremendous opportunity for our state and her people, and the government would not be doing this if they did not feel it was fair to them,” he said. “This is a monumental opportunity to save the Everglades, and after many months of negotiations, we can now move forward.”

Although the company will continue to farm the land and operate its businesses for at least seven years as defined in the contract, Coker said U.S. Sugar intends to work “quickly and diligently with state and federal interests” to put together an economic transition plan for the local communities.

Florida House leaders have called for a review by the Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee, chaired by Representative Trudi Williams, an environmental and civil engineer. She is a Fort Myers Republican and a former chairwoman of the water district, who also chairs the House Committee on Environmental Protection. She is among several legislators who wrote water managers in opposition to the purchase.

Mike Sole, secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, acknowledged that the contract he wrote with U.S. Sugar will need broader political support state lawmakers and local communities to come to completion.

“This is just the beginning,” Sole said. “We have a lot of work ahead.”

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MIAMI, Florida, November 12, 2008 (ENS) – Florida officials have agreed to new terms for a land deal with the largest U.S. producer of cane sugar to increase the availability of water storage and flow to the vast Everglades wetland.

The new agreement, subject to approval by the South Florida Water Management District, includes the purchase of more than 180,000 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. at a price of $1.34 billion.

The agreement is a step down from terms announced in June, which included transfer to public ownership of 187,000 acres and all the sugar company’s assets, including 200 miles of railroad, a state-of-the-art sugar mill, sugar refinery and citrus processing plant for $1.75 billion.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist said today that he is satisfied with the new deal.

“A land purchase creates unprecedented possibilities for the River of Grass and for our environment,” said Governor Crist, standing outside the Miami home of the late author and Everglades advocate Marjory Stoneman Douglass.

Harvest on U.S. Sugar lands (Photo courtesy
Caloosahatchee River Citizens Association)

“Many people, including the late Mrs. Douglass, have looked forward to this day,” said the governor. “Today, we are closer than ever to making their dreams a reality and giving this wonderful gift of restoration to the Everglades, to the people of Florida, and to our country.”

The new terms include a lease-back of the land for $50 per acre, for a period covering seven crop cycles. The sugar mill, refinery and citrus processing facilities, railroads, office buildings, equipment and the Gilchrist County citrus nursery will remain the property of U.S. Sugar.

“After months of negotiations it became clear that the best transaction was for the state to buy the land and for U.S. Sugar to keep the assets. This is a good deal for the state, U.S. Sugar and for our shareholders,” said Robert Coker, senior vice president of public affairs for U.S. Sugar.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the governor and the district in the cooperative spirit with which we have begun,” said Robert Buker, president and CEO of U.S. Sugar. “We are happy to help the state of Florida restore one of her most precious treasures.”

The 180,000 acres, one of the largest environmental land acquisitions in U.S. history, are needed by the South Florida Water Management District to protect Florida’s coastal estuaries and better revive, restore and preserve the Everglades.

The land will be used to reestablish a part of the historic connection between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades through a managed system of storage and treatment areas.

This is expected to reduce the potential for harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee to Florida’s coastal rivers and estuaries when lake levels are high.

Environmentalists were pleased with the outcome of negotiations.

“The Everglades Foundation applauds Governor Charlie Crist and the South Florida Water Management District for decisively moving forward with this monumental land acquisition. Governor Crist kept his word,” said Mary Barley, vice-chair of the Everglades Foundation. “This historic deal will preserve a natural treasure not just for the people of Florida, but also for the entire nation.”

“This is just the shot in the arm we need to improve the health of one of America’s most treasured, but troubled ecosystems. Floridians on both coasts will be able to say goodbye to damaging freshwater releases that foul up the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries, said Everglades Foundation CEO Kirk Fordham.

With the new land acquisition, water managers will have the ability to deliver cleaner water to the Everglades during dry times and greater water storage to protect the natural system during wet years. They will be able to prevent thousands of tons of phosphorus from entering the Everglades every year.

The need for back-pumping water from the Everglades Agricultural Area into Lake Okeechobee to augment the water supply will be eliminated. The District’s Governing Board this year voted not to back-pump into the lake during the ongoing water shortage to protect water quality.

