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November 3, 2016
Florida Achieving Everglades Water Quality Goals
Latest data shows 90 percent of Everglades meets stringent phosphorus standards
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| These maps compare phosphorus concentrations in the Water Conservation Areas before water quality improvement efforts began and over the last five years. Green dots represent sites with average concentrations 10 parts per billion or less. (Click on the image for a larger version.) |
West Palm Beach, FL
- More than two decades of collaboration by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is accomplishing the important goal of restoring water quality in the Everglades. Tests shows at least 90 percent of the Everglades now meets ultra-clean water quality standards for levels of phosphorus of 10 parts per billion or less required by a federal consent decree and established under state law. In fact, 86 percent of the Everglades is well below that water quality threshold at 8 parts per billion, or less and 100 percent of Everglades National Park is below 8 parts per billion.
A few remaining areas are close to meeting that threshold already, with ongoing projects under construction as part of Gov. Rick Scott's $880 million Restoration Strategies program. This will bring the entire unique ecosystem of the Everglades into compliance with the state's stringent water quality standards soon.
"The water quality targets needed for America's Everglades to thrive are being met thanks to our dedication and use of sound science over the past two decades," said SFWMD Governing Board member Jim Moran. "With the work already underway through Gov. Rick Scott's Restoration Strategies we will restore water quality in the Everglades."
Before the Florida Legislature passed the Everglades Forever Act in 1994, water flowing south out of the vast Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) contained an average of 173 parts per billion (ppb) of phosphorus. For the past five years, phosphorus levels in Everglades-bound water have averaged 20 parts per billion after being filtered through the District's network of constructed treatment wetlands, known as Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs). Furthermore, water entering Everglades National Park is even cleaner.
Through April 2016, the STA network and improved farming techniques known as Best Management Practices (BMPs) has combined to remove or prevent approximately 5,300 metric tons of phosphorus from the Everglades. Overall, Florida has invested more than $1.8 billion to improve Everglades water quality in the last two decades. Another $880 million in water quality projects are either underway or committed as part of Florida's Restoration Strategies Plan developed in 2012.
Best Management Practices
BMPs improve farming techniques in the 470,000-acre EAA and are the first step to clean water flowing south. Over the 20-year history of the BMP program, phosphorus levels in water leaving the EAA dropped by an annual average of 55 percent compared to initial conditions - more than twice the improvement required under the Everglades Forever Act. The BMP program has prevented approximately 3,055 metric tons of phosphorus from entering the Everglades.
Examples of BMPs include refined stormwater management practices, on-farm erosion controls and more precise fertilizer application methods. These and other management practices reduce the amount of phosphorus discharged from agricultural areas.
Stormwater Treatment Areas
Before water reaches the Everglades, it receives additional treatment using "green technology" in the STAs. Currently with 57,000 acres of effective treatment area, the STAs are filled with a mixture of emergent aquatic vegetation, such as cattail, bulrush and spike rush, and submerged aquatic vegetation, such as hydrilla and southern naiad. These wetland plants absorb phosphorus for their own growth and store it in their roots, stems and leaves. Even after they die, sediments in the STAs retain phosphorus from the decaying plant matter.
Since 1994, the network of five STAs south of Lake Okeechobee have treated more than 17.5 million acre-feet of water. From that water, the STAs retained approximately 2,220 metric tons of phosphorus that would have otherwise entered the Everglades. To date, the STAs have retained 76 percent of the phosphorus from water flowing through the treatment cells.
Everglades National Park Water Quality
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| These maps compare phosphorus concentrations in Everglades National Park before water quality improvement efforts began and over the last five years. Green dots represent sites with average concentrations less than 10 parts per billion. Phosphorus concentrations in the water throughout the park is now below 8 parts per billion. (Click on the image for a larger version.) |
Next Steps:
Gov. Rick Scott's Restoration Strategies
To fully meet water quality limits for the Everglades, the District is in the process of building a suite of projects under Gov. Rick Scott's Restoration Strategies Plan. Based on detailed scientific and technical collaboration between Florida and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the projects include 6,500 acres of STA expansions and 116,000 acre-feet of additional water storage through construction of three flow equalization basins (FEBs). The basins will provide a more steady flow of water to the STAs, helping to maintain water levels needed for the plants inside to achieve optimal water quality treatment performance.
The A-1 FEB in Palm Beach County - the largest of the three basins - has been operational ever since construction was completed in June 2015. Construction on the L-8 FEB in Palm Beach County is also completed and the basin is expected to begin operating by the end of 2016. Additionally, construction began earlier this year on a 4,700-acre expansion of Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West in Palm Beach County which is expected to be completed by December 2018. A second planned expansion of STA 1 West will add another 1,800 acre-feet of treatment capacity.
In addition to the projects, eight initial studies are underway as part of an in-depth science plan developed for Gov. Rick Scott's Restoration Strategies. Results from science plan studies will be used to inform design and operation of the STAs.
For More Information
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The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency that manages the water resources in the southern part of the state. It is the oldest and largest of the state's five water management districts. Our mission is to protect South Florida's water resources by balancing and improving flood control, water supply, water quality and natural systems.
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