An updated version of

Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals

An updated version of 'Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals – March 17, 2003' is now available for public review. In order to meet the requirements of the 1994 Everglades Forever Act and the federal Everglades Settlement Agreement, the South Florida Water Management District and other parties are currently working to achieve the long-term water quality and water quantity goals for the Everglades. The long-term goal of the Everglades Program restoration effort is to combine point source, basin-level and regional solutions in a system-wide approach to ensure that all waters discharged into the Everglades Protection Area are in compliance with all state water quality standards by December 31, 2006. In order to achieve this goal, the District is implementing a strategy to ensure all water quality standards are met on a basin by basin basis. This strategy consists of conducting basin-specific feasibility studies which will integrate information from research, regulation, and planning studies to determine the optimal combination of Best Management Practices, optimized Stormwater Treatment Areas, advanced treatment technologies, Water Preserve Areas, etc., to meet the final water quality objectives for the Everglades.

Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals
March 17, 2003 draft

The long-term Everglades water quality objective is to implement the optimal combination of source controls, Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs), Advanced Treatment Technologies (ATTs), and/or regulatory programs to ensure that all waters discharged to the Everglades Protection Area (EPA) achieve water quality standards by December 31, 2006, consistent with the requirements of Florida’s 1994 Everglades Forever Act (EFA). This document sets forth a recommended plan and strategy for achieving that objective and permitting the State of Florida and the South Florida Water Management District (District) to proceed to fulfillment of their obligations under both the EFA (F.S. 373.4592) and the federal Everglades Settlement Agreement (Case No. 88-1886-CIV-HOEVELER).
    Substantial progress towards reducing phosphorus levels discharged into the EPA has been made by the State of Florida and other stakeholders. The combined performance of the regulatory program in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) and the STAs constructed under the 1994 Everglades Construction Project (ECP), both mandated by the EFA, has exceeded expectations. Current projections suggest that, once all STAs are operational, the best estimate of the long-term flow-weighted mean TP concentrations in discharges from the ECP to the EPA is approximately 35 ppb (with a potential range of 25-45 ppb), as compared to the interim goal of 50 ppb established in the EFA. In addition, some source control measures have been implemented in urban and other tributary basins included in the Everglades Stormwater Program. Nonetheless, additional measures are necessary to ensure that all discharges to the Everglades achieve and maintain compliance with water quality standards.

from TOC web site     http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/toc/index.html

Read the draft plan,

Executive Summary (22 kb) - Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals - March 17, 2003 draft    ** PDF format

Excerpt from Executive Summary - Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals - March 17, 2003 draft HTML format

Full document (3.5 mb) - Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals - March 17, 2003 draft
** PDF format

This plan will be discussed at the April 30, 2003, Technical Oversight Committee meeting at the South Florida Water Management District.

Florida House of Representatives Proposed Committee Bill (Natural Resources) 03-01 A uses conclusions from this report to amend the 1994 Everglades Forever Act, moving water quality standard compliance 20 years to 2026.

Basin-Specific Feasibility Studies

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/erd/bsfboard/bsfsboard.htm

The Plan will be discussed at the Technical Oversight Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday April 30, 2003 at South Florida Water Management District headquarters, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Please provide any comments on the Plan by April 17, 2003 to Gary Goforth (ggoforth@sfwmd.gov). Please contact Gary Goforth at 561-682-6280 or Tracey Piccone at 561-682-6495 if you have any questions.

For information on the Technical Oversight Committee: http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/toc/index.html

Related Links

Current Settlement Agreement report
http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/reports/settlement/sa_current.pdf

All Settlement Agreement reports
http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/toc/archives_docs.html#s

Settlement Agreement
      1991 - Entered by parties - Docket no. 980, U.S. District Court # 88-1886-CIV-Hoeveler
      1992 - Consent Decree - 847 F. Supp 1567 (S.D. Fla 1992)

Everglades Forever Act
       http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=C
h0373/SEC4592.HTM&Title=-%3E2002-%3ECh0373-%3ESection%204592

2003 Florida Legislative session
Everglades related bills

Joint Progress Report submitted to the U.S. District Court on October 30, 1995

TOC about page
http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/toc/about.html

William Walker
http://www.wwwalker.net/

Everglades Consolidated Reports
http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/everglades/index.html

SFWMD Everglades Links
http://www.sfwmd.gov/koe_section/2_everglades.html

04/21/2003