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MIAMI, Florida, October 22, 2008 (ENS) – An $88 million effort to improve water quality and navigation on the Miami River is now complete.

The final scoop of sediment came out of the river last week after four years of work by federal, state and local partners, including the South Florida Water Management District.

Water from the river flows directly into Biscayne Bay, a shallow estuary inhabited by diverse plant and animal species that also supports commercial shipping.

“The environment and economy of Miami-Dade County will benefit greatly from completion of this project,” said Eric Buermann, chairman of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board and also the Miami River Commission. “Our many partners pulled together and worked tirelessly to complete this outstanding effort.”

During the dredging process about 750,000 cubic yards of sediment was removed, and pollutants that had long threatened the health of the river were isolated and disposed of safely.

Dredging restored the river to its federally authorized 15-foot depth. The Miami River was last dredged in 1935 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since then, sediment and debris have built up in the river, impeding shipping traffic around the city of Miami, Florida’s fourth largest port.

The dredging project began in October 2004 and was completed within its five-year timeframe. The South Florida Water Management District contributed $3 million towards the dredging. The Florida Legislature has contributed $28 million, which includes a $10 million appropriation in FY09, spearheaded by Representative David Rivera and Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla.

“This effort is a shining example of a successful partnership that touched many levels of government,” Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said. “The result is that one of our nation’s important waterways is significantly cleaner and our economy has received a major benefit.”

The Florida congressional delegation also was instrumental in supporting the environmental and economic dredging project.

Construction projects along the Miami
River (Photo courtesy Miami River
Commission)

The Miami River corridor is being redesigned with over 15,000 new residential units and 19 new restaurants under construction or in permitting along the river.

The Miami River Commission’s strategic plan recommends providing additional greenspace where feasible, increasing tree canopy, beautifying beneath bridges, and creation of the Miami River Greenway.

The Greenway is intended to be a destination landscape for tourists and residents, connecting the river’s multi-cultural neighborhoods and parks, and providing public access to the riverfront.

The Miami River Commission has partnered with the City of Miami, Miami-Dade County, the State of Florida, Congress, the Trust for Public Land and the private development community in creating six new waterfront parks as part of the Greenway.

The linear park system follows the course of the river from its mouth in downtown Miami to the Miami International Airport.

Once an important link between the Everglades and Biscayne Bay, the lands bordering the Miami River were damaged by uncontrolled development, industrial pollution and lack of long-range urban policy.

The Greenway conservation effort is a multi-year collaboration of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, business interests and neighborhood groups to restore the river’s ecological and historic heritage while addressing the social and economic needs of the people who live and work in the area.

The Miami River dredging is one of several environmental projects the South Florida Water Management District has supported on Miami waterways, including the Chapman Field restoration project.

This project recently received $580,000 in funding from the district to remove waste and exotic vegetation from a former landfill site and replant that site with mangroves. The removal of waste and the restoration of mangrove habitat will lessen the amount of pollutants and nutrients that enter the bay with stormwater runoff.

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MIAMI, Florida, September 24, 2008 (ENS) – The South Florida Water Management District Tuesday entered into a five-year cooperative agreement with Miami-Dade County to support long-term environmental monitoring in northeastern Florida Bay, Manatee Bay and Barnes Sound.

The monitoring effort documents how changes in estuary water quality impact seagrass growth off the south Florida coast.

“Our water bodies at the southern end of Florida’s peninsula are valuable indicators of water quality improvements upstream,” said Michael Collins, SFWMD Governing Board member and resident of the Florida Keys.

“Monitoring provides an important tool for achieving healthier ecosystems here in the Keys and throughout the region,” he said.

The monitoring program, known as the South Florida Estuarine Submerged Aquatic Vegetation and Water Quality Monitoring Network, is conducted by Miami-Dade’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.

Scientists from the county agency collect water samples from 12 basins in the study area and analyze them for a variety of chemical, physical and biological features.

The low-lying islands and warm waters of
Florida Bay (Photo by Eiki Martinson)

The water samples provide information about water quality at a total of 96 random and 10 fixed monitoring stations in the Florida Bay region. These include Manatee Bay, Barnes Sound, Highway Creek, Long Sound, Little Blackwater Sound, northwest Blackwater Sound, Joe Bay, Alligator Bay, Davis Cove, Trout Cove, Little Madeira Bay and an area south of Little Madeira Bay.

