Converted
05-05-2004, 01:01 PM
Please feel free to improve on this any way you can. A couple hundred heads are better than one.:)
DRAFT
May 5, 2004
James C. Duck
Chief, Planning Division
Department of the Army
Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 4970
Jacksonville, Florida 32232-0019
Dear Mr. Duck,
We are writing to address the proposed temporary deviation from the regulation schedule, Water Supply and Environment (WSE) for Lake Okeechobee, Florida.
Lake Levels
It is widely accepted that the ideal lake levels for Lake Okeechobee range from a low of 12 feet to a high of 15 feet. These levels exercise influence well beyond the Hoover dike. In fact, the environmental health of the entire south Florida ecosystem is directly tied to the operation of the Lake. It is critical to the marshes of the lake to have the annual wet-dry cycle operate within these ranges. Extended high lake levels not only burden the marsh, the resultant large scale discharges to tide can have devastating effects of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. We realize that until the additional storage capacities of CERP come online that the lake will have to be kept at a level that will meet the storage demand. We believe that the bottom of the zone D regulation schedule (13.5 – 15.5) is the appropriate target at this time.
Proactive Management
United Waterfowlers – Florida, Inc. (UW-F) supports the temporary deviation to allow water managers to be more proactive in their discharge decisions. Continuous low level or level 1 pulse discharges to the St. Lucie estuary are apparently not having a negative affect on the health of that river system. Additionally, level 1 discharges to the Caloosahatchee river are needed to control saltwater intrusion. We encourage the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to fully model the performance of these discharge levels taking into account historical and predicted weather patterns. The WSE does not allow water levels to be maintained at the bottom of zone D because discharges are rarely called for. The result is a tendency for water levels to raise to the top of zone D which invariable leads to high level discharges to tide and does not allow the proper cycle in the Lake Okeechobee marsh to facilitate productive waterfowl foraging. UW-F would recommend a subdivision of zone D into three parts. Zone D1 would be the bottom third and level 1 pulse discharges to tide would be appropriate. Likewise, zone D2 would be the middle third and would lead to level 2 pulse discharges. The top third would be zone D3 and level 3 discharges to tide would be in order. All discharge decisions in each sub zone would still be influenced by inflow rates and predicted weather patterns.
Sharing the Burden
UW-F is fully supportive of the agricultural interests in Florida. We believe they are a vital part of our economy. We do feel however that current Lake regulation schedules serve to insure against drought conditions that are relatively rare at the expense of the South Florida ecosystem. The impacts of droughts can be dealt with by use of crop insurance and often relief for severe weather related crop damage is given in the subsequent year’s Farm Bill. We encourage the agricultural community to assume a slightly higher risk level and support modestly lower lake levels.
System wide Management.
UW-F was disappointed to see the Lake Toho drawdown proceed when Lake Okeechobee stood at over 15.5 feet. In the coming years we would hope that similar projects would be put on hold until Lake Okeechobee is ready to receive the additional inflows. We commend the SFWMD staff and private land owners for coming together and developing a solution that surely saved the estuaries from farther harm. This is the type of partnership that is needed now and into the future.
Sincerely,
David Lithgow
United Waterfowlers - Florida, Inc.
DRAFT
May 5, 2004
James C. Duck
Chief, Planning Division
Department of the Army
Jacksonville District Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 4970
Jacksonville, Florida 32232-0019
Dear Mr. Duck,
We are writing to address the proposed temporary deviation from the regulation schedule, Water Supply and Environment (WSE) for Lake Okeechobee, Florida.
Lake Levels
It is widely accepted that the ideal lake levels for Lake Okeechobee range from a low of 12 feet to a high of 15 feet. These levels exercise influence well beyond the Hoover dike. In fact, the environmental health of the entire south Florida ecosystem is directly tied to the operation of the Lake. It is critical to the marshes of the lake to have the annual wet-dry cycle operate within these ranges. Extended high lake levels not only burden the marsh, the resultant large scale discharges to tide can have devastating effects of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. We realize that until the additional storage capacities of CERP come online that the lake will have to be kept at a level that will meet the storage demand. We believe that the bottom of the zone D regulation schedule (13.5 – 15.5) is the appropriate target at this time.
Proactive Management
United Waterfowlers – Florida, Inc. (UW-F) supports the temporary deviation to allow water managers to be more proactive in their discharge decisions. Continuous low level or level 1 pulse discharges to the St. Lucie estuary are apparently not having a negative affect on the health of that river system. Additionally, level 1 discharges to the Caloosahatchee river are needed to control saltwater intrusion. We encourage the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to fully model the performance of these discharge levels taking into account historical and predicted weather patterns. The WSE does not allow water levels to be maintained at the bottom of zone D because discharges are rarely called for. The result is a tendency for water levels to raise to the top of zone D which invariable leads to high level discharges to tide and does not allow the proper cycle in the Lake Okeechobee marsh to facilitate productive waterfowl foraging. UW-F would recommend a subdivision of zone D into three parts. Zone D1 would be the bottom third and level 1 pulse discharges to tide would be appropriate. Likewise, zone D2 would be the middle third and would lead to level 2 pulse discharges. The top third would be zone D3 and level 3 discharges to tide would be in order. All discharge decisions in each sub zone would still be influenced by inflow rates and predicted weather patterns.
Sharing the Burden
UW-F is fully supportive of the agricultural interests in Florida. We believe they are a vital part of our economy. We do feel however that current Lake regulation schedules serve to insure against drought conditions that are relatively rare at the expense of the South Florida ecosystem. The impacts of droughts can be dealt with by use of crop insurance and often relief for severe weather related crop damage is given in the subsequent year’s Farm Bill. We encourage the agricultural community to assume a slightly higher risk level and support modestly lower lake levels.
System wide Management.
UW-F was disappointed to see the Lake Toho drawdown proceed when Lake Okeechobee stood at over 15.5 feet. In the coming years we would hope that similar projects would be put on hold until Lake Okeechobee is ready to receive the additional inflows. We commend the SFWMD staff and private land owners for coming together and developing a solution that surely saved the estuaries from farther harm. This is the type of partnership that is needed now and into the future.
Sincerely,
David Lithgow
United Waterfowlers - Florida, Inc.