As South Florida's regional water management agency, the South Florida Water Management District is responsible for providing flood control, restoring natural systems and ensuring a sustainable water supply for more than 7.7 million residents.

This can be a daunting task. One of the most challenging aspects of water management in South Florida is not the 50-plus inches of rain that falls in our backyards each year. Rather, it is finding a place to store that water for beneficial use during dry times.

South Florida's flat landscape means that when it rains, without storage, water must be discharged through our extensive canal system to the ocean to prevent flooding. To capture this "lost" water and use it to support Everglades restoration and regional water supply needs, the district is working hard to identify and implement storage solutions. These can come in many shapes and sizes, from aboveground reservoirs and deep injection wells to shallow storage on agricultural lands.

A unique geological formation in Palm Beach County is providing us with one of the more creative water storage solutions. The 950-acre L-8 reservoir is a strategically located former rock mine with a watertight geology. A component of Everglades restoration, this deep-ground reservoir will contribute to cleaner water for the Everglades, restoration of the Loxahatchee River and improved water quality in the Lake Worth Lagoon. Along with environmental benefits, it also offers residential advantages such as flood control and supplementing urban water supplies.

Approved in 2002, this first-of-its-kind project provides 15 billion gallons of water storage, enough to fill 24,000 football fields one foot deep in water. And, at an investment of $6,000 per acre-foot, the rock mine saves taxpayers millions of dollars compared to constructing an aboveground reservoir.

Since its acquisition, various criticisms have been leveled at the L-8 reservoir. The fact is that this reservoir is a viable project capable of delivering results and the return on investment we expect to achieve. When I became the district's executive director last June, I prioritized this project to get it operating as promised. Here's the good news: The district has now issued a Request for Qualifications from firms to design and build the massive pump station needed to move water out of the reservoir and deliver it to the natural system. This is a giant leap forward, and it means we are on our way to project completion — and project results.

It's important to note that instead of sitting idle, the L-8 reservoir has provided interim benefits. During the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, the reservoir provided much-needed water storage that reduced residential flooding.

In 2007, the City of West Palm Beach utilized more than 600 million gallons of water from the reservoir during the drought. Residents were again able to rely on the L-8 reservoir for their water supply this past summer when the city's water resources ran dangerously low. In 2009, FPL used reservoir water for its cooling system, conserving millions of gallons of groundwater. And, most recently, the district utilized small pumps to send fresh water from the reservoir north to the Loxahatchee River during 2011's dry conditions. This pilot project demonstrated that the L-8 reservoir works.

Nearby to the L-8 project, another rock pit is under construction. Known as the C-51 reservoir, this project is being analyzed by the district and a coalition of utilities as a potential public water supply source. Under the right conditions, the C-51 could potentially store water currently lost to tide and deliver it to recharge wellfields. Similar to the L-8 project, it is a viable concept that could be utilized to effectively meet future water supply demands and improve the Lake Worth Lagoon. While the challenges are in the details, the project deserves a thorough evaluation and our continued dialogue.

Balancing the district's missions of flood control, water supply and restoration often requires innovative thinking, which both of these reservoirs represent. Add in creative partnerships, perseverance and continued collaboration, and we have a formula for success.

Melissa L. Meeker is the executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

Blue Spring. Photo Credit: systemslibrarian

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and Nathaniel P. Reed of Hobe Sound were among the speakers in November during an environmental rally outside the Capitol. They called on Gov. Rick Scott to show leadership on environmental issues and for the Legislature to undo some of the harmful law and budget changes they said occurred during 2011. Environmentalists didn't get what they were calling for, but they may have somewhat begun to turn the tide that has been running against the programs they support. Any success those groups enjoyed during the 2012 session may be better measured not by what was passed as by what didn't pass. Efforts to restrict local fertilizer ordinances and to encourage oil drilling on state lands failed. Other bills were modified to gain environmental support. However, a bill repealing the statewide requirement for septic tank inspections passed. The Sierra Club and Florida Stormwater Association opposed the bill's new restrictions on local septic tank inspection programs. Meanwhile, visitors to state trails and state parks could see advertising and herds of African wildlife. The Florida Forever land-buying program and Everglades restoration received some funding, but not as much as environmentalists had hoped. 