This five-year agreement extends a long-term monitoring effort, which began in 1979, to identify impacts to the estuaries from upstream water management activities.

The data collected provide a substantial period of record that serves as a baseline to evaluate estuarine restoration.

The new agreement supports monitoring from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2013. Total South Florida Water Management District funding for the five-year project is $539,894.

Located at the southernmost tip of the Florida Peninsula, Florida Bay lies between the mainland and the Florida Keys chain of islands.

A shallow inner-shelf lagoon, Florida Bay is located at the southern end of the south Florida watershed. It is an area where fresh water from the Everglades mixes with the salty waters from the Gulf of Mexico to form an estuary that is surrounded by mangroves forests and encompasses over 200 mangrove islands.

Its nearly 1,000 square miles of interconnected basins, grassy mud banks, and mangrove islands are nesting, nursery, and feeding grounds for a host of marine animals – the American crocodile, the West Indian manatee, the loggerhead turtle, bottlenose dolphins, a variety of bird species and many gamefish.

Parts of the bay are also the nursery grounds for the economically valuable pink shrimp and Caribbean spiny lobster. Florida Bay waters support lucrative shrimp and stone crab fisheries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says signs of environmental degradation in Florida Bay include extremely high salinity, large algae blooms and expanses of dead seagrass.

The current condition of Florida Bay is the result of greater environmental problems occurring throughout the entire south Florida ecosystem, NOAA says.

Over the past 50 years the south Florida ecosystem has been degraded by disruptions to the natural hydrology. Large areas have been greatly altered by engineered flood control and water distribution for agriculture and urban development. Continuing development to serve an influx of people has further stressed the system.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, September 18, 2008 (ENS) – For more than a decade, Naples Bay on Florida’s southern Gulf coast has been subject to increased pollutant loading as a result of extensive land development in the county. The stormwater runoff entering the Gordon River Basin contains chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides, which are slowly damaging the natural ecosystem within the bay.

The development of this resort area has also caused a rise in the volume of stormwater runoff, which has led to the flooding of some areas within the Gordon River Basin.

Land development growth continues to present major challenges to the existing county stormwater network and requires innovative solutions and improvements to the system in order to accommodate the needs within the region.

Now, a 50 acre water quality treatment park is under construction that is expected to help reduce harmful pollutants entering Naples Bay and ease flooding concerns in surrounding areas.

The park is being constructed with $8 million in FY 2009 funding from the state and the South Florida Water Management District as an alternative water supply project.

The pier at Naples Bay, Florida
(Photo credit unknown)

With $3.8 million in matching funds from the state, the South Florida Water Management District has approved more than $22 million in funding to help communities in South Florida build alternative water supply projects.

In South Florida, alternative water supplies include treatment of saltwater and brackish water, capture and storage of surface water during wet weather, and use of reclaimed water and stormwater from reservoirs or aquifer storage and recovery systems.

When completed, these projects will collectively provide at least 24 million gallons of additional water per day, protecting freshwater supplies by enhancing alternative sources.

This year, 20 projects throughout the district’s 16-county region received funding assistance.

“These projects demonstrate the commitment of local governments to provide a reliable and sustainable water supply for their communities,” said Eric Buermann, Governing Board chairman for the water management district. “Funding assistance often makes the difference in turning forward-thinking concepts into project realities.”

As part of the district’s selection process, alternative water supply project proposals were evaluated for meeting funding criteria, such as minimizing impact on existing water resources, reducing local competition for water and producing a high quantity of alternative water supply relative to project cost.

In addition, the projects were required to be ready for construction upon grant award and be consistent with existing regional water supply plans.

The district administers funds through the Alternative Water Supply Funding Program. Cities, utilities, homeowners associations, community development districts and other water users and suppliers can be awarded up to 40 percent of a project’s construction costs, based on total funding available and project type.

Project sponsors finance the balance, although economically disadvantaged communities may be eligible for full funding.

Florida’s growing population has focused attention on future availability of sufficient water supplies. Since 2005, the state legislature has approved annual funding for diversifying water resources, especially the development of alternative water supplies.

