SFWMD Governing Board's Florida Bay Initiative to Increase Clean Water Deliveries Up to 44,000 Acre-Feet of Water a Year into Florida Bay
After two years, innovative project has so far delivered an additional 68,000 acre-feet of water into Florida Bay
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SFWMD's Florida Bay Initiative is moving thousands of acre-feet of fresh water south to the bay each year. Click on the image to see a larger version.
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Homestead, FL - A little over two years since the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board approved a bold plan to help restore Florida Bay, the initiative has delivered a total of more than 68,000 acre-feet of additional clean fresh water into Florida Bay.
Looking to further help Florida Bay, SFWMD has recently completed installation of two additional pumps expected to increase the amount of fresh water flowing into Taylor Slough by up to 10,000 acre-feet per year of water, bringing the total amount of new clean water being delivered to Florida Bay to as much as 44,000 acre-feet per year.
"The actions taken by this Governing Board showcase our dedication to finding solutions in a manner that is most effective and efficient," said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Federico Fernandez. "Florida Bay is a great example of the District delivering beneficial ecosystem results, not just talking about them."
Florida Bay, a largely rainfall-driven system at the southern end of Florida's Everglades between the mainland and the Florida Keys, suffers periodic localized droughts that can lead to elevated salinity levels and
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S-199 pump station. Click on the image to see a larger version. |
seagrass die-offs. After one such localized drought and seagrass die-off in 2015, SFWMD staff came up with a plan to accelerate and augment components of other planned projects in southern Miami-Dade County to deliver more water to Taylor Slough, which flows into eastern Florida Bay.
SFWMD's Governing Board passed what became known as the Florida Bay Initiative in July 2016, implementing a series of canal connections, installation of canal plugs, sealing of discharge basins and other changes
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S-200 pump station. Click on the image to see a larger version. |
to ramp up the delivery of water to Taylor Slough.
Earlier this month, SFWMD finished increasing the capacity of water being pumped through the S-199 and S-200 pump stations near Homestead.
