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UID:0-8055@eng.ufl.edu
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260225T125000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260225T134000
DTSTAMP:20260108T170228Z
URL:https://www.eng.ufl.edu/news-events/events/managing-south-floridas-eco
 systems-for-people-plants-and-panthers-cassondra-armstrong-s-fl-wmd/
SUMMARY:Managing South Florida’s Ecosystems for People\, Plants\, and Pan
 thers\, Cassondra Armstrong\, S. FL WMD
DESCRIPTION:The south Florida watershed is composed of 16 counties\, more t
 han nine million people\, thousands of kilometers of canals and levees\, e
 ight distinct natural ecosystems\, nearly 24\,000 hectares of constructed 
 treatment wetlands and growing\, 11 estuaries\, and over 560 km of coral r
 eefs. The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) monitors and man
 ages every drop of water as it moves into and through the system. The SFWM
 D has three management responsibilities\; flood protection\, water supply\
 , and protection and restoration of ecosystems. Each separately and togeth
 er require complex management decisions to balance competing needs. Lake O
 keechobee is the heart of the system. Water flows south from Orlando down 
 the Kissimmee River into the Lake and then flows east to the St. Lucie Est
 uary\, west to the Caloosahatchee Estuary\, and south to the Everglades an
 d Florida Bay. At each point\, water managers decide the quantity and timi
 ng of flow. The Lake is jointly managed by the SFWMD and US Army Corps of 
 Engineers using the Lake Okeechobee System Operation Manual (LOSOM) adopte
 d in 2024. It was developed with consideration of flood risk\, navigation\
 , water supply\, lake ecology\, and estuarine salinity. Water that flows s
 outh must first be sent to stormwater treatment areas (STAs)\, which are c
 onstructed treatment wetlands designed to reduce the concentration of phos
 phorus to ultra-low levels to assist with the restoration of the Everglade
 s. Everglades restoration is guided by the Comprehensive Everglades Restor
 ation Plan (CERP) implemented in 2000. Projects are being built throughout
  the system to improve the quantity\, quality\, timing\, and distribution 
 of flow. Each project has an environmental monitoring plan to document pro
 ject objectives are being obtained. In addition\, CERP has a system wide R
 Estoration\, COordination\, VERification (RECOVER) monitoring program that
  tracks total ecosystem health as CERP projects come online.\nDr. Armstron
 g has worked for the SFWMD for 12 years as a senior scientist\, supervisor
 \, section administrator\, and now bureau chief of the Applied Sciences Bu
 reau. Her areas of expertise include wetland ecology\, coastal ecology\, w
 ater quality\, and treatment wetlands. Prior to working at the District\, 
 she was a contractor with the District studying prescribed fire as a resto
 ration tool for the nutrient-impacted areas of the Everglades. And prior t
 o that\, she did her Post Doc at NASA Kennedy assessing management implica
 tions on salt marsh function and longevity and associated impacts to the I
 ndian River Lagoon.
CATEGORIES:Seminars
LOCATION:NEB 102\, 1064 Center Dr\, Gainesville\, FL\, 32611\, United State
 s
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 e\, FL\, 32611\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=NEB 102:geo:0,0
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