With the latest round of grants, the district and the state of Florida have invested $126 million over the past four years to fund 238 alternative water supply projects. In total, these projects are adding nearly 300 million gallons per day of “new” water to the regional supply.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, July 30, 2008 (ENS) – Map specialists, scientists and vegetation experts at the South Florida Water Management District have created the most detailed vegetation maps ever produced of the southern Everglades, giving water and land managers an additional tool to guide Everglades restoration.

The new vegetation maps identify the locations of exotic and native species across several thousand square miles in South Florida, providing a baseline to measure improvements from hydrologic and water quality restoration programs.

“Breaking new ground is part of what is required for Everglades restoration success,” said SFWMD Executive Director Carol Ann Wehle. “We are continually broadening our scientific understanding of the unique Everglades ecosystem and applying what we learn to maximize restoration results.”

Details on the maps can be combined with other data about a specific area – such as its wildlife population, soil chemistry and water quality – to get a broader picture of Everglades health.

The Everglades is a mosaic of sawgrass prairies, hardwood hammocks, cypress swamps, coastal lagoons, mangroves and pinelands.

Once a vast, free-flowing river of grass extending from the Kissimmee chain of lakes to Florida Bay, the Everglades is now an ecosystem in peril.

People started to affect the Everglades in the late 1800s, when canals were dug to begin draining south Florida. These changes continued throughout the 20th century, as more than 1,700 miles of canals and levees changed the landscape, interrupting the Everglades’ natural sheetflow and sending valuable freshwater to sea.

More than half the Everglades wetlands were lost to development.

One of many distinctive plants in the
Everglades. (Photo courtesy Andrews
U. Dept. Biology)

To generate a map of Everglades Water Conservation Area 1 in Palm Beach County showing conditions there today, detailed analyses were completed for more than 220,000 grid cells identified in 2004 aerial imagery.

Mapping specialists identified the vegetation density of native species, exotics and cattail using state-of-the-art computer technology.

On-site visits to 775 locations in the water conservation area were used to verify the aerial data. Overall map accuracy was measured at more than 93 percent, evidence of the success of this mapping approach.

Vegetation maps have been completed for Everglades Water Conservation Area 1 and Water Conservation Area 2 in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

District scientists are now generating similar maps for Everglades National Park, Water Conservation Area 3 in Broward County, portions of Big Cypress National Preserve and areas within the southeastern coastal wetlands of Florida.

When mapping is complete, the district will have vegetation information reflecting 4,200 square miles of the southern Everglades.

Finalized maps will soon be publicly available online. District specialists plan to update the maps every six years.

The State of Florida, the Florida Legislature and the South Florida Water Management District have appropriated $2.4 billion toward the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. An additional $1.8 billion has been invested in Everglades water quality improvements.

Renowned for its abundant wildlife, the Everglades is inhabited by several species of large wading birds such as the roseate spoonbill, the wood stork, the great blue heron and a variety of egrets.

The mix of salt and freshwater makes it the only place on Earth where alligators and crocodiles share the same habitat.

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, June 25, 2008 (ENS) – The largest U.S. producer of cane sugar, U.S. Sugar Corp., would close up shop under a $1.75 billion agreement to sell its 292 square miles of land to Florida for Everglades restoration, the company president and Florida Governor Charlie Crist said Tuesday.

The deal, announced at a news conference at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, allows the state to buy U.S. Sugar’s holdings in the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee, the heart of the wetland ecosystem.

Negotiations are now taking place, and officials hope to sign an agreement by year end. Once the deal is signed, U.S. Sugar would be able to farm the 187,000 acres of land for six more years before going out of business.

The announcement kicks off the 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate, which begins today in Miami.

“Sixty years ago, President Harry Truman came to South Florida to dedicate Everglades National Park. Today, we follow in the great footsteps and in the tradition of the great conservationist President Teddy Roosevelt,” said Governor Crist. “We continue their legacy of permanent preservation of the one of the most unique landscapes of our country and on the planet.”

The South Florida Water Management District, SFWMD, will negotiate the agreement to acquire as much as 187,000 acres of agricultural land – an area three times the size of the city of Orlando.