KEY ISSUES

TRAILS, STATE LANDS: SB 268, which is headed to the governor, allows businesses and groups to sponsor trails and put their advertisements at trailheads. The bill still faces opposition because it allows the Department of Environmental Protection to negotiate agreements for trails other than the seven identified in the bill. … HB 1117, which is headed to the governor, would allow giraffes, elephants, rhinos and other zoo animals to roam state parks with approval by the Cabinet.  .... A provision in SB 1998, a budget conforming bill related to transportation that is headed to the governor, requires an expedited hearing process for a legal challenge to the proposed dredging in Biscayne Bay to deepen the port of Miami. ... HB 1103, which environmentalists opposed as a state-lands giveaway by changing the definition of submerged state lands, stalled after its first committee stop. ... HB 695, encouraging oil and gas exploration and drilling on state lands, died on the House calendar.

WATER QUALITY: The 2010 requirement for septic tank inspections statewide will be repealed if Gov. Rick Scott signs HB 1263. That Department of Health reorganization bill contained the language from HB 599. The bill also places limits on local septic tank inspection programs, prohibits inspection requirements when a home is sold, and prohibits local ordinances requiring advanced "performance-based" septic tanks until a DOH study is completed. … The Legislature in HB 7051 waived approval of water quality rules proposed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Those rules, which face a legal challenge filed by environmental groups, would replace federal rules that utilities and industry groups oppose. The bill was signed by Scott on Feb. 16. … There was a fight again this year between environmentalists and the landscaping industry over local fertilizer regulations. SB 604, exempting certified landscaping professionals from local ordinances, was killed by the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation by a 4-3 vote.

WATER POLICY AND PERMITTING: HB 503 resembled an environmental permit streamlining bill that passed the House last year but wasn't voted on in the Senate. Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, was praised by environmentalists for resolving a variety of concerns. The bill also fixes 2010 recycling legislation that would have allowed counties to claim recycling rates in excess of 100 percent. … Environmentalists also backed HB 639 dealing with treated wastewater after an objectionable provision was removed. The bill encourages the use of such "reclaimed water" by exempting it from water management district permitting. … HB 1389, which would exempt landowners from wetland regulations for participating in environmental water storage programs, passed during the final day of the session. … HB 7003 directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to undertake writing a statewide Environmental Resource Permit rule. … HB 7045 allowing permits for up to 37 years for alternative water supply projects passed the House 116-0 but wasn't taken up by the Senate.

BUDGET: SB 1986, a budget conforming bill that lifts the property tax revenue caps imposed in 2011 by the Legislature, passed the House and Senate. The Florida Conservation Coalition initially opposed a requirement in the bill for legislative approval but dropped its opposition after the language was modified … After vetoing Florida Forever spending authority last year, Gov. Rick Scott requested $15 million for the program in fiscal year 2012-13. The Legislature provided $8.3 million. … Scott also requested $40 million for Everglades restoration. The Legislature provided $30 million for Everglades restoration plus $5 million for the northern Everglades (north of Lake Okeechobee) and estuaries programs. ... The budget also includes $10 million for beach sand restoration projects, $4.8 million in debt service towards a $50-million wastewater plant in the Florida Keys, $5.6 million for St. Johns River restoration projects, $125 million for petroleum contamination sites and $4.8 million for Lake Apopka restoration.

AGRICULTURE: HB 1197, which gives the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services sole authority to regulate beekeeping, is on its way to the governor. Language from other bills that were languishing was added to HB 1197, including an exemption from local government stormwater fees for farms. Citrus harvesting equipment and fruit loaders would be added to the list of farming vehicles that are exempt from paying state motor fuel taxes. The beekeeping provisions of HB 1197 were prompted by local restrictions on beekeeping cropping up in some suburban areas. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for a veto because of a Senate amendment the group says would allow chicks and bunnies to be sold at Easter and then discarded. ... HB 1237, which returns the executive director of the Department of Citrus to being an appointed position without Senate confirmation, also is headed to the governor.

 

A comprehensive list of Environment and Natural Resources legislation that was passed during the 2012 Regular Session can be found here.

 

Reporter Bruce Ritchie can be reached at britchie@thefloridacurrent.com.

