Florida

A Water Resources Manual from Floridas Water Management Districts

Credits

AuthorElizabeth D. Purdum

Institute of Science and Public AffairsFlorida State University

CartographerPeter A. Krafft

Institute of Science and Public AffairsFlorida State University

Graphic Layout and DesignJim Anderson, Florida State University

Pati Twardosky, Southwest Florida Water Management District

Project ManagerBeth Bartos, Southwest Florida Water Management District

Project CoordinatorsSally McPherson, South Florida Water Management District

Georgann Penson, Northwest Florida Water Management DistrictEileen Tramontana, St. Johns River Water Management District

For more information or to request additional copies,contact the following water management districts:

Northwest Florida Water Management District850-539-5999 www.state.fl.us/nwfwmd

St. Johns River Water Management District800-451-7106 www.sjrwmd.com

South Florida Water Management District800-432-2045 www.sfwmd.gov

Southwest Florida Water Management District800-423-1476 www.WaterMatters.org

Suwannee River Water Management District800-226-1066 www.mysuwanneeriver.com

The water management districts do not discriminate upon the basis of any individuals disability status.Anyone requiring reasonable accommodation under the ADA should contact the Communications andCommunity Affairs Department of the Southwest Florida Water Management District at (352) 796-7211or 1-800-423-1476 (Florida only), extension 4757; TDD only 1-800-231-6103 (Florida only).

April 2002

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Contents

CHAPTER 1

THE HUMAN FRAMEWORKThe First Floridians 2Drainage, Flood Control and Navigation 6Modern Water Management 10

1970s 101980s 131990s 13

Conclusion 14The Human Framework Time Line 18

CHAPTER 2

WATER: ITS MAGIC 34Waters Structure 35

Waters Amazing Properties 35Global Water Cycle 36Water Cycle in Florida 37Weather and Climate 40

Floods and Droughts 41Storms 43

The Global Picture 46

El Nio and La Nia 46

Global Warming 48Conclusion 48

CHAPTER 3

FLORIDAS WATER RESOURCES 49Watersheds 50Ground Water 53

Aquifers 53Sinkholes 55Springs 57

Surface Water 57Rivers 57Lakes 59Wetlands 59Estuaries 62

Conclusion 62 iiiii

CHAPTER 4

WATER AND LIFE: NATURAL SYSTEMS . . . . . . 63Ancient Origins 63Ecosystems 65

Soils 66Ecosystem Processes: Water and Fire 68

Natural Communities 68Conclusion 73

CHAPTER 5

WATER SUPPLY AND WATER QUALITY. . . . . . . 74Water Use 76

Definitions 76Types of Uses 76Worldwide Water Use and Trends 78Florida Water Use and Trends 79

Water Reuse 80Water Quality 81

Causes and Sources of Water Pollution 82Florida Water Quality and Trends 83

Conclusion 85

CHAPTER 6

FORWARD TO THE PAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Restoration 87

Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades Restoration 87Tampa Bay 91Upper St. Johns River Basin 93Longleaf Pine Restoration 94Suwannee River Basin 95

Conclusion 95

LINKS TO PROJECT WET ACTIVITIES. . . . . . . . . 96GLOSSARY 99REFERENCES 103

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INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 1

The Human Framework

We see things not as they are, but as we are.

Henry Major Tomlinson, Out of Soundings, 1931

KEY IDEASKEY IDEASKEY IDEASKEY IDEASKEY IDEAS

Water has played a critical role in thesettlement of Florida since the firsthumans arrived around 14,000 yearsago.

Water resources exist within legal,social, economic and political contexts.

Early in Floridas development as a state,the main themes of water managementwere drainage, flood control andnavigation.

Today, Floridians are actively seekingways to preserve, protect and restorewater resources.

Modern water management in Florida isgoverned by the Water Resources Act of1972, one of the most innovative laws ofits kind in the nation.