U.S. Sugar Corp. lands will be
acquired by the State of Florida.
(Photo courtesy U.S. Sugar)

The land would be used to reestablish a part of the connection between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades through a managed system of water storage and treatment and, at the same time, safeguard the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and estuaries.

“We have an opportunity to provide the critical missing link in our restoration activities. I can envision no better gift to the Everglades, or the people of Florida, or to our country than to place in public ownership this missing link that represents the key to true restoration,” said the governor.

“This is a watershed event in national conservation history, and a paradigm shift for the Everglades and the environment in Florida, one that would have been inconceivable in years past. Yet, here we are,” said Robert Buker, president and CEO of U.S. Sugar.

“We built a company that right now is the pillar of the agriculture community in Florida,” Buker said. “Because of that, I stand here today with mixed feelings.”

“On the other hand,” he said, “I’m excited about what we’re doing here today.”

Buker acknowledged that the sugar industry’s presence in the Everglades has led to years of “partial fixes” as the state works to restore the River of Grass.

In addition to the land, the district will also take into public ownership the company’s assets, including 200 miles of railroad, a state-of-the-art sugar mill, sugar refinery and citrus processing plant.

“America’s River of Grass sustains life for so much and so many. Today it receives its lifeline,” said Everglades Foundation Vice Chairperson Mary Barley. “A restored and sustained Everglades is no longer a dream. History will record this action as the point that brought it within our reach.”

Sandhill cranes on U.S. Sugar
Corp. land (Photo courtesy
U.S. Sugar)

The Everglades once covered almost 11,000 square miles of south Florida. A century ago, water flowed down the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee, then south through the Everglades to the Florida Bay. But the marshland has been drained for agriculture, development and flood control, and the Everglades today is half the size it was 100 years ago.

Converting more land in the Everglades Agricultural Area to restoration will build upon and enhance the 30-year state-federal Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and the state of Florida’s Northern Everglades program to restore and protect Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and their estuaries, say water managers.

The land acquisition would allow for huge increases in the availability of water storage, reducing the potential for harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee to Florida’s coastal rivers and estuaries when lake levels are high.

It would enable delivery of cleaner water to the Everglades during dry times and greater water storage to protect the natural system during wet years.

The land acquisition would prevent thousands of tons of the nutrient phosphorus from entering the Everglades every year. Used as a fertilizer for sugar production, phosphorus runoff pollutes the water to 20 times the tolerable level, endangering native wildlife.

Phosphorus changes the chemistry of the water and destroys the microbial populations, an essential source of food for many aquatic organisms, which then do not flourish. As one result, 90 percent of the wading birds in the Everglades have disappeared and 68 species of plants and animals are either endangered or threatened.

The land acquisition would eliminate the need for “back-pumping” water into Lake Okeechobee from the Everglades Agricultural Area to augment the water supply needs. The district’s Governing Board this year voted not to back-pump into the lake during the ongoing water shortage to protect water quality.

It would create additional water storage alternatives, relieving some pressures on the Herbert Hoover Dike while the federal government undertakes repairs.

Governor Crist stood as official witness as South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Vice Chair Shannon Estenoz signed a “Statement of Principles” with Buker, providing the framework for acquisition of the property.

“The significance of this moment will forever be recorded in Florida’s environmental history,” said Estenoz. “Today, we offer the Everglades restoration opportunities once thought impossible; environmental progress once considered unachievable; and protections just a decade ago believed unattainable. History will mark today as a watershed event for restoring our beloved national treasure – the Everglades.”

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, March 8, 2008 (ENS) – South Florida experienced a severe water shortage during Water Year 2007, more than a foot below historic averages for the region. From May 1, 2006 to April 31, 2007, low rainfall reduced flows across the entire region, according the annual report released Tuesday by Florida state agencies.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and South Florida Water Management District report details a year of scientific, engineering and restoration work to improve the environmental quality of the Everglades and the entire South Florida ecosystem.

“Despite the hardships associated with a severe regional water shortage, low water levels provided unique opportunities for environmental restoration over the past year,” said DEP Secretary Michael Sole. “This report captures the cutting-edge science behind the efforts, as well as the hard work of dedicated state of Florida employees.”

