| 08 November 2010
WMD Decision will affect Gamefish Nursery Habitat
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) will be deciding at their November meeting whether changes in flow levels, recommended by scientists including the District's own, will be adopted. The needed changes are critical to the health of the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary and its juvenile gamefish populations. We are urging anglers to let SWFMD governing board members know of the importance of their vote this week. Here's how
Action Requested: Go to www.conservancy.org to “take action” to let SFWMD governing board members know that you want their support for an updated “minimum flow and level” standard for the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary. If possible, attend the SFWMD meeting at 12:45pm November 10th at FGCU in Ft. Myers.
Additional Info
Water managers are supposed to make sure that they are not allocating
water away to consumptive uses to the point that the rivers and
estuaries are significantly harmed (i.e. their water quality severely
degraded, their aquatic life destroyed).
However, science shows that the “minimum flow and level” (MFL) standard
set for the Caloosahatchee still allows the significant harm that it is
supposed to prevent. Thus, the permits being issued based on this MFL
will overallocate the water, leaving too little for the river and
estuary’s health.
Even the SFWMD’s own regulations say that the MFL should have been revised in 2008, and yet it has not been.
In early September, the Conservancy filed a petition requesting the SFWMD to update the minimum flow and levels best on based available science according to their regulations.
SFWMD staff is recommending denial of our request. Now, we need your help to tell the SFWMD Governing Board that they should update this standard to protect our River and Estuary.
The current “minimum flow and level” standard is 300 cubic feet/second - but science shows that it needs to be 450-500 cfs to prevent the water quality and seagrasses from deteriorating further.
Scientific studies say:
· “Subsequent analysis and documentation (including SFWMD, 2003b; Chamberlain & Doering, 2004) estimated that about 450 cfs is required from S-79 to ensure the minimum flows and levels salinity criteria is achieved under most downstream tidal flow conditions."
· "Therefore, a minimum flow of 300 from S-79 is not enough. Greater frequencies of flows are needed from S-79 that approaches 500 cfs in order to achieve the intended salinity goals."
· “During low flow conditions the entire system is drier than normal and the downstream contribution is much lower than 150-200 cfs, so 300 cfs at S-79 is insufficient to achieve the MFL salinity criteria."
Jennifer Hecker
Director of Natural Resource Policy
Conservancy of Southwest Florida