VOCABULARYVOCABULARYVOCABULARYVOCABULARYVOCABULARY

Drainage

Ecosystem restoration

Flood control

Hammocks

Land acquisition

Limestone

Minimum flows and levels

Navigation

Prior appropriation

Reasonable and beneficial use

Riparian

Savanna

Water allocation

Water supply

In Florida for at least 14,000 years,human settlement has been shaped bywater. Although its official nickname isThe Sunshine State, Florida could verywell be called The Water State. Florida issurrounded on three sides by water. Itslandmass is underlain by water-filledlimestone: highly porous rock formed overmillennia from shells and bones of seaanimals. The Florida Keys, a gentle arc ofislands extending 93 kilometers (150 miles)south of the peninsula to Key West, arecoral rock covered in most places with athin layer of sand. Floridas abundance ofsinkholes, springs, rivers and lakes is partlythe result of the rising and falling of sealevel. The sea is also largely responsible forthe states many bays, inlets and islands.On average, more rain falls in Florida (135centimeters or 53 inches) per year than inany other state in the nation besidesLouisiana, which receives an average of140 centimeters (55 inches) (Henry et al.1994). In Florida, rain does not always fallwhen and where it is needed, andsometimes too much rain falls too quickly.

Water management in Florida todayhas evolved from lessons learned throughexperience, as well as from changingphilosophies about natural resources andthe environment. Early in the stateshistory, Floridians were most concernedabout drainage, flood control andnavigation. Natural resources were to beused, controlled and modified. Wetlandswere drained for farms, groves and houses.Canals were cut to facilitate drainage andto improve navigation. Floodwaters wereheld back with engineering works. Wasteswere discharged without treatment intorivers, lakes and coastal waters. Floridawas thought to have too much

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water. Now, the value and the finite natureof Floridas water resources are clear. Watermanagers today are concerned with waterquality protection, water supply planningand water resources development, and

preservation and protection of the naturalenvironment. Conserving, protecting andrestoring natural systems, while ensuringan adequate supply of water, remains oneof Floridas greatest challenges.

The First FloridiansThe First FloridiansThe First FloridiansThe First FloridiansThe First Floridians

About 14,000 years ago, people firstentered the Florida peninsula. Known asPaleoindians, these original Floridianssurvived by hunting mastodons, camels,mammoths, bison and horses. At the time,much of the worlds water was frozen inglaciers, sea level was much lower than it istoday, and Florida was a dry, large, grassyprairie. Many present-day rivers, springsand lakes had yet to be formed; evengroundwater levels were far lower thanthey are today. Sources of fresh water werelimited, and finding them was critical tothe survival of the Paleoindians and theanimals they hunted for food. ThePaleoindians lived and hunted near springsand lakes. Many of these sites are nowunder water. Archeologists have foundbone and stone weapons and tools inmany springs and rivers, and even offshorein the Gulf of Mexico.

About 9000 B.C., glaciers melted, sealevel rose and Floridas climate becamewetter. As forests replaced grasslands, biggame animals disappeared. A largernumber of rivers and lakes afforded manymore suitable places for people to live. By3000 B.C., when Floridas climate becamesimilar to todays climate, people occupiedalmost every part of the present state.Numerous settlements developed incoastal regions in southwest, northwestand northeast Florida, as well as along theSt. Johns River (Milanich 1995). Peopletook full advantage of the plentiful supplyof fish and shellfish. Along the coasts andthe banks of rivers and bays, huge moundsof shells from millions of prehistoric mealsbegan to accumulate.

When Spanish explorers arrived inFlorida in the 1500s, an estimated

350,000 Native Americans were livingthroughout the present-day state

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(Milanich 1995). The Apalachee andTimucuan in the north were farmers andgrew corn, beans and squash. Their largevillages were often located near the regionsmany lakes and rivers. Although they grewfood, the Apalachee and Timucuan stillobtained part of their diet from hunting,fishing and gathering of wild plants. TheNative Americans living in the southernpart of the peninsula continued to liveexclusively off the natural bounty of theland and the sea.

The Belle Glade people lived on thevast savanna around Lake Okeechobee.They built villages on mounds and earthenembankments, and connected them bycanoe highways.

Along the southwest coast, aremarkable people called the Calusa livedby fishing, gathering shellfish, collectingplants and hunting. The Seminole Indianslater immortalized the Calusa by namingthe major river in the region theCaloosahatchee, river of the Calusa. Asingle chief ruled the Calusas vast domain.They lived in large villages and developedelaborate political, social and tradenetworks, as well as highly sophisticatedart. They traveled into the gulf in canoeslashed together to form catamarans. Thislevel of cultural development is usuallyonly obtained with agriculture. Only bygrowing crops do people usually haveenough food to support villages and toallow some individuals to specialize inpursuits other than obtaining food.However, the Calu