Wetland in the Everglades Agricultural
Area (Photo courtesy USGS)

Made up of more than 50 individual reports, the document offers research summaries, data analyses, financial updates and a searchable database of environmental projects throughout the Everglades, Kissimmee Basin, Lake Okeechobee, and South Florida’s estuaries and coastal areas.

“The comprehensive data captured in the 2008 South Florida Environmental Report supports prudent environmental decision-making and represents the scientific basis for our agencies’ environmental initiatives,” said Carol Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District. “It documents and demonstrates Florida’s commitment to restoration.”

The 2007 water shortage conditions were most pronounced in Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater body wholly within the continental United States, where water levels reached an all-time record low of 8.82 feet above sea level on July 2, 2007.

Still, low water levels provided opportunities for lake management and restoration. During the summer of 2007, two million cubic yards of muck were removed from 2,000 acres of shoreline in Lake Okeechobee.

This dredging is expected to restore habitat for submerged aquatic vegetation and native plants and wildlife, and provided the added benefit of removing about 237 metric tons of phosphorus from the lake.

Lake Okeechobee and its watershed are key components of South Florida’s Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades ecosystem extending from the Kissimmee River in the north to Florida Bay in the south.

During the 20th Century, much of the land around the lake was converted to agricultural use. To the north, dairy and cattle ranching industries developed while in the south, sugar cane and vegetable farming increased. Changes in land use resulted in increased deposits of the nutrients phosphorus and nitrogen into the lake especially when stormwater runoff occurred.

The excess nutrients supported blooms of toxic blue-green algae, which covered more than 40 percent of the lake surface in the1980s.

Since 1994, South Florida’s six stormwater treatment areas, together with farming best management practices in the Everglades Agricultural Area, have prevented nearly 2,700 metric tons of phosphorus from entering the southern Everglades, according to the report.

During Water Year 2007, South Florida’s 45,000 acres of treatment wetlands captured more than 900,000 acre-feet of water headed for the Everglades and retained 153 metric tons of phosphorous, the report shows, reducing phosphorous inflows to the Everglades by 71 percent, the 12th consecutive year of phosphorus reductions.

Efforts to control exotic species included an accelerated invasive plant management program in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. Biological agents were released to control the spread of melaleuca and Old World Climbing Fern (Lygodium), as well as the Mexican bromeliad weevil.

In a continuing partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District, Phase I restoration of the Kissimmee River has reconnected 15 miles of former river channel to its floodplain.

Completed in September 2007, backfilling of nearly two miles of canal re-established flow in four new miles of river channel and allowed inundation of 155 acres of floodplain wetlands.

The State of Florida, the Florida Legislature and the South Florida Water Management District have invested more than $2.4 billion toward the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the 50-50 state and federal partnership to restore, protect and preserve the water resources of central and southern Florida.

An additional $1.8 billion has been invested by the state in Everglades water quality improvements, with $250 million committed to the Lake Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Plan and the Northern Everglades Initiative.

The 2008 South Florida Environmental Report is online at www.sfwmd.gov.

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ORLANDO, Florida, March 4, 2008 (ENS) – The Everglades snail kite is getting some help nesting this year from the South Florida Water Management District. Each year, usually in the middle of March, the district begins to bring down the lakes of the Kissimmee Chain to create the flood storage necessary during the hurricane season, opening June 1.

In recent years, the snail kite has found a home on East Lake and Lake Tohopekaliga. The bird is a locally endangered species in the Florida Everglades, with a population of less than 400 breeding pairs.

Snail kite (Photo by
Fernando Biolé)

Both lakes offer the endangered bird its favorite prey – the apple snail – and suitable shoreline vegetation for nesting. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife research, the kites do better when water levels fall more slowly.

Kites nest over water to keep their eggs away from predators, but rapidly falling lake levels can expose the nests before the young fledge.

Researchers also believe that starting the spring lowering of lake levels early in the nesting season may provide a cue to nesting kites, prompting an expectation of receding water.

For that reason, beginning in 2006, the schedule of how lake levels are managed on East Lake Toho and Lake Tohopekaliga was modified to begin the lake-level recession in mid-February, which allowed the lakes to fall more gradually and in a more kite-friendly fashion.

On East Lake, the low, or summer pool is 55 feet above mean sea level, while Lake Tohopekaliga falls to 52 feet above mean sea level. Once the hurricane season passes, the lakes are allowed to rise to high pool, which is 58 feet on East Lake and 55 feet above mean sea level on Lake Tohopekaliga.

The adjustments to the regulation schedule allow South Florida Water Management District to meet its flood control mandate while offering the kites more favorable nesting conditions.

“We must move water to meet our mission of flood protection,” said Eric Buermann, chairman of the district Governing Board. “But because our staff is working closely with researchers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it appears that we’ve struck a reasonable solution that serves both our human and winged constituents.”

Larry Rosen of the Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society Chapter approves. “Degraded habitat in South Florida has created serious challenges for the Everglades snail kite, so Audubon certainly supports efforts that will improve nesting success on these lakes for this important and endangered species.”

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, January 8, 2008 (ENS) – The past two years have been the driest back-to-back calendar years in South Florida since rainfall recordkeeping began in 1932, meteorologists at the South Florida Water Management District confirmed today.

The 2006-2007 rainfall total of 83.63 inches district-wide displaces by nearly an inch the previous low of 84.59 inches that fell 50 years ago in 1955-56.

Last year was the ninth-driest year in the 76-year record with rainfall of just 42.88 inches, across the district, 82 percent of the historical average,

It followed rainfall of only 40.75 inches in 2006, the sixth-driest year on record.

The combined two-year total is nearly two feet less than the historical district-wide average of 104.5 inches for a typical two-year period.

“The district’s rainfall data confirms that South Florida is still in the grips of a severe regional drought, which has led to a multi-year water shortage the likes of which we have never experienced,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann.

“South Florida residents – as well as water managers – must live with limited water supplies this dry season, and we all must practice conservation and follow the one-day-a-week restrictions if we are to successfully minimize the impacts of this water shortage,” he said.

All during 2007, the district imposed one new water restriction after another in an effort to conserve scant water supplies.

Now, the most restrictive rules ever imposed in South Florida take effect next week.

In December and for the first time in the agency’s history, the district declared an extreme water shortage, and established a one-day-a-week watering schedule for residential landscape irrigation.

Water management is easier
when plants with similar water
needs are grouped together,
advises the South Florida Water
Management District. (Photo
courtesy SFWMD)

Landscape irrigation accounts for up to half of all household water consumption in the state of Florida and totals more than seven billion gallons per day nationwide.

The new restrictions become effective Tuesday, January 15. Enforcement, including issuing of of civil fines and notices of violation will begin on that date. For information on watering days and times, as well as restrictions on specific use classes, visit www.sfwmd.gov/conserve.

All of the district’s major basins, except for residential areas of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, experienced below average rainfall in 2007.

“Although some southeastern counties have enjoyed average or above average rainfall this year, we have limited storage options in these densely populated areas, limiting our ability to capture large quantities of water,” said Carol Ann Wehle, the district’s executive director.

“The lack of rainfall in central and northern portions of the district is a concern for all of us because virtually all residential areas depend on it to augment their water supplies,” she said.

Surface water and groundwater levels across most of the district remain unseasonably low and continue to decline due to below average dry season rainfall.

Water levels in Lakes Istokpoga and Kissimmee, for instance, are well below regulation schedules established by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, while water levels in Kissimmee Basin monitoring wells are within the lowest 10 percent of historic elevations, the district meteorologists said.

The Lake Okeechobee basin received 30.71 inches of rain, about 67 percent of that basin’s historical average, or a deficit of nearly 15 inches for the year.

At 10.12 feet above sea level Monday, Lake Okeechobee remains more than four feet below its historical average – and nearly a foot below previous historic lows – for this time of year.

In fact, water levels in the lake have been setting new record daily lows for more than seven months, said Wehle.

Lake Okeechobee is the source of water for 500,000 acres of farmland in the Everglades Agricultural Area and serves as a primary back-up supply to more than five million South Floridians.

Groundwater levels in Lee, Collier and other west coast counties remain between two and four feet lower today than this time last year, with many monitoring wells already inside the lowest 10 percent of their historic water elevations.

For additional information on the water shortage, irrigation restrictions or water conservation, call the district’s toll-free Water Conservation Hotline at 1-800-662-8876. Helpful water conservation tips also are available at www.savewaterfl.com.

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