By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

The South Florida Water Management District is spending billions on several projects geared toward water quality and quantity and lake restoration in the upper and lower basins of the Kissimmee River Chain of Lakes and its floodplain.

The Kissimmee Regional Issues Coordination project includes 10 interconnected undertakings designed to promote ecosystem restoration and determine water quality, future water supply and current water availability for the area, which feeds Lake Okeechobee. Many of the projects are slated to be completed by 2014.

The water district also is part of the $7.8 billion effort to restore the ecological health of Lake Okeechobee by controlling exotic species, identifying water quality and water storage needs as well as managing water nutrients. The district, according to spokesman Bill Graf, will assume 50 percent of the project’s bill, at $3.9 billion, with the remainder covered by the state’s Save Our Everglades Trust.

Osceola County waterways flow to Lake Okeechobee and 7.5 million residents living within district boundaries rely on these lakes and rivers for a portion of the water supplied in the homes, according to the district website.

The water district acquired 102,061 acres to the tune of $341 million to restore the Kissimmee River and provide flood control by recreating the natural water flow channels the area historically had.

“The purpose of the acquisitions is to have the ability to inundate the historic floodplain for proliferation of wetlands associated with restoration,” Graf said.

Nearly 8,000 acres of wetlands were gained during the land acquisition and field scientists have observed sandbar formation and increases in bass and sunfish populations as well as increased usage by waterfowl and wading birds.

“We’re taking a channelized, possibly damaging place and returning it to a more naturalized state,” Alan Shirkey, the district’s Kissimmee regional issues coordinator, said during a Dec. 14 public meeting at the Osceola County Commission Chambers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is partnering with the water district to complete the project by December 2014; the restoration project alone will cost $640 million, including the land acquisition.

Funding for the project, according to Graf, will come from several sources including the federal budget for the Corps of Engineers portion, ad valorem property taxes and state grants and funding.

The water reservation portion of the Kissimmee Regional Issues Coordination project will ensure water feeds the Kissimmee River restoration efforts by identifying water that needs to be reserved for the benefit of fish and wildlife. Eight bodies of water will be studied and modeled to determine how the water should flow.

The Kissimmee Basin Modeling and Operations Study, which will access how current water control structures can be changed to achieve a balance between river restoration, flood control, water supply and aquatic plant management while avoiding impact to Lake Okeechobee. This project goes hand-in-hand with the Kissimmee River restoration efforts and is part of its nearly $1 million price tag, which is being funded by property taxes.

The study is scheduled to be completed by 2012.

The water district also is partnering with the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and public water supply utility companies in Central Florida to establish water availability and long-term water supply plans for the region.

According to Graf, each of the three water management districts has contributed $50,000 annually since 2009 to facilitate the process.

Toho Water Authority is working within the project to “evaluate the present condition of the Florida aquifer and its capacity to meet future water supply needs while avoiding unacceptable environmental impacts,” Mary Guidone, spokeswoman for the utility, said. “Because alternative water supply sources – such as surface water supplies and brackish groundwater sources – will be substantially more expensive to develop, it is critical that the limits of the aquifer be carefully considered and that utilities and other users use the groundwater efficiently to extend or delay the time when the more expensive alternative water supplies have to be developed.”

The board of supervisors for Toho Water Authority also is  working to reduce the use of drinking quality water for irrigation of landscaping and lawns, which, according to Guidone, accounts for approximately half of all the utility’s water delivered to its customers.

The South Florida Water Management District also is working on several smaller projects such as locks to control flooding or boat ramps for recreation.

The new Lake Kissimmee boat ramp and day use facility, which cost nearly $900,000, is scheduled to open next month and was funded by the Forever Florida land conservation program.