Susan Sylvester

Department Director

Operations Control Department

Mechanics of the Primary Water Management System

A Brief History of the

Central and Southern Florida Project

http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/ev/index.html

“Life must be lived forwards,

but it can only be understood backwards”

- Soren Kierkegaard

http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/maidment/grad/dugger/GLADES/glades.html

Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades watershed

Once a single hydrologic system of rivers, lakes, and wetlands

Aerial extent 23,000 km2

Early speculation

and reclamation 1882-1947

C&SF Project “Legacy” 1948-1970

Water Management 1971

Repairing the Everglades 1992

Distinct Time periods in the history

of South Florida & the Everglades

The State of Florida. Bruff, Joseph Goldsborough, 1804-1889. [S.l.], 1846.

From U.S. Senate Executive Document v.2 No.2-5, in 30th Cong., 1st Sess.,

1847-48, serial set #504. Scale 1:750,000.

1846 Military

Survey

St Lucie detail

Natural Coastal Creek 1887

1906 dredge Everglades began

digging a canal from the New River (Ft. Lauderdale) to Lake

Okeechobee.

The Swamp Land Act of 1850 transferred

wetlands from the federal government to the states. Florida gave most of its submerged

land to railroad companies and other

developers in exchange for drainage projects

and railroad construction. “You may have these, if you

drain and develop them.”

1913 FL State Geologic Survey

http://palmm.fcla.edu/~fdl/cgi-bin/fdlcgi?rtvm00010016%2Fjpg

http://www.historical-museum.org/exhibits/everglades/roads-4.htm

Early state efforts focused on digging canals in an attempt

to control the hydrologic variation in

the system.

With a goal of drainage and land reclamation for agriculture.

North of Tamiami Trail, 1942

Northwest Dade County, 1944 Everglades Fires in the

Early 1940s

Western Broward County, 1943

Phots courtesy of SFWMD.gov

The floods of 1903 and

1947 and the hurricane of

1926 and 1928 resulted in

institutional changes and

petition to the Federal

Government to provide

flood control.

The state established the

Central and South Florida

Flood Control District.

The focus changed from

reclamation (draining) to flood

control and protection. The

US Army Corps of Engineers

was asked to provide a

comprehensive flood control

project.

This became know as the

Central and Southern Florida

Project for Flood Control and

Other Purposes.

http://www.historical-

museum.org/exhibits/everglades/enp-7.htm

http://www.historical-museum.org/exhibits/everglades/en

p-4.htm

ENP was dedicated in 1947

Central and Southern Florida

Project (1948-1970)

Historic

Flow Current

Flow

Changed Everglades Hydrology

The Corps of Engineers focused on creating a single large integrated system for flood control and water supply.

S-2 (1950)

1,609 miles of canals

and levees.

150 water control

structures

16 major

pumping

stations

Water Management

(1971 -------- )

Water Management (Storage and Conveyance)

• Lakes

• Water Conservation Areas

• Canals and Levees

• Water Control Structures

Operable Culverts Spillways

Pump Stations Weirs

Numbers are approximate and change as structures are added or retired.

Water Control Structures

Seasonal Variation of South Florida Rainfall

Based on Average Rainfall over 30 years.

Jan

Feb Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Wet

months

Dry

Approximate Evaporation

Rainfall above and below the average annual rainfall for 20 stations in South Florida, 1900-2007 (National Climate Center Data).

Annual Variation of South Florida Rainfall

Hydraulic Gradient Based on Historical Average Stage

(CH 2. SFER 2007)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Distance in miles (Lake Tohopekaliga to Florida Bay)

Water surface elevation (ft. NGVD)

Lake Kissimmee

Lake Okeechobee EAA

WCA 3

ENP STAs

Lake Tohopekaliga

FL Bay

WCA 1 WCA 2

160 Drainage Basins

Composed of linked areas that water managers

think of as

“Water Control Units”

Federal and State Responsibilities

Basis of Design and Operation

• USACE Design Memorandums

� Engineering basis of design

• USACE Master Water Control Manuals

� Define specific operational criteria

� Based on the Design Memoranda

“Central and Southern Florida Project for Flood Control and Other Purposes”

Initially authorized in 1948 Constructed between 1950s and 1970s

Operated in accordance with USACE criteria

USACE SFWMD

How operational decisions are made

55 Miles

per Hour

What is a Regulation Schedule?

0 MPH

20 MPH

30 MPH

40 MPH

1st Gear

2nd Gear

3rd Gear

4th Gear

SPEED

What is a Regulation Schedule?

25%

40 %

50 %

100%

Zone D

Zone C

Zone B

Zone A

Discharge

Stage

Flood Control Discharges

Kissimmee River Basin – East Lake Tohopekaliga

Water Supply Releases

Flood Control

Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule - WSE

Water Shortage Management Water Shortage

Zone E

Kissimmee

Fisheating Creek (Uncontrolled)

& C-5

Inflows & Outflows

Lake Okeechobee

Nubbin Slough

Taylor Creek

C-41A, C-40

& C-41

S-308 St Lucie may inflow if Lake is < 14.5

S-2 & S-3 under large rainfall may pump to Lake

S-135

Inflow capacity exceeds outflow capacity

S-77

S-354

C-10

S-351

S-352

Lake Okeechobee's drainage basin covers more than 4,600 square miles

80% East & West

20% South

Kissimmee Inflows

Other Inflows

Rain

LOSA Water Supply

Regulatory to Estuaries

ET

Regulatory to WCAs

Estimated Lake Okeechobee Annual Water Budget

For Ecological Sustainability: 12.5 to 15.5 ft-NGVD

For Dike Stability: < 18.0* ft-NGVD

Deep Pelagic Zone

(Elevation < 10’) Littoral Wetland

(Elevation 11-15’)

Submerged Grass Beds

(Elevation 10-12’)

12-15.5’ variation = healthy littoral and submerged grass beds

Top of Dike (Elevation 32.3 – 45.6’)

Not to Scale

*Less than 17.33 ft-NGVD according to the USACE

Ranges of water levels

Historical Daily Lake Okeechobee Water Level

System Storage

Upper Chain of Lakes

Lake Kissimmee

Lake Istokpoga

Lake Okeechobee

Water Conservation Areas

Average Storage in Lakes and Water Conservation Areas

Questions?