  

Delicate operation

OUR OPINION: Safety is of the utmost importance in sewage-pipeline replacement

By The Miami Herald Editorial

HeraldEd@MiamiHerald.com

There is only one chance to get this right. Miami-Dade County and cities along the shore are facing a plumbing job so delicate — and so imperative — that, if botched, could mean economic and environmental disaster. A deteriorating pipeline in Government Cut that carries 25 million gallons of raw sewage a day has deteriorated so much in three places that it could rupture just from continued normal use.

This is the bad news from an inspector’s study commissioned last August. The good news is that the county commissioned the study in the first place. Too bad that it wasn’t done earlier, however — much earlier. The pipe carries waste from Miami Beach, Surfside and Bal Harbour to a treatment plant on Virginia Key. It’s about to be replaced with a pipeline laid much deeper. Now the conduit stands in the path of a massive Port of Miami dredging project to deepen the port so that it can accommodate supersized cargo ships coming from the Panama Canal.

U.S. cracks down on python sales

By CURTIS MORGAN

MIAMI -- The federal government branded the Burmese python, infamous for swallowing a smorgasbord of Everglades critters from rabbits to gators, a serpent non grata on Tuesday.

The action, which will ban the import and interstate sale of the python and three other giant exotic constrictors, was hailed by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Florida Sen. Bill Nelson as a milestone for Everglades protection.

"It does us no good to put in these billions of dollars in investments in the Everglades only to have these giant snakes come and undo all the good we are doing," said Salazar, who announced the decision during a news conference along Tamiami Trial near an on-going $80 million bridge project that is key to restoring natural water flow in the Everglades.

Judge offers qualified praise for state Glades efforts

Though encouraged by a new pollution clean-up plan touted by Gov. Rick Scott, a Miami federal judge presses state and federal agencies to commit to paying for work that could cost $1 billion or more.

 

By CURTIS MORGAN

Cmorgan@Miamiherald.com

 

A Miami federal judge on Thursday commended Gov. Rick Scott for stepping in with a proposal to bust open a legal logjam that for two decades has hampered efforts to stem the flow of pollution into the Everglades.

 

But the praise from U.S. District Judge Alan Gold was delivered in a cautious tone and included a message that might be summed up by that familiar line from Jerry Maguire: Show me the money.

 

Gold, who has issued a series of rulings blasting the “glacial delay’’ in the federally mandated clean-up, urged state and federal environmental managers negotiating a new Everglades clean-up strategy to come back with a firm plan for both protecting the marsh and — just as important — paying for projects that could easily approach $1 billion or more.

 

While he said he was encouraged by ongoing talks to resolve two long-running federal lawsuits over farm, ranch and yard pollution poisoning the River of Grass, he cautioned that without a firm financial commitment from water managers and the state, “what we’re doing is going around in circles, again.’’

 

 

 

 

The readers’ forum

SFWMD returns to its core mission

A more streamlined, mission-focused budget at the South Florida Water Management District will continue to deliver progress in Everglades restoration without abandoning the science that supports it, as some critics fear. In streamlining operations and returning the agency to its core mission of flood control, water supply and ecosystem restoration, the District is appropriately assessing the scope of science, research and monitoring.

Over the past six years, we have invested more than $250 million in the monitoring and assessment of South Florida’s ecosystem and flood-control system. To gather water-quality information alone, the District annually collects samples from close to 2,000 monitoring stations and runs more than 300,000 laboratory tests. To evaluate water flow, we gather data from 4,500 sensors at more than 500 sites throughout the greater Everglades.

More than $32 million has been committed for monitoring to produce data that will be helpful to restoration projects.

This funding is further enhanced by significant investments made by other government, academic and environmental organizations.

As a partner in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), we also finance a Monitoring and Assessment Program (MAP), in which we have invested $75 million over 10 years together with our federal partners. We now have in hand more than a decade of pre-project data, plus the knowledge that some of the data aren’t as applicable to restoration objectives as originally thought.

As CERP projects become authorized by Congress and construction a reality, we can verify the level of pre-project data and refocus our monitoring efforts on measuring the response of the ecosystem to implemented restoration projects. In the meantime, it’s incumbent upon state, federal and local partners to reevaluate the MAP program. We must strike the right balance between allocating taxpayer dollars toward monitoring the environment and building the projects that will improve it.

Melissa Meeker, executive director, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach